@inproceedings{JSOnto,
	title = {{JSOnto: A Modular JSON-Based Syntax for Human-Friendly Ontology Engineering}},
	author = {David Jilg and Ralph Bergmann},
	year  = {2026},
	booktitle = {{Proceedings of the 18th International Joint Conference on Knowledge Discovery, Knowledge Engineering and Knowledge Management}},
	publisher = {SciTePress},
	abstract = {We present JSOnto, a modular JSON-based ontology syntax for human-friendly, text-based knowledge engineering. Existing syntaxes and GUI editors are often difficult to edit manually, lack modularity, or do not scale well for large ontologies. JSOnto provides concise encodings of common RDF and OWL/OWL2 constructs, multi-file organization, inline annotations, and validation through JSON Schema. The Knowledge Transformation Framework supports validation and conversion of JSOnto to established syntaxes. JSOnto was developed in an iterative, user-centered process and evaluated in a within-subjects study with 26 participants comparing JSOnto, Turtle, and Protégé. Less experienced users preferred Protégé, whereas experienced users favored text-based modeling and preferred JSOnto over Turtle. This indicates that JSOnto is a practical complement to existing ontology tools, particularly for large-scale ontology development and maintenance.},
	note = {Accepted for publication.},
	keywords = {Ontology Syntax, Ontology Modeling, Knowledge Engineering, JSON}
}

{"_id":"XaWcR5jB98ukitBZs","bibbaseid":"jilg-bergmann-jsontoamodularjsonbasedsyntaxforhumanfriendlyontologyengineering-2026","author_short":["Jilg, D.","Bergmann, R."],"bibdata":{"bibtype":"inproceedings","type":"inproceedings","title":"JSOnto: A Modular JSON-Based Syntax for Human-Friendly Ontology Engineering","author":[{"firstnames":["David"],"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Jilg"],"suffixes":[]},{"firstnames":["Ralph"],"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Bergmann"],"suffixes":[]}],"year":"2026","booktitle":"Proceedings of the 18th International Joint Conference on Knowledge Discovery, Knowledge Engineering and Knowledge Management","publisher":"SciTePress","abstract":"We present JSOnto, a modular JSON-based ontology syntax for human-friendly, text-based knowledge engineering. Existing syntaxes and GUI editors are often difficult to edit manually, lack modularity, or do not scale well for large ontologies. JSOnto provides concise encodings of common RDF and OWL/OWL2 constructs, multi-file organization, inline annotations, and validation through JSON Schema. The Knowledge Transformation Framework supports validation and conversion of JSOnto to established syntaxes. JSOnto was developed in an iterative, user-centered process and evaluated in a within-subjects study with 26 participants comparing JSOnto, Turtle, and Protégé. Less experienced users preferred Protégé, whereas experienced users favored text-based modeling and preferred JSOnto over Turtle. This indicates that JSOnto is a practical complement to existing ontology tools, particularly for large-scale ontology development and maintenance.","note":"Accepted for publication.","keywords":"Ontology Syntax, Ontology Modeling, Knowledge Engineering, JSON","bibtex":"@inproceedings{JSOnto,\n\ttitle = {{JSOnto: A Modular JSON-Based Syntax for Human-Friendly Ontology Engineering}},\n\tauthor = {David Jilg and Ralph Bergmann},\n\tyear = {2026},\n\tbooktitle = {{Proceedings of the 18th International Joint Conference on Knowledge Discovery, Knowledge Engineering and Knowledge Management}},\n\tpublisher = {SciTePress},\n\tabstract = {We present JSOnto, a modular JSON-based ontology syntax for human-friendly, text-based knowledge engineering. Existing syntaxes and GUI editors are often difficult to edit manually, lack modularity, or do not scale well for large ontologies. JSOnto provides concise encodings of common RDF and OWL/OWL2 constructs, multi-file organization, inline annotations, and validation through JSON Schema. The Knowledge Transformation Framework supports validation and conversion of JSOnto to established syntaxes. JSOnto was developed in an iterative, user-centered process and evaluated in a within-subjects study with 26 participants comparing JSOnto, Turtle, and Protégé. Less experienced users preferred Protégé, whereas experienced users favored text-based modeling and preferred JSOnto over Turtle. This indicates that JSOnto is a practical complement to existing ontology tools, particularly for large-scale ontology development and maintenance.},\n\tnote = {Accepted for publication.},\n\tkeywords = {Ontology Syntax, Ontology Modeling, Knowledge Engineering, JSON}\n}\n\n","author_short":["Jilg, D.","Bergmann, R."],"key":"JSOnto","id":"JSOnto","bibbaseid":"jilg-bergmann-jsontoamodularjsonbasedsyntaxforhumanfriendlyontologyengineering-2026","role":"author","urls":{},"keyword":["Ontology Syntax","Ontology Modeling","Knowledge Engineering","JSON"],"metadata":{"authorlinks":{}}},"bibtype":"inproceedings","biburl":"https://web.wi2.uni-trier.de/publications/WI2Publikationen.bib","dataSources":["MSp3DzP4ToPojqkFy","Td7BJ334QwxWK4vLW"],"keywords":["ontology syntax","ontology modeling","knowledge engineering","json"],"search_terms":["jsonto","modular","json","based","syntax","human","friendly","ontology","engineering","jilg","bergmann"],"title":"JSOnto: A Modular JSON-Based Syntax for Human-Friendly Ontology Engineering","year":2026}