ref-type

Type of Cross-Reference

Type of element that is the target of the cross-reference (for example, “figure”, “author-note”, “bibliographic-reference”). The values may be used for type-specific processing or validation.

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 preserves the information from such tag sets concerning the type of element to which the cross-reference is pointing.

Attribute Values

In Element

<xref>
ValueMeaning
Text, numbers, or special charactersThe element to which the reference points, for example, “fig” to indicate that the reference points to a figure ( <fig>).
Restriction: This is an optional attribute; there is no default.

Suggested usage

Although designed to accept any text as its value, potential values for this attribute might include:

aff

Affiliation

app

Appendix

author-note

Author notes

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).

boxed-text

Textbox or sidebar

chem

Chemical structure (to a <chem-struct> or <chem-struct-wrap> element)

contrib

Contributor

corresp

Corresponding author

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