ONTOBRAS 2026 invites the submission of original papers presenting theoretical, methodological, technical, or applied contributions to the field of ontologies and related areas. We welcome completed research or studies in an advanced stage, case studies, methodological proposals, critical analyses, experience reports, and tool developments.
Submissions should demonstrate conceptual clarity, methodological rigor, and a significant contribution to the advancement of knowledge or the resolution of practical problems related to the representation, organization, and use of knowledge.
Contributions must be submitted via EasyChair platform: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=fois2026 (select the track “Ontobras”).
Important Dates
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- Submission Deadline: May 22, 2026
- Notification of Acceptance: July 13, 2026
- Camera-ready Version and Author Registration: August 24, 2026
- Conference Date: September 23, 2026
Topics of Interest
Topics include, but are not limited to:
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- Foundations and theory: ontological principles, foundational/top-level ontologies, meta-modeling, and formal analysis.
- Domain, reference, and application ontologies in any field of knowledge.
- Knowledge organization systems: terminologies, folksonomies, thesauri, taxonomies, and metadata.
- Ontology-based knowledge graphs (KGs) and conceptual models.
- Ontology governance, quality, and maturity, including the application of FAIR principles.
- Ontology engineering: methodologies, techniques, practices, languages, modularization, and design patterns.
- Ontology tooling: tools for ontology construction, reasoning, validation, visualization, publication, and repositories.
- Use of ontologies for data integration and interoperability, Semantic Web, Linked Data, and
- Ontology-based information retrieval.
- Applications using ontologies in scientific, industrial, organizational, and governmental contexts, among others.
- Data, information, and knowledge management based on ontologies.
- Intersections between ontologies and other fields, such as data science, artificial intelligence, and machine learning (e.g., neuro-symbolic AI, explainable AI).
The list is indicative and not exhaustive. Works aligned with the scope of the event will be considered, even if they do not fall explicitly under the topics mentioned above.
Submission Guidelines
The following types of papers are accepted (page limits exclude references):
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- Full papers (up to 12 pages): Papers presenting consolidated contributions to ontology research. These can be theoretical, technical, and/or practical papers, directly or indirectly related to the event’s areas of interest. Papers from students whose dissertations or theses are in the final stages and already present substantial results are also encouraged.
- Short papers (up to 6 pages): Papers presenting partial results of ongoing research or proposing new ideas and research horizons (position/vision papers).
Upon submission, authors must indicate the type of paper being submitted. Additionally, it is suggested to indicate the intended paper type in a footnote on the first page.
Submissions may be written in English (preferably), Portuguese, or Spanish. We strongly recommend submissions in English with the aim of broadening the international reach of the submitted works. Articles must be original and cannot be under simultaneous evaluation in another journal, conference, or scientific event.
Submissions written in Portuguese or Spanish must include an abstract and keywords in English within the body of the article. In such cases, authors must provide the title in English exclusively in the submission form (between parentheses, after the title in the original language) and should not include it in the article file.
All submissions must be in Adobe PDF format and follow the CEUR-ART single-column template. Templates for Microsoft Word, OpenOffice, and LaTeX can be downloaded at: INSERIR AQUI O LINK.
Review Process
ONTOBRAS adopts a double-blind review system. Therefore, submissions must not include any information that allows the identification of their authors.
Each submitted article will be evaluated by at least three members of the Program Committee. All evaluations will be conducted anonymously, in accordance with the double-blind review policy. No single institution shall contribute more than 25% of Program Committee members.
After the three initial reviews are issued, a discussion period among the reviewers will be opened. The goal is to analyze potential differences in judgment, clarify distinct interpretations, and achieve greater consistency in evaluating the work. This stage is conducted internally within the Program Committee.
The Program Committee Chairs will make the final decision on the acceptance of the submitted articles, based on the reviews and the discussion among reviewers. In addition to acceptance or rejection, if the Committee finds that the work has merit but is better suited to another presentation format, it may decide on:
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- Accepting a full paper as a short paper;
- Accepting a full or short paper as a poster.
Authors must observe the following guidelines to ensure anonymity:
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- Identification: Submissions must not include names, affiliations, acknowledgments, or funding information in the article file.
- Self-Citation: Citations to the authors’ own work must be made in the third person (e.g., “in the work of Silva et al.” instead of “in our work”).
- Previous Work: If the article is an evolution of the authors’ previous work, the reference may be anonymized in the reference list (e.g., “[ref] Reference omitted due to double-blind review”).
- Contextual Clues: Avoid explicit mention of universities, projects, or groups that may allow authorship to be inferred.
- Artifacts: Links to artifacts (repositories, data, code, demonstrations) must be provided anonymously and must not reveal the identity of the authors.
Final Version: If the article is accepted, all information omitted in the submitted version must be properly included in the final version. The inclusion of each author’s ORCID is mandatory.
Best Paper Award
The ONTOBRAS 2026 Program Committee will select a full paper to receive the Best Paper Award.
Artificial Intelligence Usage Policy
ONTOBRAS 2026 adopts the CEUR-WS Policy on AI-Based Support Tools.
All submitted papers must include a section titled “Generative AI Declaration,” inserted before the “References” section, even if only to state that no generative AI tools were used.
Examples of declaration and guidelines on acceptable uses are available at https://ceur-ws.org/GenAI/Policy.html
Submission Formatting Requirements
Submitted articles must conform to the following requirements:
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- Page Limits: Not exceed 12 pages for full papers and 8 pages for short papers, excluding references;
- Abstract: Include an abstract with a maximum of 250 words;
- Format: Be in PDF format;
- Template: Be formatted according to the CEUR-ART (single-column) template provided by the event;
- Anonymization: Be properly anonymized, in compliance with the ONTOBRAS double-blind review policy.
Editorial Screening and Desk Rejection
Before being sent for peer review, all submissions will undergo editorial screening. The following will be automatically rejected without review:
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- Works outside the scope of ONTOBRAS 2026;
- Submissions that exceed the page limit;
- Works that do not follow the CEUR-ART template;
- Articles that are not properly anonymized;
- Submissions that do not include the mandatory “Generative AI Declaration” section.
Publication
Accepted papers will be published in the proceedings of ONTOBRAS 2026 at CEUR-WS as part of the IAOA series.
Publication of accepted papers is conditioned on:
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- Registration: The registration of at least one of the authors for ONTOBRAS 2026; and
- Presentation: The in-person presentation of the paper on September 23, 2026.
Failure to present the paper will result in its automatic exclusion from the proceedings.