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<ref-count> Reference Count

Number of references or citations that appear in a bibliographic reference list.
Related Elements
Inside the <counts> container element are the counts of various components of the document in two styles: 1) the predefined counting elements (specific to an element type and shown below) and 2) the generic count element <count> (which is used to count anything that is not one of the predefined, specific types and for which the @count-type attribute names what is being counted).
Best Practice: For counting all of a named element (such as all the figures or all the tables), the specifically-named counting elements (<fig-count>, <table-count>) should always be used. The <count> element should be reserved for 1) counting elements or conditions for which a specifically-named *-count element has not been defined (all footnotes, all contributors, the number of countries of contributors, etc.) or 2) counting only some of a named element or condition. For example, to sub-divide a count into smaller sub-counts, e.g., color figures versus black-and-white figures, use <fig-count> to hold the total number of figures and then use separate <count> elements for the subsets as shown below: 
<counts>
  <count count-type="fig-color" count="3"/>
  <count count-type="fig-bw" count="7"/>
  <fig-count count="10"/>
</counts>
Named Counting Elements: The JATS pre-defined named counting elements are:
<fig-count>
Is the total number of labeled Figures (see definition of the element <fig>). This is not a count of images or of <graphic> elements. Do not include unlabeled graphics, such as images embedded in table cells, in the count of figures. Also do not make this the count of images inside a figure; for example, if a <fig> contains four panels (a-d) and each panel is a separate image file (4 <graphic>s), the <fig-count> would be “1”, not “4”.
<table-count>
Is the total number of tables (<table-wrap>). Do not include uncaptioned/untitled tables (<array>) in this count. Do not include multiple <table> elements inside a <table-wrap>.
<equation-count>
Is the number of display equations (<disp-formula>). Do not include inline equations in this count (<inline-formula>). If you have a display equation that consists of multiple MathML objects, this counts as one equation.
<ref-count>
Is the number of bibliographic references within the bibliographic reference list. This may be the number of reference elements (<ref>) or the number of mixed or element citations (for publishers who put multiple <mixed-citation>s or <element-citation>s into a single <ref>). Do not include cases of <mixed-citation> or <element-citation> that appear outside of a <ref-list>.
<page-count>
Is the number of pages in the print or PDF item, including all Roman and Arabic number pages.
<word-count>
Is the number of words in the document.
Attributes
count (REQUIRED)

Base Attributes

id
xml:base
Models and Context
May be contained in
<counts>
Description
This is an EMPTY element
Content Model
<!ELEMENT  ref-count    EMPTY                                        >
Tagged Sample

Number of cited references

...
<article-meta>
 ...
 <abstract>...</abstract>
 <conference>
  <conf-date iso-8601-date="1999">1999</conf-date>
  <conf-name>The 27th annual ACM SI/GUCCS conference</conf-name>
  <conf-acronym>SIGUCCS</conf-acronym>
  <conf-num>27</conf-num>
  <conf-loc>Denver, Colorado, United States</conf-loc>
  <conf-sponsor>ACM, Assoc. for Computing Machinery</conf-sponsor>
  <conf-theme>User services conference for university and college 
   computing service organizations</conf-theme>
 </conference>
 <counts>
  <count count-type="contributors" count="3"/>
  <fig-count count="5"/>
  <table-count count="3"/>
  <equation-count count="10"/>
  <ref-count count="26"/>
  <page-count count="6"/>
  <word-count count="2847"/>
 </counts>
</article-meta>
...