ref-type Type of Cross-Reference

Type of element that is the target of the cross-reference (for example, “figure”, “author-note”, “bibliographic” and “reference”). The values may be used 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 tag sets. This attribute preserves 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 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

Although designed to accept any text as its value, potential values for this attribute might include:
aff
Affiliation
app
Appendix
author-note
Author notes
award
Points to the description of or identifier of a grant or award (<award-id>), possibly to an entire awards group (<award-group>)
bibr
Bibliographic reference (typically to a <ref> element, but possibly pointing 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 @fn-type attribute. To add a value to such a list, the bibliographic reference is given the @ref-type “custom” and a separate @custom-type attribute provides the typing value. There is no need for such a value in BITS, since there are no restrictions on the value of @ref-type, but “custom” and @custom-type have both been included in BITS so that the body of a JATS document can be made into a BITS book part body without transformation.
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
Link 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>
...
Link 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>
...