CiTO, the Citation Typing Ontology
type: Ontology
version IRI: http://purl.org/spar/cito/2026-06-22
imports: situation.owl
contributor: Paolo Ciccarese
contributor: Sebastian Barzaghi
contributor: Tim Clark
creator: David Shotton
creator: Silvio Peroni
date: 2026-06-22
abstract: The _Citation Typing Ontology_ (_CiTO_) is an ontology written in OWL 2 DL to enable characterization of the nature or type of citations, both factually and rhetorically, and to permit these descriptions to be published on the Web.
bibliographic citation: Peroni, S., Shotton, D. (2012). FaBiO and CiTO: ontologies for describing bibliographic resources and citations. In Journal of Web Semantics, 17: 33-43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.websem.2012.08.001. Open Access at: http://speroni.web.cs.unibo.it/publications/peroni-2012-fabio-cito-ontologies.pdf
created: 2017-10-30
description: ## Description The _Citation Typing Ontology_ (_CiTO_) makes it possible for authors (or others) to mark citation links and to capture their citation intent (e.g., `cito:extends`, `cito:usesMethodIn`, `cito:supports`) when someone cites a particular publication. In particular, CiTO allows one to create metadata describing citations that are distinct from metadata describing the cited works themselves, and permits the motives of an author when referring to another document to be captured. CiTO contains just two main object properties, `cito:cites` and its inverse `cito:isCitedBy`, each of which has forty-one sub-properties, plus four additional generic object properties – i.e. `cito:shareAuthorWith`, `cito:sharesAuthorInstitutionWith`, `cito:sharesFundingAgencyWith` and `cito:likes` – that may be used even outside a citation. As defined in _Functions of Citations Ontology_, all these properties (and, consequently, their inverses) may be classified as rhetorical and/or factual, with the rhetorical properties being grouped in three sets depending on their connotation: positive, informative (or neutral) or negative. Note that all the domain and range constraints from the object properties are not defined, so that this ontology could be easily integrated with other models, e.g., [FaBiO](http://purl.org/spar/fabio). CiTO makes available a mechanism that permits the citation itself to be reified, so that it can become the subject or object of other RDF statements. In particular, the reifying class is `cito:Citation`, and its accompanying object properties, i.e., `cito:hasCitingEntity`, `cito:hasCitationCharacterization` and `cito:hasCitedEntity`, can be employed to reify direct citation statements made using the CiTO citation object property `cito:cites` or one of its sub-properties. ## Examples of use In the following subsections, we introduce some examples to showcase how to use CiTO. The prefixes that are used in all the examples provided below are defined as follows: @…
issued: 2017-10-30
license: legalcode
modified: 2026-06-22
publisher: 00wb4mk85
doi: 10.1016/j.websem.2012.08.001
preferred namespace prefix: cito
preferred namespace uri: http://purl.org/spar/cito/
comment: The Citation Typing Ontology (CiTO) is an ontology that enables characterization of the nature or type of citations, both factually and rhetorically. **URL:** http://purl.org/spar/cito **Creators**: [David Shotton](http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5506-523X), [Silvio Peroni](http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0530-4305) **Contributors:** [Paolo Ciccarese](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5156-2703), [Tim Clark](https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4060-7360) **License:** [Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode) **Website:** http://www.sparontologies.net/ontologies/cito **Cite as:** Peroni, S., Shotton, D. (2012). FaBiO and CiTO: ontologies for describing bibliographic resources and citations. In Journal of Web Semantics, 17: 33-43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.websem.2012.08.001. Open Access at: http://speroni.web.cs.unibo.it/publications/peroni-2012-fabio-cito-ontologies.pdf
backward compatible with: http://purl.org/spar/cito/2018-02-16
prior version: http://purl.org/spar/cito/2018-02-16
version info: 2.8.2
code repository: cito
included in data catalog: fairsharing.org
status: Published version
introduction: The _Citation Typing Ontology_ (_CiTO_) is an ontology written in OWL 2 DL to enable characterization of the nature or type of citations, both factually and rhetorically, and to permit these descriptions to be published on the Web. The citations characterized may be either direct and explicit (as in the reference list of a journal article), indirect (e.g. a citation to a more recent paper by the same research group on the same topic), or implicit (e.g. as in artistic quotations or parodies, or in cases of plagiarism). CiTO contains the object property `cito:cites` and its sub-properties, and its inverse property `cito:isCitedBy`, from the original Citation Typing Ontology (CiTO v1.6). Upon the creation of version 2.0 of CiTO, a number of new sub-properties of `cito:cites` were added, and the inverse properties of all the sub-properties of `cito:cites` were created, all of which are sub-properties of `cito:isCitedBy`. The ontology has also been integrated with the _SWAN Discourse Relationships Ontology_ by making `cito:cites` a sub-property of `http://purl.org/swan/2.0/discourse-relationships/refersTo`. Restrictions of domain and range present in the previous version of CiTO were removed from the object properties when creating CiTO v2.0, permitting its independent use in other contexts, in addition to conventional bibliographic citations. So that they can be used independently, other entities that were previously included in CiTO v1.6 have now been made components of other SPAR ontologies: _FaBiO_, the _FRBR-aligned Bibliographic Ontology_; _C4O_, the _Citation Counting and Context Characterization Ontology_; and _PSO_, the _Publication Status Ontology_. The addition of two new properties (`cito:usesConclusionsFrom` and its inverse `cito:providesConclusionsFor`) led to a version number increment from v2.0 to v2.1. The addition of two additional properties, `cito:compiles` and `cito:isCompiledBy`, previously in the deprecated _CiTO4Data_ ontology, led to a version in…

agrees with
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
inverse of: is agreed with by
example: # We share Galileo's opinion: the Earth moves [X]. :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:agreesWith :paperB .
comment: The citing entity agrees with statements, ideas or conclusions presented in the cited entity.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: We share Galileo's opinion: the Earth moves [X].

cites
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: refersTo
inverse of: is cited by
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:cites :paperB .
comment: The citing entity cites the cited entity, either directly and explicitly (as in the reference list of a journal article), indirectly (e.g. by citing a more recent paper by the same group on the same topic), or implicitly (e.g. as in artistic quotations or parodies, or in cases of plagiarism).
term status: stable

cites as authority
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
inverse of: is cited as authority by
example: # Newton asserted that we are like dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants [X]. :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:citesAsAuthority :paperB .
comment: The citing entity cites the cited entity as one that provides an authoritative description or definition of the subject under discussion.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: Newton asserted that we are like dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants [X].

cites as data source
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
inverse of: is cited as data source by
example: # Italy has more than ten thousand kilometers of shoreline: see [X]. :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:citesAsDataSource :paperB .
comment: The citing entity cites the cited entity as source of data.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: Italy has more than ten thousand kilometers of shoreline: see [X].

cites as evidence
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
inverse of: is cited as evidence by
example: # We found an unquestionable demonstration of our hypothesis in [X]. :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:citesAsEvidence :paperB .
comment: The citing entity cites the cited entity as source of factual evidence for statements it contains.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: We found an unquestionable demonstration of our hypothesis in [X].

cites as metadata document
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
inverse of: is cited as metadata document by
example: # Basic bibliographic entity and project metadata relating to this article recorded in a structured machine-readable form is available as an additional file [X] accompanying this paper. :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:citesAsEvidence :paperB .
comment: The citing entity cites the cited entity as being the container of metadata describing the citing entity.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: Basic bibliographic, entity and project metadata relating to this article, recorded in a structured machine-readable form, is available as an additional file [X] accompanying this paper.

cites as potential solution
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
inverse of: is cited as potential solution by
example: # This risk could be avoided using the approach shown in [X]. :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:citesAsPotentialSolution :paperB .
comment: The citing entity cites the cited entity as providing or containing a possible solution to the issues being discussed.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: This risk could be avoided using the approach shown in [X].

cites as recommended reading
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
inverse of: is cited as recommended reading by
example: # To our knowledge [X] is the best source of exercises about UML, making it a valuable proposal for beginners. :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:citesAsRecommendedReading :paperB .
comment: The citing entity cites the cited entity as an item of recommended reading.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: To our knowledge, [X] is the best source of exercises about UML, making it a valuable proposal for beginners. This property can be used, for example, to describe references in a lecture reading list, where the cited references are relevant to the general topic of the lecture, but might not be individually cited within the text of the lecture. Similarly, it could be used to describe items in a 'Suggested further reading' list at the end of a book chapter.

cites as related
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
inverse of: is cited as related by
example: # An analysis similar to what we proposed here is presented in [X]. :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:citesAsRelated :paperB .
comment: The citing entity cites the cited entity as one that is related.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: An analysis similar to what we proposed here is presented in [X].

cites as source document
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
inverse of: is cited as source document by
example: # Several sections of this work are based on our literature review of the topic published as journal article [X]. :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:citesAsSourceDocument :paperB .
comment: The citing entity cites the cited entity as being the entity from which the citing entity is derived, or about which the citing entity contains metadata.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: Several sections of this work are based on our literature review of the topic published as journal article [X].

cites for information
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
inverse of: is cited for information by
example: # The grammar of Pascal was introduced in [X]. :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:citesForInformation :paperB .
comment: The citing entity cites the cited entity as a source of information on the subject under discussion.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: The grammar of Pascal was introduced in [X].

compiles
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
inverse of: is compiled by
example: # This book gathers interviews with academic researchers of several disciplines [X]. :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:compiles :paperB .
comment: The citing entity is used to create or compile the cited entity.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: This book gathers interviews with academic researchers of several disciplines [X].
scope note: Note: This property has been imported from the CiTO4Data ontology, usage of which has been deprecated.

confirms
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
inverse of: is confirmed by
example: # Our findings are similar to those published in [X]. :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:confirms :paperB .
comment: The citing entity confirms facts, ideas or statements presented in the cited entity.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: Our findings are similar to those published in [X].

contains assertion from
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
inverse of: provides assertion for
example: # We think that to stand on the top of giants [X] is a valuable principle to follow for our own research. :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:containsAssertionFrom :paperB .
comment: The citing entity contains a statement of fact or a logical assertion (or a collection of such facts and/or assertions) originally present in the cited entity.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: We think that to stand on the top of giants [X] is a valuable principle to follow for our own research. This object property is designed to be used to relate a separate abstract, summary or nanopublication to the cited entity upon which it is based.

corrects
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
inverse of: is corrected by
example: ## The result published in [X] is partially wrong, the correct result is 42. :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:corrects :paperB .
comment: The citing entity corrects statements, ideas or conclusions presented in the cited entity.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: The result published in [X] is partially wrong, the correct result is 42.

credits
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
inverse of: is credited by
example: # Galileo was the first to observe Jupiter's satellites [X]. :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:credits :paperB .
comment: The citing entity acknowledges contributions made by the cited entity.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: Galileo was the first to observe Jupiter's satellites [X].

critiques
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
inverse of: is critiqued by
example: # The ideas presented in [X] are badly substantantiated. :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:critiques :paperB .
comment: The citing entity critiques statements, ideas or conclusions presented in the cited entity.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: The ideas presented in [X] are badly substantantiated.

derides
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
inverse of: is derided by
example: # The ideas published in [X] are incredibly stupid. :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:derides :paperB .
comment: The citing entity express derision for the cited entity, or for ideas or conclusions contained within it.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: The ideas published in [X] are incredibly stupid.

describes
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
inverse of: is described by
example: # Galileo's book [X] is a dialog among three scientists about Copernicus' eliocentric theory. :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:describes :paperB .
comment: The citing entity describes the cited entity.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: Galileo's book [X] is a dialog among three scientists about Copernicus' eliocentric theory.

disagrees with
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
inverse of: is disagreed with by
example: # We do not share Galileo's opinion [X]: the Earth does not move. :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:disagreesWith :paperB .
comment: The citing entity disagrees with statements, ideas or conclusions presented in the cited entity.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: We do not share Galileo's opinion [X]: the Earth does not move.

discusses
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
inverse of: is discussed by
example: # We now examine if Galileo is right when he writes [X] that the Earth moves. :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:discusses :paperB .
comment: The citing entity discusses statements, ideas or conclusions presented in the cited entity.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: We now examine if Galileo is right when he writes [X] that the Earth moves.

disputes
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
inverse of: is disputed by
example: # We doubt that Galileo is right when he writes [X] that the Earth moves. :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:disputes :paperB .
comment: The citing entity disputes statements, ideas or conclusions presented in the cited entity.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: We doubt that Galileo is right when he writes [X] that the Earth moves.

documents
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
inverse of: is documented by
example: # Herein we report in detail the complete set of ontological rules defined in the Overlapping Ontology [X]. :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:documents :paperB .
comment: The citing entity documents information about the cited entity.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: Herein we report in detail the complete set of ontological rules defined in the Overlapping Ontology [X].

extends
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
inverse of: is extended by
example: # We add to Galileo's findings concerning the Earth [X] that also the Moon moves. :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:extends :paperB .
comment: The citing entity extends facts, ideas or understandings presented in the cited entity.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: We add to Galileo's findings concerning the Earth [X] that also the Moon moves.

gives background to
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
inverse of: obtains background from
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:givesBackgroundTo :paperB .
comment: The cited entity provides background information for the citing entity.
term status: stable

gives support to
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
inverse of: obtains support from
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:givesSupportTo :paperB .
comment: The cited entity provides intellectual or factual support for the citing entity.
term status: stable

has citation characterization
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: isSettingFor
example: :my-citation a cito:Citation ; cito:hasCitationCharacterization cito:extends ;
comment: A property that links a citation to its characterization made by using a CiTO citation characterization property such as cito:extends.
term status: stable
scope note: This usage involved OWL2 punning, whenby a CiTO object property, such as the aforementioned cito:extends, is used as the object of an OWL assertion. In such cases of OWL punning, the CiTO object properties are simultaneously considered both as normal object properties and also as proper named individuals of the class owl:Thing.

has cited entity
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: isSettingFor
example: :my-citation a cito:Citation ; cito:hasCitedEntity :paperB .
comment: A property that relates a citation to the cited entity.
term status: stable

has citing entity
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: isSettingFor
example: :my-citation a cito:Citation ; cito:hasCitingEntity :paperA .
comment: A property that relates a citation to the citing entity.
term status: stable

has reply from
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
inverse of: replies to
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:hasReplyFrom :paperB .
comment: The cited entity evokes a reply from the citing entity.
term status: stable

includes excerpt from
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
inverse of: provides excerpt for
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:includesExcerptFrom :paperB .
comment: The citing entity includes one or more excerpts from the cited entity.
term status: stable
scope note: An excerpt is more general than a quotation. It is generally used to indicate a re-published extract from a book, instruction manual, film, radio programme, etc, that need not be what someone said. For example: Oxford 01865 Oxshott 01372 Oxted 01883 Oxton 01578 is an excerpt from the UK Dialling Codes section of the Oxford Telephone Directory.
scope note: Example: In her work, the author states that even though most Human Information Behaviour researchers are familiar with the literature related to their studies, it is not uncommon for investigators to fail to see the benefits they may gain from previous mistakes [X].

includes quotation from
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
inverse of: provides quotation for
example: # As Newton wrote in [X]: 'We are like dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants' :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:includesQuotationFrom :paperB .
comment: The citing entity includes one or more quotations from the cited entity.
term status: stable
scope note: A quotation is a repetition of what someone has said, and is presented 'within quotation marks', for example: On June 4th 1940, Winston Churchill made a speech on the radio that has since become famous, that included the words: ' . . . we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender . . .'
scope note: Example: As Newton wrote in [X]: 'We are like dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants'.

is agreed with by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:isAgreedWithBy :paperB .
comment: The cited entity contains statements, ideas or conclusions with which the citing entity agrees.
term status: stable

is cited as authority by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:isCitedAsAuthorityBy :paperB .
comment: The cited entity is cited as providing an authoritative description or definition of the subject under discussion in the citing entity.
term status: stable

is cited as data source by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:isCitedAsDataSourceBy :paperB .
comment: The cited entity is cited as a data source by the citing entity.
term status: stable

is cited as evidence by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:isCitedAsEvidenceBy :paperB .
comment: The cited entity is cited for providing factual evidence to the citing entity.
term status: stable

is cited as metadata document by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:isCitedAsMetadataDocumentBy :paperB .
comment: The cited entity is cited as being the container of metadata relating to the citing entity.
term status: stable

is cited as potential solution by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:isCitedAsPontentialSolutionBy :paperB .
comment: The cited entity is cited as providing or containing a possible solution to the issues being discussed in the citing entity.
term status: stable

is cited as recommended reading by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:isCitedAsRecommendedReadingBy :paperB .
comment: The cited entity is cited by the citing entity as an item of recommended reading.
term status: stable
scope note: This property can be used, for example, to describe references in a lecture reading list, where the cited references are relevant to the general topic of the lecture, but might not be individually cited within the text of the lecture. Similarly, it could be used to describe items in a 'Suggested further reading' list at the end of a book chapter.

is cited as related by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:isCitedAsRelatedBy :paperB .
comment: The cited entity is cited as being related to the citing entity.
term status: stable

is cited as source document by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:isCitedAsSourceDocumentBy :paperB .
comment: The cited entity is cited as being the entity from which the citing entity is derived, or about which the citing entity contains metadata.
term status: stable

is cited by
type: ObjectProperty
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:isCitedBy :paperB .
comment: The cited entity (the subject of the RDF triple) is cited by the citing entity (the object of the triple).
term status: stable

is cited for information by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:isCitedForInformationBy :paperB .
comment: The cited entity is cited as a source of information on the subject under discussion in the citing entity.
term status: stable

is compiled by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:isCompiledBy :paperB .
comment: The cited entity is the result of a compile or creation event using the citing entity.
term status: stable
scope note: Note: This property has been imported from the CiTO4Data ontology, usage of which has been deprecated.

is confirmed by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:isConfirmedBy :paperB .
comment: The cited entity presents facts, ideas or statements that are confirmed by the citing entity.
term status: stable

is corrected by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:isCorrectedBy :paperB .
comment: The cited entity presents statements, ideas or conclusions that are corrected by the citing entity.
term status: stable

is credited by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:isCreditedBy :paperB .
comment: The cited entity makes contributions that are acknowledged by the citing entity.
term status: stable

is critiqued by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:isCritiquedBy :paperB .
comment: The cited entity presents statements, ideas or conclusions that are critiqued by the citing entity.
term status: stable

is derided by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:isDeridedBy :paperB .
comment: The cited entity contains ideas or conclusions for which the citing entity express derision.
term status: stable

is described by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:isDescribedBy :paperB .
comment: The cited entity is described by the citing entity.
term status: stable

is disagreed with by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:isDisagreedWithBy :paperB .
comment: The cited entity presents statements, ideas or conclusions that are disagreed with by the citing entity.
term status: stable

is discussed by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:isDiscussedBy :paperB .
comment: The cited entity presents statements, ideas or conclusions that are discussed by the citing entity.
term status: stable

is disputed by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:isDisputedBy :paperB .
comment: The cited entity presents statements, ideas or conclusions that are disputed by the citing entity.
term status: stable

is documented by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:isDocumentedBy :paperB .
comment: Information about the cited entity is documented by the citing entity.
term status: stable

is extended by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:isExtendedBy :paperB .
comment: The cited entity presents facts, ideas or understandings that are extended by the citing entity.
term status: stable

is linked to by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
inverse of: links to
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:isLinkedToBy :paperB .
comment: The cited entity is the target for an HTTP Uniform Resource Locator (URL) link within the citing entity.
term status: stable

is parodied by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
inverse of: parodies
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:isParodiedBy :paperB .
comment: The characteristic style or content of the cited entity is imitated by the citing entity for comic effect, usually without explicit citation.
term status: stable

is plagiarized by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
inverse of: plagiarizes
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:isPlagiarizedBy :paperB .
comment: The cited entity is plagiarized by the author of the citing entity, who includes within the citing entity textual or other elements from the cited entity without formal acknowledgement of their source. The cited entity is thus not explicitly cited from within the citing entity, according to the norms of scholarly practice, but is cited implicitly.
term status: stable

is qualified by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
inverse of: qualifies
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:isQualifiedBy :paperB .
comment: The cited entity presents statements, ideas or conclusions that are qualified or have conditions placed upon them by the citing entity.
term status: stable

is refuted by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
inverse of: refutes
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:isRefutedBy :paperB .
comment: The cited entity presents statements, ideas or conclusions that are refuted by the citing entity.
term status: stable

is retracted by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
inverse of: retracts
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:isRetractedBy :paperB .
comment: The cited entity is formally retracted by the citing entity.
term status: stable

is reviewed by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
inverse of: reviews
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:isReviewedBy :paperB .
comment: The cited entity presents statements, ideas or conclusions that are reviewed by the citing entity.
term status: stable

is ridiculed by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
inverse of: ridicules
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:isRidiculedBy :paperB .
comment: The cited entity or aspects of its contents are ridiculed by the citing entity.
term status: stable

is speculated on by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
inverse of: speculates on
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:isSpeculatedOnBy :paperB .
comment: The cited entity is cited because the citing article contains speculations on its content or ideas.
term status: stable

is supported by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
inverse of: supports
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:isSupportedBy :paperB .
comment: The cited entity receives intellectual or factual support from the citing entity.
term status: stable

is updated by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
inverse of: updates
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:isUpdatedBy :paperB .
comment: The cited entity presents statements, ideas, hypotheses or understanding that are updated by the cited entity.
term status: stable

likes
type: ObjectProperty
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:likes :paperB .
comment: A property that permits you to express appreciation of or interest in something that is the object of the RDF triple, or to express that it is worth thinking about even if you do not agree with its content, enabling social media 'likes' statements to be encoded in RDF. Use of this property does NOT imply the existence of a formal citation of the entity that is 'liked'.
term status: stable

links to
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:linksTo :paperB .
comment: The citing entity provides a link, in the form of an HTTP Uniform Resource Locator (URL), to the cited entity.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: The BioSharing registry (https://biosharing.org) can be of use as it describes the standards in detail, including versions where applicable.

obtains background from
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:obtainsBackgroundFrom :paperB .
comment: The citing entity obtains background information from the cited entity.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: There is a need for more observational studies and studies using narrative causation to describe the potential contribution of information in problem-solving and decision-making [X]; our work addresses these needs.

obtains support from
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:obtainsSupportFrom :paperB .
comment: The citing entity obtains intellectual or factual support from the cited entity.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: Our ideas were also shared by Doe et al. [X].

parodies
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:parodies :paperB .
comment: The citing entity imitates the characteristic style or content of the cited entity for comic effect, usually without explicit citation.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: We act as giants on the shoulders of dwarfs [X]!

plagiarizes
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:plagiarizes :paperB .
comment: A property indicating that the author of the citing entity plagiarizes the cited entity, by including textual or other elements from the cited entity without formal acknowledgement of their source. The citing entity thus contains no explicit citation of the cited entity, according to the norms of scholarly practice, but cites it implicitly.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: The conclusion of our dissertation can be summarised by the following motto, we created specifically for this purpose: we are like dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants.

provides assertion for
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:providesAssertionFor :paperB .
comment: The cited entity contains and is the original source of a statement of fact or a logical assertion (or a collection of such facts and/or assertions) that is to be found in the citing entity. This inverse object property is designed to be used to relate a cited entity to a separate abstract, summary or nanopublication based upon it.
term status: stable

provides conclusions for
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
inverse of: uses conclusions from
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:providesConclusionsFor :paperB .
comment: The cited entity presents conclusions that are used in work described in the citing entity.
term status: stable

provides data for
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
inverse of: uses data from
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:providesDataFor :paperB .
comment: The cited entity presents data that are used in work described in the citing entity.
term status: stable

provides excerpt for
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:providesExcerptFor :paperB .
comment: The cited entity contains information, usually of a textual nature, that is excerpted by (used as an excerpt within) the citing entity.
term status: stable

provides method for
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
inverse of: uses method in
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:providesMethodFor :paperB .
comment: The cited entity details a method that is used in work described by the citing entity.
term status: stable

provides quotation for
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is cited by
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:providesQuotationFor :paperB .
comment: The cited entity contains information, usually of a textual nature, that is quoted by (used as a quotation within) the citing entity.
term status: stable

qualifies
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:qualifies :paperB .
comment: The citing entity qualifies or places conditions or restrictions upon statements, ideas or conclusions presented in the cited entity.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: Galileo's masterpiece 'Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo' [X] is formally a dialog and substantially a scientific pamphlet.

refutes
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:refutes :paperB .
comment: The citing entity refutes statements, ideas or conclusions presented in the cited entity.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: We do not think that all their arguments in favour of their own and against the other strategies are equally convincing [X].

replies to
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:repliesTo :paperB .
comment: The citing entity replies to statements, ideas or criticisms presented in the cited entity.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: We will not investigate the issues of the approach proposed in [X] here, but rather we introduce yet another alternative.

retracts
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:retracts :paperB .
comment: The citing entity constitutes a formal retraction of the cited entity.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: We wrote that the Earth moves in [X]; we now retire such statement.

reviews
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:reviews :paperB .
comment: The citing entity reviews statements, ideas or conclusions presented in the cited entity.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: This paper discusses Toulmin's methodology in modelling argumentation [X], focussing on highlighting advantages and drawbacks of the application of such a methodology in the Social Web.

ridicules
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:ridicules :paperB .
comment: The citing entity ridicules the cited entity or aspects of its contents.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: Galileo said that the Earth "moves" [X]; really? And where is it going?

shares author institution with
type: ObjectProperty
type: SymmetricProperty
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:sharesAuthorInstitutionWith :paperB .
comment: Each entity has at least one author that shares a common institutional affiliation with an author of the other entity.
term status: stable

shares author with
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: topObjectProperty
type: SymmetricProperty
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:sharesAuthorWith :paperB .
comment: Each entity has at least one author in common with the other entity.
term status: stable

shares funding agency with
type: ObjectProperty
type: SymmetricProperty
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:sharesFundingAgencyWith :paperB .
comment: The two entities result from activities that have been funded by the same funding agency.
term status: stable

shares journal with
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: shares publication venue with
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:sharesJournalWith :paperB .
comment: The citing and cited bibliographic resources are published in the same journal.
term status: stable

shares publication venue with
type: ObjectProperty
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:sharesPublicationVenueWith :paperB .
comment: The citing and cited bibliographic resources are published in same publication venue.
term status: stable

speculates on
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:speculatesOn :paperB .
comment: The citing entity speculates on something within or related to the cited entity, without firm evidence.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: We believe that if Galileo believed that Earth goes around the Sun [X], he also should believe that Moon goes around Earth.

supports
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:supports :paperB .
comment: The citing entity provides intellectual or factual support for statements, ideas or conclusions presented in the cited entity.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: We support Galileo's statement [X], that Earth moves.

updates
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:updates :paperB .
comment: The citing entity updates statements, ideas, hypotheses or understanding presented in the cited entity.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: Earth moves, said Galileo [X]; in addition, we can say now it moves very fast.

uses conclusions from
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:usesConclusionsFrom :paperB .
comment: The citing entity describes work that uses conclusions presented in the cited entity.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: Building upon Galileo's findings [X], we discovered that all the planets move.

uses data from
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:usesDataFrom :paperB .
comment: The citing entity describes work that uses data presented in the cited entity.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: Using the information collected from our recent study [X], we can estimate that there are tens of millions of HTML forms with potentially useful deep-web content.

uses method in
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:usesMethodIn :paperB .
comment: The citing entity describes work that uses a method detailed in the cited entity.
term status: stable
scope note: Example: We follow [X] in using design patterns for testing.

citation
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: cites
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; schema:citation :paperB .
comment: A citation or reference to another creative work, such as another publication, web page, scholarly article, etc.
term status: stable
scope note: This property is defined in schema.org and has been added here to align schema.org with CiTO. The object property schema:citation expresses similar semantics to cito:cites except for the explicit definition of domain and range classes, that are schema:CreativeWork according to schema.org. For that reason, it is here defined as a subproperty of cito:cites.

has citation creation date
type: DatatypeProperty
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:hasCitationCreationDate '2025-06-16'^^xsd:date .
comment: The date on which the citation was created. This has the same numerical value as the publication date of the citing bibliographic resource, but is a property of the citation itself. When combined with the citation time span, it permits that citation to be located in history.
term status: stable

has citation time span
type: DatatypeProperty
domain: citation
range: duration
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:hasCitationTimeSpan 'P1Y'^^xsd:duration .
comment: The temporal characteristic of a citation, namely the interval between the publication date of the cited entity and the publication date of the citing entity. Note that when one or both of the publication dates is given as just 'year', then the citation time span is rounded to the nearest year, and when one or both of the publication dates is given as just 'year and month', then the citation time span is rounded to the nearest month, with the inherent inaccuracies that such rounding involves.
term status: stable

has co-authorship citation level
type: DatatypeProperty
type: FunctionalProperty
domain: author network self citation
range: positiveInteger
example: :paperA a fabio:JournalArticle ; cito:hasCoAuthorshipCitationLevel '2'^^xsd:positiveInteger .
comment: This property specifies the minimal distance that one of the authors of the citing entity has with regards to one of the authors of the cited entity, according to their co-authorship network.
term status: stable
scope note: For instance, a citation has a co-authorship citation level equal to 1 if at least one author of the citing entity has previously published as co-author with one of the authors of the cited entity. Similarly, we say that a citation has a co-authorship citation level equal to 2 if at least one author of the citing entity has previously published as co-author with someone who him/herself has previously published as co-author with one of the authors of the cited entity. And so on.

affilation self citation
type: Class
subclass of: self citation
example: # The following cito:AffiliationSelfCitation resource :thisCitation a cito:AffiliationSelfCitation ; cito:hasCitingEntity :paperA ; cito:hasCitationCharacterization cito:extends ; cito:hasCitedEntity :paperB . # can be alternatively described as follows :paperA cito:extends :paperB . :paperA cito:sharesAuthorInstitutionWith :paperB .
comment: A citation in which at least one author from each of the citing and the cited entities is affiliated with the same academic institution.
term status: stable
scope note: Like the ancestor class cito:Citation, cito:AffiliationSelfCitation and its accompanying object properties cito:hasCitingEntity, cito:hasCitedEntity and cito:hasCitationCharacterization can be employed to reify direct citation statements made using the CiTO citation object property cito:cites or one of its sub-properties, accompanied by an additional statement using cito:sharesAuthorInstitutionWith for linking the citing paper and the cited paper.

author network self citation
type: Class
subclass of: self citation
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: has co-authorship citation level
  qualified cardinality: 1
  on data range: positiveInteger
example: :thisCitation a cito:AuthorNetworkSelfCitation ; cito:hasCitingEntity :paperA ; cito:hasCitationCharacterization cito:extends ; cito:hasCoAuthorshipCitationLevel '2'^^xsd:positiveInteger ; cito:hasCitedEntity :paperB .
comment: A citation in which at least one author of the citing entity has direct or indirect co-authorship links with one of the authors of the cited entity.
term status: stable
scope note: Derived from the article 'A Small World of Citations? The Influence of Collaboration Networks on Citation Practices' by Matthew L. Wallace, Vincent Larivière and Yves Gingras, published in PLOS One (https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0033339).

author self citation
type: Class
subclass of: self citation
example: # The following cito:AuthorSelfCitation resource :thisCitation a cito:AuthorSelfCitation ; cito:hasCitingEntity :paperA ; cito:hasCitationCharacterization cito:extends ; cito:hasCitedEntity :paperB . # can be alternatively described as follows :paperA cito:extends :paperB . :paperA cito:sharesAuthorWith :paperB .
comment: A citation in which the citing and the cited entities have at least one author in common.
term status: stable
scope note: Like the ancestor class cito:Citation, cito:AuthorSelfCitation and its accompanying object properties cito:hasCitingEntity, cito:hasCitedEntity and cito:hasCitationCharacterization can be employed to reify direct citation statements made using the CiTO citation object property cito:cites or one of its sub-properties, accompanied by an additional statement using cito:sharesAuthorWith for linking the citing paper and the cited paper.

citation
type: Class
equivalent class: Class
  intersection of: Situation
  intersection of: Restriction
    on property: has citation characterization
    cardinality: 1
  intersection of: Restriction
    on property: has cited entity
    cardinality: 1
  intersection of: Restriction
    on property: has citing entity
    cardinality: 1
example: # The following RDF statement :paperA cito:extends :paperB . # can be alternatively described as follows :thisCitation a cito:Citation ; cito:hasCitingEntity :paperA ; cito:hasCitationCharacterization cito:extends ; cito:hasCitedEntity :paperB .
comment: A citation is a conceptual directional link from a citing entity to a cited entity, created by a human performative act of making a citation, typically instantiated by the inclusion of a bibliographic reference (biro:BibliographicReference) in the reference list of the citing entity, or by the inclusion within the citing entity of a link, in the form of an HTTP Uniform Resource Locator (URL), to a resource on the World Wide Web.
term status: stable
scope note: The time span of a citation, i.e. the interval between the publication year of the citing entity and the publication year of the cited entity, can be recorded using the data property cito:hasCitationTimeSpan. The nature or type of a citation can be characterized by using CiTO object properties, e.g. http://purl.org/spar/cito/citesAsDataSource (definition: “The citing entity cites the cited entity as a source of data”). This CiTO class cito:Citation and its accompanying object properties cito:hasCitingEntity, cito:hasCitedEntity and cito:hasCitationCharacterization can be employed to reify direct citation statements made using the CiTO citation object property cito:cites or one of its sub-properties. This usage involved OWL2 punning, whereby a CiTO object property, such as the aforementioned cito:extends, is used as the object of the OWL assertion. Using such OWL2 punning (described at http://www.w3.org/TR/2009/WD-owl2-new-features-20090611/#F12:_Punning), the CiTO object property is considered as a proper named individual of the class owl:Thing. Such reification of citation acts can be very useful, since it permits one to combine these CiTO properties with other vocabularies, or to handle situations in which none of the citation characterizations available in CiTO are applicable. Such situations can be resolved by the creation of a user-defined citation characterization, for example by using the Open Annotation Data Model, as explained at http://semanticpublishing.wordpress.com/2013/07/03/extending-cito-for-open-annotations/.

distant citation
type: Class
subclass of: citation
example: :thisCitation a cito:DistantCitation ; cito:hasCitingEntity :paperA ; cito:hasCitationCharacterization cito:extends ; cito:hasCitedEntity :paperB .
comment: A citation in which the citing and the cited entities have nothing significant in common with one another (for example authors, journal, institutional affiliation, or funding agency) over and beyond their subject matter.
term status: stable
scope note: Derived from the article 'A Small World of Citations? The Influence of Collaboration Networks on Citation Practices' by Matthew L. Wallace, Vincent Larivière and Yves Gingras, published in PLOS One (https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0033339).

funder self citation
type: Class
subclass of: self citation
example: # The following cito:FunderSelfCitation resource :thisCitation a cito:FunderSelfCitation ; cito:hasCitingEntity :paperA ; cito:hasCitationCharacterization cito:extends ; cito:hasCitedEntity :paperB . # can be alternatively described as follows :paperA cito:extends :paperB . :paperA cito:sharesFundingAgencyWith :paperB .
comment: A citation in which the works reported in the citing and the cited entities were funded by the same funding agency.
term status: stable
scope note: Like the ancestor class cito:Citation, cito:FunderSelfCitation and its accompanying object properties cito:hasCitingEntity, cito:hasCitedEntity and cito:hasCitationCharacterization can be employed to reify direct citation statements made using the CiTO citation object property cito:cites or one of its sub-properties, accompanied by an additional statement using cito:sharesFundingAgencyWith for linking the citing paper and the cited paper.

journal cartel citation
type: Class
subclass of: citation
example: :thisCitation a cito:JournalCartelCitation ; cito:hasCitingEntity :paperA ; cito:hasCitationCharacterization cito:extends ; cito:hasCitedEntity :paperB .
comment: A citation from one journal to another journal which forms one of a very large number of citations from the citing journal to recent articles in the cited journal, possibly undertaken as part of a citation cartel for the purpose of gaming the impact factor of the cited journal.
term status: stable
scope note: Derived from the blog post 'What do we know about journal citation cartels? A call for information' by Philippe Mongeon, Ludo Waltman and Sarah de Rijcke (https://www.cwts.nl/blog?article=n-q2w2b4).

journal self citation
type: Class
subclass of: self citation
example: # The following cito:AffiliationSelfCitation resource :thisCitation a cito:AffiliationSelfCitation ; cito:hasCitingEntity :paperA ; cito:hasCitationCharacterization cito:extends ; cito:hasCitedEntity :paperB . # can be alternatively described as follows :paperA cito:extends :paperB . :paperA cito:sharesAuthorInstitutionWith :paperB .
comment: A citation in which the citing and the cited entities are published in the same journal.
term status: stable
scope note: Like the ancestor class cito:Citation, cito:JournalSelfCitation and its accompanying object properties cito:hasCitingEntity, cito:hasCitedEntity and cito:hasCitationCharacterization can be employed to reify direct citation statements made using the CiTO citation object property cito:cites or one of its sub-properties, accompanied by an additional statement using cito:sharesJournalWith for linking the citing paper and the cited paper. Derived from the blog post 'Journal self-citations are increasingly biased toward impact factor years' by Ludo Waltman and Caspar Chorus (https://www.cwts.nl/blog?article=n-q2x264).

self citation
type: Class
subclass of: citation
example: :thisCitation a cito:SelfCitation ; cito:hasCitingEntity :paperA ; cito:hasCitationCharacterization cito:extends ; cito:hasCitedEntity :paperB .
comment: A citation in which the citing and the cited entities have something significant in common with one another, over and beyond their subject matter, for example authors, journal, institutional affiliation, or funding agency.
term status: stable