Integração semântica de publicações científicas e dados de pesquisa: proposta de modelo de publicação ampliada para a área de Ciências Nucleares

Abstract

This research takes place under the conditions of an arising scientific paradigm, known as e-Science or 4th Scientific Paradigm. This new way of doing science is characterized by intensive use of computer networks, distributed digital repositories and by extraordinary generation of research data, which is a consequence of the heavy use of information and simulation technologies and advancing of scientific instrumentation. The information environment that is established as a result of these transformations significantly impacts the patterns of scientific communication, especially regarding to cooperative research, the sharing and reuse of information resources and ways to communicate and to disseminate research results. In order to create a context for their field of study, the thesis contributes to delineate new and renewed concepts for Information Science such as e-Science, curation of research data, complex digital objects, data repository, CRIS (Current Research Information System Model ) and others key infrastructures for the management of research and also of new conceptions of academic and scientific publications. The research is based on two assumptions: first raises the need for a model of scientific publication that would reflect the new standard for generating scientific knowledge characterized by data richness, and being able to integrate these data to publications; the second highlights that this can be performed according to the technological possibilities and standards arising from the Semantic Web. These two assumptions embody the formulation of the hypothesis raised by this thesis: a scientific publication can be enriched and be closer to new ways of generating knowledge, which characterizes contemporary science, if it is configured according to a model that links through semantic relations the research data and datasets to conventional publication. The method adopted was the deductive one, starting from general concepts of Information Science applied to the specificity of Nuclear Sciences. This was accomplished in two ways: through a literature review, for purposes of analysis and qualitative interpretation of the general concepts; and through the domain analysis approach that allowed empirically analyze the particular application area. As a final result was obtained a proposal of guidelines for a national policy for digital curation, and a model of scientific publication to the Nuclear Sciences area, in which the research data are linked to the academic publications by means of semantic relations systematized into taxonomy built for this purpose. Graphic models are used as a tool to represent and synthesize the resulting concepts. As a conclusion it is observed: changes in the scholarly communication cycle, the possibility of building a new scientific model as relevant standard to the practice of a more open and more collaborative science, and feasibility of incorporating the principles and theories of librarianship and Information Science for the organization of technical and scientific knowledge in the world of eScience.