Identifiers and citation

Choose an identifier according to what you want to cite.

Identifier paths

The default vocabulary uses /vocabulary. Community vocabularies add a community slug. Definition and revision paths extend the term path.

/vocabulary/{term}
/vocabulary/{community}/{term}
/vocabulary/{community}/{term}/definitions/{number}
/vocabulary/{community}/{term}/definitions/{number}/revisions/{version}

Omit {community}/ for a term in the default vocabulary. Two vocabularies can use the same label for distinct concepts with independent definitions. A collection reference retains the identifier of the owning vocabulary.

Term slugs

A term receives a readable slug at creation. For example, "density functional theory (DFT)" becomes density_functional_theory_dft. A suffix such as _2 distinguishes a collision within one vocabulary. It is not a rank. The assigned slug remains fixed when a display label changes.

Identifier policy specifies the normalization and namespace rules.

Definition and revision numbers

Definitions receive permanent creation-order numbers within a term. Each definition has its own revision sequence, so Definition 1 and Definition 2 can each have revision 1. An author edit or restoration increments the revision number and retains the definition number. Votes and model attribution do not change these numbers.

Numeric legacy routes, such as /definition/{id}, redirect to readable paths. Use the readable identifier in new citations.

Tags, facets and collections

/tags/{scheme}
/tags/{scheme}/{tag}
/collections/{collection}

For example, /tags/pspp/processing identifies the Processing facet. Community topics use /tags/topics. Slugs remain fixed. A merged tag redirects to its replacement, and a retired tag without a replacement retains a status page. Numeric legacy tag links redirect to readable paths.

Live rank lookup

Append /rank/{rank} to a term path to open the candidate at that rank. For example, /vocabulary/id4/data/rank/1 follows the leading candidate. The destination can change with votes and new revisions. Use a definition or revision identifier for a citation that must identify one candidate.

Citation

Retain the persistent https://w3id.org/matsci-sam identifier shown on the page. These patterns illustrate the three citation choices.

https://w3id.org/matsci-sam/vocabulary/id4/data
https://w3id.org/matsci-sam/vocabulary/id4/data/definitions/{number}
https://w3id.org/matsci-sam/vocabulary/id4/data/definitions/{number}/revisions/{version}

Replace placeholders with the displayed numbers. Cite the term for a dataset field or glossary concept. Cite a revision for a quotation or reproducible analysis of exact wording. A revision fixes definition text, while the page may also display examples added later.

Machine-readable forms

Request text/turtle or application/ld+json at a readable vocabulary, term, definition, or revision address. A 303 response points to the matching /skos.ttl or /skos.jsonld document. Term history uses /provenance, /provenance.ttl, and /provenance.jsonld.

The RDF names the canonical candidate with matsci:canonicalDefinition and its active revision with matsci:currentRevision. Metadata access lists other exports.

Persistent resolution

The w3id namespace redirects to the website serving MatSci-SAM. Retain the w3id in citations even when the browser displays a different website address. The website location can change independently of the identifier.

Ordinary edits preserve definition and revision addresses. Exceptional administrator cleanup permanently removes test definitions and revisions. Removed numbers are not reassigned. See the stability policy.