Vetting & Review Process
NCOR operates an independent vetting and review process for credentialing, grounded in formal ontology and international standards.
Successful review results in an NCOR Credential recorded in the public registry. NCOR credentialing is not a formal certification audit; it is a transparent, documented review of scope, governance, and standards alignment.
Principles
NCOR credentialing is guided by the following principles:
- Independent, nonprofit evaluation
- Scientific rigor, grounded in formal ontology
- Transparency and auditability
- Expert human review, not automated heuristics alone
NCOR provides specialty credentialing tracks, including:
- Alignment with Basic Formal Ontology (BFO), including ISO/IEC 21838-2
- Alignment with the Common Core Ontologies (CCO)
- Ontology engineering best practices beyond any single framework
Review Process
NCOR credentialing follows a structured, multi-stage process designed to support scientific rigor, transparency, and long-term reuse. The stages below provide a high-level overview of the vetting and review workflow.
| Stage | Purpose | What Happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Submission | Establish scope and intent | Applicants submit artifacts (e.g., ontology OWL/RDF, organization or software declarations), along with documentation describing scope, intended use, and relevant implementation context. |
| 2. Automated Structural Validation | Support consistency review | Where applicable, automated checks are run (e.g., OWL2 conformance, structural consistency using established tooling). These checks support, but do not replace, expert review. |
| 3. Expert Review | Evaluate conceptual quality | An NCOR expert panel evaluates conceptual soundness, alignment with stated standards (e.g., BFO, CCO), modeling decisions and justifications, and overall ontology engineering quality. |
| 4. Remediation and Resubmission | Address identified issues | Findings are documented and shared with applicants, who may revise and resubmit for re-evaluation. |
| 5. Credential Issuance and Registry Entry | Record the credential | Successful reviews receive an NCOR Credential, a registry identifier, and a documented review trail. Credentials are valid for 12 months. |
| 6. Renewal and Continuous Review | Maintain long-term trust | Credentials may be renewed annually to reflect evolution, updates to relevant standards, and continued alignment with best practices. |
Why this works
| Principle | What it ensures |
|---|---|
| Independence | Review is conducted by NCOR, not ontology implementers or vendors. |
| Scientific rigor | Evaluation is grounded in formal ontology rather than informal heuristics. |
| Traceability | Decisions are documented, auditable, and tied to stated criteria. |
| Reusability | Credentialed ontologies and declarations can be confidently reused across teams and organizations. |
This process supports long-term trust, reuse, and sustainability across ontology-based systems.