ABSTRACTThis paper examines cognitive considerations in developing model management systems (MMSs). First, two approaches to MMS design are reviewed briefly: one based on database theory and one based on knowledge‐representation techniques. Then three major cognitive issues—human limitations, information storage and retrieval, and problem‐solving strategies—and their implications for MMS design are discussed. Evidence indicates that automatic modeling, which generates more complicated models by integrating existing models automatically, is a critical function of model management systems.In order to discuss issues pertinent to automatic modeling, a graph‐based framework for integrating models is introduced. The framework captures some aspects of the processes by which human beings develop models as route selections on a network of all possible alternatives. Based on this framework, three issues are investigated: (1) What are proper criteria for evaluating a model formulated by an MMS? (2) If more than one criterion is chosen for evaluation, how can evaluations on each of the criteria be combined to get an overall evaluation of the model? (3) When should a model be evaluated? Finally, examples are presented to illustrate various modeling s