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<contrib-group> Contributor Group

Container element for one or more contributors and information about those contributors.

Usage/Remarks

The primary uses of <contrib-group> are:
  • Inside the element <article-meta>, the <contrib-group> element holds contributors to a document such as primary authors, data curators, editors, sponsors, translators, illustrators, etc. The members of the group are contributors who worked individually, not as a group. The <collab> element holds groups who are credited as a unit.
  • Inside the element <journal-meta>, the <contrib-group> element holds contributors to the whole journal or at least above the level of an article, such as section editors, journal editors, or special issue editors (as opposed to contributors to a particular article). If such issue contributors are part of the metadata for an article, they should be listed in a separate <contrib-group> with a @content-type attribute value such as “issue-editors”.

Naming Contributor Roles

JATS contains several very different methods for naming the type of contribution made by an individual or a group of individuals (also known as the role of a contributor):
  • The @contrib-type attribute (non-repeating) placed on the <contrib> element describes the contribution of an individual.
  • The @content-type attribute (non-repeating) placed on the <contrib-group> element names the contribution for all members.
  • The <role> element, which can be used within the <contrib> element (to describe the role of an individual contributor) or within the <contrib-group> (to indicate more than one contributor acting in the same role).
Historically the @content-type and @contrib-type attributes was considered to be metadata for grouping authors or editors, etc. and the <role> element was the more likely to be used for screen or print display.
Why Use the <role> Element
More recently, in an effort to reflect more accurately the differing contributions of the many people involved in the writing of an article or the research behind the article, publishing practices have changed to be more specific about the roles of contributors. A single @content-type attribute value was not considered sufficient to describe a person’s full contributions, although @content-type may still be used for informal grouping, with a value such as “authors”.
The <role> element is now used both for machine-processable contributor details and for display because:
  • <role> elements can repeat, so one contributor can be credited with playing more than one role in the creation of an article.
  • The four JATS vocabulary attributes can tie the content of the <role> to an ontology or taxonomy, such as the ANSI/NISO Contributor Role Taxonomy (CRediT).
  • The <role> element has also proven useful to describe people in organizational roles or publication-specific roles that are not directly related to the article or the research behind the article (such as “Editor-in-Chief”).

Semantic Roles Best Practice

When a contributor role is described by a controlled vocabulary, such as the ANSI/NISO Contributor Role Taxonomy (CRediT), best practice is not to use the @content-type attribute on <contrib-group> to name the formal contributor role. (The attribute may still be useful for grouping.)
Best practice is to use the <role> element inside <contrib> or inside <contrib-group> (for more than one contributor performing the same function) to name a role for each contributor. The vocabulary attributes on <role> should then point directly to the appropriate ANSI/NISO Contributor Role Taxonomy (CRediT) term, allowing the content of the <role> element to take any useful display value, while still preserving the CRediT semantics.
Related Elements
The element <contrib-group> is a metadata element. The <person-group> element performs a similar function of grouping individual contributors, such as authors and editors, within a bibliographic reference (<element-citation> or <mixed-citation>).
The <contrib-group> should not be confused with the element <collab>, in which individuals are not named as contributors because the contribution was made by the group as a whole, for example, a report which has a laboratory or department as the official author.
Attributes
content-type
specific-use

Base Attributes

id
xml:base
Models and Context
May be contained in
<article-meta>, <collab>, <collab-wrap>, <front-stub>, <journal-meta>, <sec-meta>, <supplement>
Description
One or more of any of:
Content Model
<!ELEMENT  contrib-group
             %contrib-group-model;                                   >
Expanded Content Model
(contrib | address | aff | aff-alternatives | author-comment | bio | email |
etal | ext-link | fn | on-behalf-of | role | uri | xref | x)+
Tagged Samples
Single author 
...
<contrib-group>
 <contrib contrib-type="author">
  <name name-style="western">
   <surname>Foster</surname>
   <given-names>Bill</given-names>
   <prefix>Rep.</prefix>
  </name>
  <role>(IL-14)</role>
 </contrib>
</contrib-group>
...
With <aff> inside group 
...
<contrib-group>
 <contrib contrib-type="author">
  <name name-style="western">
   <surname>Nüsslin</surname>
   <given-names>Fridtjof</given-names>
   <prefix>Dr.</prefix>
  </name>
 </contrib>
 <aff>Klinik für Strahlentherapie und Radiologische Onkologie,
  <institution>Technische Universität München</institution>, 
  Munich, Germany (Tel: 49-89-41404517, E-mail:
  <ext-link ext-link-type="email" xlink:href="mailto:nuesslin@lrz.tum.de">
  nuesslin@lrz.tum.de</ext-link>)</aff>
</contrib-group>
...
Single editor 
...  
<contrib-group content-type="conference-editors">
 <contrib contrib-type="editor">
  <name name-style="western">
   <surname>Herrera</surname>
   <given-names>Gerardo</given-names>
  </name>
  <role>Conference Editor</role>
 </contrib>
</contrib-group>
...
Multiple authors 
...
<contrib-group>
 <contrib contrib-type="author">
  <name><surname>Forster</surname>
   <given-names>Anne Williams</given-names></name>
  <role>research physiotherapist</role>
  <xref ref-type="aff" rid="StLukes"/>
  <xref ref-type="aff" rid="RoyalInf"/>
 </contrib>
 <contrib contrib-type="author">
  <name><surname>Young</surname>
   <given-names>John G.</given-names></name>
  <role>consultant physician</role>
  <xref ref-type="aff" rid="RoyalInf"/>
 </contrib>
 <aff id="StLukes">Department of Health Care for the
  Elderly, St Luke’s Hospital, Bradford BD5 0NA</aff>
 <aff id="RoyalInf">Academic Section of Geriatric
  Medicine, Royal Infirmary, Glasgow G4 0SF</aff>
</contrib-group>
...
Alternative contributor names and affiliations outside group 
...
<article-meta>
 ...
 <contrib-group>  
  <contrib contrib-type="author"> 
   <name-alternatives>
    <name name-style="western"><surname>Zhang</surname>
     <given-names>Y. P.</given-names></name>
    <string-name name-style="eastern" xml:lang="zh">张轶泼</string-name>
   </name-alternatives>
   <xref ref-type="aff" rid="a1">1</xref>
   <xref ref-type="author-notes" rid="n1">a)</xref>
  </contrib>
  
  <contrib contrib-type="author">
   <name-alternatives>
    <name name-style="western"><surname>Isobe</surname>
     <given-names>M.</given-names></name>
    <string-name name-style="eastern" xml:lang="zh">磯部光孝</string-name>
   </name-alternatives>
   <xref ref-type="aff" rid="a2">2</xref>
  </contrib>
  
  <contrib contrib-type="author">
   <name-alternatives>
    <name name-style="western"><surname>Liu</surname>
     <given-names>Yi</given-names></name>
    <string-name name-style="eastern" xml:lang="zh">刘仪</string-name>
   </name-alternatives>
   <xref ref-type="aff" rid="a1">1</xref>
  </contrib>  
 </contrib-group>
 <aff id="a1">...</aff>
 <aff id="a2">...</aff>
 <author-notes id="n1">...</author-notes>
 ...
</article-meta>
...
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