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Accelerating Behavioral Science Through Ontology Development and Use

The National Institute on Aging's Division of Behavioral and Social Research, in conjunction with other organizations, supported a consensus study on Accelerating Behavioral Science Through Ontology Development and Use.

Scientific ontologies are systems and/or knowledge structures that specify concepts of science with agreed-upon labels and definitions and provide a framework for complex relationships among the concepts. Ontologies support efficient knowledge generation, organization, reuse, integration, and analysis. The goal of this consensus study was to review the role of ontologies in the behavioral sciences, assess their potential to accelerate behavioral science research, and identify gaps and challenges, and offer conclusions and recommendations for strengthening behavioral ontologies.

Visit the NASEM consensus study page for more information and

nasem_ontologies_in_the_behavioral_sciences_report_2022.pdf (8.54 MB)

(PDF, 8.5M).