Table 4 Conditions for the identification of necessary further actions for glossary-internal terminology standardization (full form terms)

1

There is no definition within the respective glossary (e.g., Letztverbraucher)

An adequate definition for the glossary must be found, at best from an existing source (including other glossaries under development)

2

There are less definitions than entries in the respective glossary (e.g., Stichtag)

a) Duplicates need to be removed from the glossary

b) Undefined duplicates represent different concepts (homonymy) and need to be defined accordingly

c) Defined duplicates need to be treated according to action 3

3

There are as many definitions as entries in the glossary (e.g., Zusatzeinrichtung)

a) The definitions must be compared to see whether they are disjunct; then the entries are homonyms and distinct preferred terms should be determined where possible to help avoid misunderstandings

b) The definitions must be compared to see whether they are formally identical; then the entries are conceptually identical and one of the duplicates can be removed

c) The definitions must be compared to see whether they are semantically identical: then the entries are conceptually identical, the preferred definition must be determined and the duplicates can be removed

d) The definitions must be compared to see whether they overlap semantically; then, the entries must be marked as polysemes

4

There are at least two definitions in the glossary and one definition refers to the other definition(s) (e.g., Abrechnungszeitraum)

The reference implies identity so that the entries can be considered conceptually identical and a merged entry could be created referencing both sources of appearance