Using a Reference Ontology with Semantic Similarity in Ontology Alignment

The current use of semantic similarity with a reference ontology in ontology alignment (OA) systems is reviewed. An extended matcher is described that incorporates semantic similarity with the use of a reference ontology. This matcher has been implemented using as a basis AgreementMaker’s mediating matcher. Specific experiments using the OAEI anatomy track are performed using the Uberon ontology as the reference ontology. The results of these experiments are compared to the OAEI 2011 results for the anatomy track. These show that semantic similarity measures can be useful for discovering mappings missed by the original mediating matcher. The use of semantic similarity with a reference ontology should be further investigated in the effort to improve the OA process.