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On the Interplay Between Validation and Inference in Shapes Constraint Language – An Investigation on the Time Ontology

Livio Robaldo Orcid Logo, Sotiris Batsakis

Semantic Web: – Interoperability, Usability, Applicability, Volume: 17, Issue: 3

Swansea University Author: Livio Robaldo Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1177/22104968261440710

Abstract

This paper presents a Shapes Constraint Language (SHACL)-based framework for validating the Time Ontology (https://www.w3.org/TR/owl-time). The Time Ontology, currently a W3C Candidate Recommendation, is widely recognized as the ‘de facto’ standard for representing temporal data in the Semantic Web....

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Published in: Semantic Web: – Interoperability, Usability, Applicability
ISSN: 1570-0844 2210-4968
Published: SAGE Publications 2026
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71564
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spelling v2 71564 2026-03-05 On the Interplay Between Validation and Inference in Shapes Constraint Language – An Investigation on the Time Ontology b711cf9f3a7821ec52bd1e53b4f6cf9e 0000-0003-4713-8990 Livio Robaldo Livio Robaldo true false 2026-03-05 HRCL This paper presents a Shapes Constraint Language (SHACL)-based framework for validating the Time Ontology (https://www.w3.org/TR/owl-time). The Time Ontology, currently a W3C Candidate Recommendation, is widely recognized as the ‘de facto’ standard for representing temporal data in the Semantic Web. However, its current OWL axiomatization cannot enforce several validation constraints on temporal knowledge that can be expressed using the Time Ontology vocabulary. These constraints are instead captured by the SHACL formalization proposed in this paper. Nevertheless, we show that SHACL shapes are insufficient to validate even simple knowledge graphs that can be encoded using this vocabulary. This limitation arises because validation must be performed on the inferred knowledge graph, which SHACL shapes alone cannot derive internally. To address this, our framework first computes the inferred knowledge graph using SHACL-SPARQL rules and then validates it through SHACL shapes. We argue that our findings extend beyond the Time Ontology and have broader implications for SHACL and knowledge graph reasoning. We therefore view our work as a call to action for the Semantic Web community to systematically investigate the interplay between validation and inference. Specifically, there is a need to study the representational requirements of different use cases to identify the minimal set of SHACL shapes and inference rules for data validation in each context. These efforts could ultimately lead to the definition of distinct SHACL dialects, analogous to how OWL Lite, OWL DL, and other profiles were defined for OWL. The shapes and rules that define the proposed framework are available at https://github.com/liviorobaldo/TimeOntologyInSHACL. Journal Article Semantic Web: – Interoperability, Usability, Applicability 17 3 SAGE Publications 1570-0844 2210-4968 time ontology, encoding temporal knowledge, validation and inference in Shapes Constraint Language 1 5 2026 2026-05-01 10.1177/22104968261440710 COLLEGE NANME Hillary Rodham Clinton Law School COLLEGE CODE HRCL Swansea University Other 2026-04-30T14:08:07.8215486 2026-03-05T14:31:44.7584018 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Hilary Rodham Clinton School of Law Livio Robaldo 0000-0003-4713-8990 1 Sotiris Batsakis 2 71564__36644__e9a14e61786b4e2894ada5fd44eeab1d.pdf 71564.VOR.pdf 2026-04-30T14:04:04.6880931 Output 1755776 application/pdf Version of Record true © The Author(s) 2026. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. true eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title On the Interplay Between Validation and Inference in Shapes Constraint Language – An Investigation on the Time Ontology
spellingShingle On the Interplay Between Validation and Inference in Shapes Constraint Language – An Investigation on the Time Ontology
Livio Robaldo
title_short On the Interplay Between Validation and Inference in Shapes Constraint Language – An Investigation on the Time Ontology
title_full On the Interplay Between Validation and Inference in Shapes Constraint Language – An Investigation on the Time Ontology
title_fullStr On the Interplay Between Validation and Inference in Shapes Constraint Language – An Investigation on the Time Ontology
title_full_unstemmed On the Interplay Between Validation and Inference in Shapes Constraint Language – An Investigation on the Time Ontology
title_sort On the Interplay Between Validation and Inference in Shapes Constraint Language – An Investigation on the Time Ontology
author_id_str_mv b711cf9f3a7821ec52bd1e53b4f6cf9e
author_id_fullname_str_mv b711cf9f3a7821ec52bd1e53b4f6cf9e_***_Livio Robaldo
author Livio Robaldo
author2 Livio Robaldo
Sotiris Batsakis
format Journal article
container_title Semantic Web: – Interoperability, Usability, Applicability
container_volume 17
container_issue 3
publishDate 2026
institution Swansea University
issn 1570-0844
2210-4968
doi_str_mv 10.1177/22104968261440710
publisher SAGE Publications
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str Hilary Rodham Clinton School of Law{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}Hilary Rodham Clinton School of Law
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description This paper presents a Shapes Constraint Language (SHACL)-based framework for validating the Time Ontology (https://www.w3.org/TR/owl-time). The Time Ontology, currently a W3C Candidate Recommendation, is widely recognized as the ‘de facto’ standard for representing temporal data in the Semantic Web. However, its current OWL axiomatization cannot enforce several validation constraints on temporal knowledge that can be expressed using the Time Ontology vocabulary. These constraints are instead captured by the SHACL formalization proposed in this paper. Nevertheless, we show that SHACL shapes are insufficient to validate even simple knowledge graphs that can be encoded using this vocabulary. This limitation arises because validation must be performed on the inferred knowledge graph, which SHACL shapes alone cannot derive internally. To address this, our framework first computes the inferred knowledge graph using SHACL-SPARQL rules and then validates it through SHACL shapes. We argue that our findings extend beyond the Time Ontology and have broader implications for SHACL and knowledge graph reasoning. We therefore view our work as a call to action for the Semantic Web community to systematically investigate the interplay between validation and inference. Specifically, there is a need to study the representational requirements of different use cases to identify the minimal set of SHACL shapes and inference rules for data validation in each context. These efforts could ultimately lead to the definition of distinct SHACL dialects, analogous to how OWL Lite, OWL DL, and other profiles were defined for OWL. The shapes and rules that define the proposed framework are available at https://github.com/liviorobaldo/TimeOntologyInSHACL.
published_date 2026-05-01T14:08:09Z
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