A Survey on Semantic Representations of Citation Data

Abstract

This survey explores the  semantic representations of citation data, emphasizing the critical distinction between citations and references in scholarly communication. References denote works listed in a bibliography, while citations refer to individual instances where these works are contextualized within the text. Recent advancements in OWL2 ontologies have facilitated the formal, machine-interpretable encoding of bibliographic and citation data, alongside document components and individual citation characteristics. However, effective automated processing of citation data requires comprehensive machine-readable metadata and ontologies to encapsulate these elements. This study identifies key challenges, including the development of semantic models that accurately represent citation reasons. While existing semantic-based publishing applications provide customized data retrieval, they often neglect the nuances of citation reasons, focusing primarily on basic metadata such as authorship and affiliations. Through a comprehensive examination of various ontologies, this survey assesses their ability to capture citation reasons in a semantically meaningful way and highlights limitations that impede the effective representation of citation data.