There has been a rapid expansion in the quantity and complexity of data, information and knowledge created in the behavioural and social sciences, yet the field is not advancing understanding, practice or policy to the extent that the insights warrant. One challenge is that research often progresses in disciplinary silos and is reported using inconsistent and ambiguous terminology. This makes it difficult to integrate and aggregate findings to produce cumulative bodies of knowledge that can be translated to applied settings. Ontologies can address these challenges; their development and use have the potential to accelerate the behavioural and social sciences. Ontologies can facilitate communication through precise specification and dissemination of terms, and enable efficient data integration, sharing, comparison and analysis. The widespread use of ontologies in the biomedical and biological sciences has led to multiple successes. It is time now for the behavioural and social sciences to follow that lead. In recent years, a number of ontologies have been developed within the behavioural and social sciences; however, efforts have tended to be isolated, with limited resources to support developers and those who work (or would like to work) with and use ontologies. There is a need for coordination and exchange to reduce duplication of work and leverage the value of a community to support the interoperability of these ontologies (linking of entities across domains and datasets). We have therefore initiated the Behavioural and Social Sciences Ontology (BSSO) Foundry, a community of practice and online repository for the development, adoption and use of ontologies in the behavioural and social sciences. The BSSO Foundry aligns with and builds upon the model provided by the Open Biological and Biomedical Ontology Foundry. We describe this new initiative and how to join and contribute to the community of interoperable ontologies for the behavioural and social sciences.
Keywords: behavioural and social sciences; community of practice; interoperable; ontology.
The behavioural and social sciences have produced a vast amount of research, yet the field faces substantial challenges. These include inconsistent and ambiguous use of terms across studies. Ontologies are structured frameworks to define terms and how they are related. They have been widely used in many areas of science, such as the biological and biomedical sciences. For example, the Gene Ontology describes and organises knowledge about the functions of genes across species. Recently, ontologies are being developed in the behavioural and social sciences to help systematically map and organise research plans and findings. For example, the Behaviour Change Intervention Ontology can be used to describe interventions that aim to change behaviour. However, to coordinate efforts, reduce duplication, and facilitate coherence and interoperability, we need a central community to enable exchange and support the use of ontologies. We have therefore set up the Behavioural and Social Sciences Ontology (BSSO) Foundry, a community of practice for the development, adoption, and use of ontologies within the behavioural and social sciences. We describe this initiative, including how to join and become involved.
Copyright: © 2024 Hastings J et al.