Springer Nature SciGraph: Pioneering Semantic Platform with Linked Open Data

Today, Springer Nature is supporting open science and the wider understanding of research with the launch of its Springer Nature SciGraph.

This new platform is the result of a rewarding collaboration with Digital Science, where we supported the development of the core infrastructure functionalities.

The new Linked Open Data (LOD) platform aggregates data sources from Springer Nature and cooperating partners, making it easier to analyse information related to Springer Nature publications. Springer Nature SciGraph collates information from across the research landscape, such as funders, research projects and grants, conferences, affiliations, and publications. Currently the knowledge graph contains 155 million facts (triples) about objects of interest to the scholarly domain.

Additional data, such as citations, patents, clinical trials, and usage numbers will follow in stages, so that by the end of 2017 Springer Nature SciGraph will grow to more than 1 billion triples. The vast majority of these datasets will be freely accessible and provided in a way to enable experts to analyze downloaded datasets using their own machines, or via exploration tools on the Springer Nature SciGraph website which is being continuously enhanced.

Whether you want to understand which conferences are taking place in subject areas with rising funding, or discover which Springer Nature articles cite your colleagues, or analyze the distribution of authors by country in a given field of interest, Springer Nature SciGraph openly provides the data necessary.

Henning Schoenenberger, Director Product Data and Metadata at Springer Nature, said,

“Researchers are at the focus of our attention. The merger to Springer Nature has put the company in a position to be one of the most progressive publishers in our field, thereby better serving the needs of the research communities. Our vision is to support the scholarly domain by creating the largest state-of-the-art linked data aggregation platform. We increase content discoverability and provide data tools and services for researchers, authors, editors, librarians, data scientists, funders, conference organizers, and many others by adding value across all content types.”

“During the project, our leading priority has always been to be as open with the data and as passionate with support for applications as possible. Using linked data technologies is an established approach to data integration, metadata management, and dissemination. We are proud to say that this new product has been implemented with cutting-edge semantic web technologies, allowing us to create tools to maximize the reach and relevance of the research that we publish.” 

added Markus Kaindl, Senior Manager Semantic Data at Springer Nature.

As well as Digital Science, Unsilo and InfoChem are also contributing to the project by providing high-quality and reliable datasets. In addition, Ontotext provides a reliable semantic graph database that offers fast data loading and efficient data updates.

To engage with the Linked Open Data research community and to encourage re-usage of this newly created dataset, Springer Nature are organising a hackathon in London in the second quarter of 2017. Furthermore, the dataset will be published prior to this event to allow the exploration of the various connections of Springer Nature’s publications. More information about this data release can be found on www.springernature.com/scigraph.

London Book Fair, Tuesday 14th March, 10am: SciGraph’s lead architect Michele Pasin and semantic technology vendor Ontotext will be giving the joint presentation explaining SciGraph features and its technical approach.