From reference ontologies to ontology patterns and back

Abstract Building proper reference ontologies is a hard task. There are a number of methods and tools that traditionally have been used to support this task. These include the use of foundational theories, the reuse of domain and core ontologies, the adoption of development methods, as well as the support of proper software tools. In this context, an approach that has gained increasing attention in recent years is the systematic application of ontology patterns . However, a pattern-based approach to ontology engineering requires: the existence of a set of suitable patterns that can be reused in the construction of new ontologies; a proper methodological support for eliciting these patterns, as well as for applying them in the construction of these new models. The goal of this paper is twofold: (i) firstly, we present an approach for deriving conceptual ontology patterns from ontologies. These patterns are derived from ontologies of different generality levels, ranging from foundational to domain ontologies; (ii) secondly, we present guidelines that describe how these patterns can be applied in combination for building reference domain ontologies in a reuse-oriented process. In summary, this paper is about the construction of ontology patterns from ontologies, as well as the construction of ontologies from ontology patterns.