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<caption> Caption of a Figure, Table, etc.

Container element for the textual description that is associated with an object (for example, with a <fig> or <table-wrap>).

Usage/Remarks

A caption is a visible textual description of a table, figure, or similar object. In print or display, a caption is usually recognizable because it is not part of the ordinary text flow; it sits just under, above, beside, or in the same small window or page area as the tabular portions of a table or the graphical portions of a figure. A <caption> may contain many kinds of text associated with its object, for example, a title (tagged as <title>), or a descriptive paragraph (tagged as <p>). If a <legend> is present, it follows the <caption>; it is not inside the <caption>.
The text of the caption does not typically include words such as “Figure 3.” or “Table 11-a”. These labels may not be present in the XML file, since many publishers choose to generate such text at display time, but if they are in the source XML, they may be preserved using the <label> element.

Best Practice

In many journal articles, a distinction is made between the caption of a figure/table/etc. and its title. There may be two separate tags (<caption> and <title>), or the first sentence of the caption may be set off typographically from the rest of the caption to indicate that it is a title; for example, the first sentence may be italic or bold. In either case, if it is obvious that the figure/table/etc. contains both a title and a caption, both the title and the caption should both be tagged during conversion, and the title should be moved inside the caption if it is outside.
Attributes
content-type
specific-use
style

Multi-lang Attributes

lang-focus
lang-focus-custom
lang-group
lang-source
lang-source-custom
lang-translate
lang-variant
lang-variant-custom

Base Attributes

id
xml:base
xml:lang
Models and Context
May be contained in
<boxed-text>, <chem-struct-wrap>, <disp-formula>, <disp-formula-group>, <fig>, <fig-group>, <graphic>, <media>, <supplementary-material>, <table-wrap>, <table-wrap-group>
Description
The following, in order:
Content Model
<!ELEMENT  caption      %caption-model;                              >
Expanded Content Model

(title?, (p)*)

Tagged Samples
In figure 
...
<sec>
 <title>Results</title>
 <p>... Details of randomization procedures, treatment 
  schedules, and numbers of patients followed up are 
  given on the <italic>BMJ</italic> website.</p>
 <fig id="F1">
  <label>Figure 1</label>
  <caption>
   <title>Deaths Among Patients Receiving Day Hospital
    Care or Alternative Services.</title>
   <p>Odds ratios of death by end of follow up were calculated
    by fixed effects model. Heterogeneity between trials is
    presented as χ<sup>2</sup></p>
  </caption>
  <graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
    xlink:href="fors2662.f1"></graphic>
 </fig>
 <p>...</p>
</sec>
...
... 
<fig id="f8" orientation="portrait" position="float">
 <label>FIG. 8.</label>
 <caption>
  <p>Time difference between events F and A as a function of the 
   length of entering plug for bifurcations B to BXXX, where X stands 
   for 0 or 1.</p>
 </caption>
 <graphic orientation="portrait" position="float" xlink:href="f8"/>
</fig>
...
In table 
...
<table-wrap id="TN0.170">
 <label>Table 17</label>
 <caption>
  <title>Patient Care at End of Follow Up</title>
  <p>Numbers of patients receiving institutional care at
   the end of scheduled follow up and use of hospital beds
   among those allocated to day hospital or alternative
   services</p>
 </caption>
 <table frame="box" rules="all" cellpadding="5">
  <tr>
   <th/>
   <th colspan="3" align="center" rowspan="1">Institutional care</th>
   <th align="left"/> 
   <th colspan="2" align="center" rowspan="1">&#x2003;Bed use (days)</th>
  </tr>
  ...
 </table>
</table-wrap>
...
...
<table-wrap id="t2" orientation="portrait" position="float">
 <label>Table II.</label>
 <caption>
  <p>Models to approximate the bound frequencies as waves 
   in X→M (<inline-graphic id="g1" xlink:href="d1"/>: Rotational, 
   <inline-graphic id="g2" xlink:href="d2"/>: Vibrate in <italic>y</italic> 
   direction, <inline-graphic id="g3" xlink:href="d3"/>: Vibrate in
   <italic>x</italic> direction, <inline-graphic id="g4" xlink:href="d4"/>: 
   Vibrate mainly in <italic>y</italic> direction including a small 
   portion of vibration in <italic>x</italic> direction, 
   <inline-graphic id="g5" xlink:href="d5"/>: Vibrate mainly in 
   <italic>x</italic> direction including a small portion of vibration 
   in <italic>y</italic> direction).</p>
 </caption>
 <table border="1">...</table>
</table-wrap>
...
Multiple graphic captions 
...
<fig id="F4">
 <graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
   xlink:href="pq0405498004" specific-use="internet">
  <caption specific-use="short">
   <p>Functional and evolutionary relationships between
    polyadenylation machineries and telomerases. The
    functional relationships described here are shaded.</p>
  </caption>
  <caption specific-use="long">
   <p>Functional and evolutionary relationships between
    polyadenylation machineries and telomerases. The thick
    rectangular frame encompasses the Hfq and PABP II
    polyadenylation stimulatory factors. Hfq and PABP II are
    linked to enzymes that they modulate by thin rectangular
    frames. Members of the nucleotidyltransferase family are
    surrounded by an oval, and telomerase-related enzymes
    that maintain the 5′ extremities of RNA tagged
    by a hairpin structure are circled. The functional
    relationships described here are shaded.</p>
  </caption>
 </graphic>
</fig>
...
With links to media objects 
...
<fig id="f1" orientation="portrait" position="float">
 <label>FIG. 1.</label>
 <caption>
  <p>(a) Schematic of the working principles of HFM, (b) a typical application
   scheme for an electric bias in HFM, (c) regulation the conformations and
   dynamics (trapping, concentration, and sudden stretching) of λ-DNA molecules
   in HFM, and (d) schematic of the trapping location regulation (enhanced online).
   [URL: <ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4762852.1">
   http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4762852.1</ext-link>]
   <alternatives>
    <media id="v1" mimetype="video/x-msvideo" orientation="portrait"
      position="anchor" specific-use="original-format"
      xlink:href="v1-video1-orig.avi"/>
    <media mimetype="video/mpeg4" orientation="portrait"
      position="anchor" specific-use="archival-format"
      xlink:href="v1-video1-archive.mpeg"/>
    <media mimetype="video/x-flv" orientation="portrait"
      position="anchor" specific-use="online-format"
      xlink:href="v1-video1-online.xfiv"/>
   </alternatives>
  </p>
 </caption>
 <graphic orientation="portrait" position="float" xlink:href="f1"/>
 <graphic id="f1a" orientation="portrait" position="float"
    xlink:href="dummy1.png"/>
 <graphic id="f1b" orientation="portrait" position="float"
    xlink:href="dummy2.png"/>
 <graphic id="f1c" orientation="portrait" position="float"
     xlink:href="dummy3.png"/>
 <graphic id="f1d" orientation="portrait" position="float"
     xlink:href="dummy4.png"/>
</fig>
...
Table (two languages) 
...
<table-wrap id="t1">
 <label xml:lang="pt">Tabela 1</label>
 <label xml:lang="en">Table 1</label>
 <caption xml:lang="pt">
  <title>Matriz de análise política.</title>
 </caption>
 <caption xml:lang="en">
  <title>Political Analysis Matrix.</title>
 </caption>
 <table frame="hsides" rules="groups">
  ...
 </table>
 <table-wrap-foot>
  <attrib>Source: Prepared by authors from
   <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B10">Monke and Pearson (1989)</xref>.
  </attrib>
 </table-wrap-foot>
</table-wrap>
...
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