ref-type Type of Cross-Reference

Type of element that is the target of the cross-reference (for example: a Figure (“fig”), an Author Note (“author-notes”), or a Bibliographic Reference (“bibr”)). The values may be used, for example, for type-specific processing or validation.

Usage/Remarks

The <xref> element may be used to reference anything that has an @id attribute. This single element takes the place of the many named types of references (such as figure references, table references, and footnote references) that are common in many journal tag sets. This attribute can preserve the information from such tag sets concerning the type of element to which the cross-reference is pointing.
OPTIONAL on element: <xref>
Value Meaning
Text, numbers, or special characters The type of element to which the reference points, for example, “fig” to indicate that the reference points to a figure (<fig>).
Restriction @ref-type is an optional attribute; there is no default.

Suggested usage

This attribute is designed to accept any text as its value, since nearly any element in an XML article may be the target of a link. Typical values for this attribute include:
aff
Affiliation
app
Appendix
author-note
Author notes
award
Points to the description of or identifier for a grant or award (<award-id>), also, possibly to an entire awards group (<award-group>)
bibr
Bibliographic reference (typically to a <ref> element, but it may point to a <element-citation> or <mixed-citation> if there are multiple citations inside the <ref> element)
bio
Biography (typically of a contributor)
boxed-text
Textbox or sidebar
chem
Chemical structure (to a <chem-struct> or <chem-struct-wrap> element)
collab
Collaboration
contrib
Contributor
corresp
Corresponding author
custom
The value “custom” is used in versions of JATS that have a static list of values for the @ref-type attribute. To add a value to such a list, the cross reference is given the type “custom” and a separate @custom-type attribute provides the typing value. There is no need for this mechanism in Archiving, since there are no restrictions on the value of @ref-type, but “custom” and @custom-type have both been included in Archiving so that documents valid to a stricter version of the JATS Tag Set will also be valid to Archiving.
disp-formula
Display formula
fig
Figure or group of figures (to a <fig> or <fig-group> element)
fn
Footnote
kwd
Keyword
list
List or list item (to a <list> or <list-item> element; also, possibly to a <def-list> or <def-item> element)
plate
Plate
scheme
Scheme
sec
Section
statement
Statement
supplementary-material
Supplementary information
table
Table or group of tables (to a <table-wrap> or <table-wrap-group> element)
table-fn
Table footnote
Tagged Samples
Links to bibliographic references
...
<p>... The third nucleotide (CG<bold>A</bold>) at codon 529, which
 is a specific nucleotide of <italic>M. tuberculosis</italic>
 (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B8">8</xref>, <xref ref-type="bibr"
 rid="B11">11</xref>), was not clearly determined ...</p>
...
Links to tables
...
<table-wrap id="c5-tab2">...</table-wrap>
<table-wrap id="c5-tab3">...</table-wrap>
<p>... (see <xref ref-type="table" rid="c5-tab2">Tables&#x00A0;2</xref> 
and <xref ref-type="table" rid="c5-tab3">3</xref>)</p>
...
Link to section
...
<p>... see <xref ref-type="sec" rid="c5-s3">Section&#x00A0;3</xref></p>
<sec id="c5-s3">
 <title>...</title>
 ...</sec>
...
Link to footnote
...
<xref ref-type="fn" rid="int-fn1">1</xref>
...
<p>...<fn id="int-fn1"><p>...</p></fn>...</p>
...
Link to table footnote
...
<table-wrap>
 <table>...
  <tr><td><xref ref-type="table-fn" rid="tab1-fn1">a</xref>
   </td></tr>
 ...</table>
 <table-wrap-foot>
  <fn id="tab1-fn1"><p></p></fn>
 </table-wrap-foot>
</table-wrap>
...