CALL FOR PAPERS

Journal of Applied Ontology: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Ontological
Analysis and Conceptual Modeling
http://www.applied-ontology.org/
IOS Press (Editors-in-Chief: Nicola Guarino and Mark A. Musen)

Special Issue on

**** ONTOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS FOR CONCEPTUAL MODELING ****

Expected publication: Winter 2007
Submission Deadline: March 1st, 2007

GUEST EDITORS OF SPECIAL ISSUE
===========================================
• Giancarlo Guizzardi, Computer Science Department, UFES, Brazil &
  Laboratory for Applied Ontology (ISTC-CNR), Trento, Italy
• Terry Halpin, Neumont University, South Jordan, Utah, USA

OBJECTIVES OF THIS SPECIAL ISSUE
===========================================
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the role played by
formal ontology, and more generally, by areas such as philosophy, logics,
cognitive sciences and linguistics in the development of theoretical
foundations for conceptual modeling in computer science. As it has been
shown in a large number of recent publications, so-called foundational
ontologies such as BWW, GFO, DOLCE, UFO, BFO, and Chisholm’s have been
successfully applied to the evaluation of conceptual modeling languages
and frameworks (e.g., UML, ORM, ER) and to the development of engineering
tools (e.g., methodological guidelines, modeling profiles, design
patterns) that contribute to the theory and practice of conceptual modelling.

The purpose of this special issue is to collect innovative and
high-quality research contributions regarding the role played by the
aforementioned areas to the theoretical foundations of conceptual
modeling.

This issue should be of interest of several academic communities,
including those working on database design, requirements engineering,
knowledge engineering, enterprise modeling, agent and object orientation,
information systems, software engineering (in particular domain
engineering), natural-language processing, business rules and model-driven
architectures.
We thus solicit contributions in several areas related to Ontological
Foundations for Conceptual Modeling. Topics of interest include:

• Philosophical and Cognitive Foundations for Conceptual Modeling
• Ontology-Based Conceptual Modeling: Methodologies, Tools, and Case
Studies • Psychological Experiments Evaluating the Cognitive Adequacy of
Conceptual Modeling Primitives
• Ontological Analysis of Existing Conceptual Models (including Reference
Models)
• Role of Ontology-driven Conceptual Modelling for Semantic
Interoperability • Ontological Design Patterns
• Linguistic theories and Natural-Language Semantics in Conceptual
Modeling • Formal Semantics of Conceptual Modeling Languages
• Comparison between existing Foundational Ontologies for the purpose of
Conceptual Modeling

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
===========================================
Submissions, that will undergo a peer-reviewing process, must be sent
electronically through the journal's website (http://www.applied-
ontology.org/) by the deadline listed below. Detailed instructions for
authors are available from the same website.

IMPORTANT DATES
===========================================
Submissions Deadline              March 1st, 2007
Notification of Authors           April 15th, 2007
Camera-ready Version              May 15th, 2007
Special Issue Publication         Winter 2007

ABOUT THE JOURNAL
===========================================
Although a formal contribution is not an absolute requirement for
contributing to Applied Ontology, the contributors should keep in mind the
aim and scope of Applied Ontology, an interdisciplinary journal of
Ontological Analysis and Conceptual Modeling.

Applied Ontology is a new journal whose focus is on information content in
its broadest sense. As the subtitle makes clear, two broad kinds of
content-based research activities are envisioned: ontological analysis and
conceptual modeling. The former includes any attempt to investigate the
nature and structure of a domain of interest using rigorous philosophical
or logical tools; the latter concerns the cognitive and linguistic
structures we use to model the world, as well as the various analysis
tools and methodologies we adopt for producing useful computational
models, such as information systems schemes or knowledge structures.

Applied Ontology is the first journal with explicit and exclusive focus on
ontological analysis and conceptual modeling under an interdisciplinary
view. It aims to establish a unique niche in the realm of scientific
journals by carefully avoiding unnecessary duplication with
discipline-oriented journals. For this reason, authors will be encouraged
to use language that will be intelligible also to those outside their
specific sector of expertise, and the review process will be tailored to
this end.

For example, authors of theoretical contributions will be encouraged to
show the relevance of their theory for applications, while authors of more
technological papers will be encouraged to show the relevance of a
well-founded theoretical perspective. Moreover, the journal will publish
papers focusing on representation languages or algorithms only where these
address relevant content issues, whether at the level of practical
application or of theoretical understanding. Similarly, it will publish
descriptions of tools or implemented systems only where a contribution to
the practice of ontological analysis and conceptual modeling is clearly
established.