Abstracts

Status: Published
Version: 1
License: this recommendation document is licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.3789/niso-rp-43-2022
ISBN: 978-1-950980-21-5

Provenance

JATS4R abstracts subgroup members (in alphabetical order):

Fred Atherden, eLife, Vicky Bache, OUP, Dax Bamberger, NCBI/NLM/NIH, Rachel Carriere, EBSCO (https://orcid.org/ 0000-0002-5258-2634), Robin Dunford, Atypon (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1947-3492), Jennifer Flint, John Benjamins Publishing Company, Melissa Jones, Silverchair, Bindhu Krishnan, Frontiers, Stephen Laverick (Chair), Green Fifteen Publishing Consultancy (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9063-766X), Vincent Lizzi, T&F (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2334-0265), Kevin Lawson, KGL, Nikos Markantonatos, Atypon (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4676-8528), Daniel Mietchen, Ronin Institute (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9488-1870), Nick Nunes, Highwire, Tommaso Olivero, BMJ, Jonathan Watson, Emerald Publishing (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2620-0767)

Context

<article-meta>, <abstract>, <trans-abstract>, <sec>, <title>, <p>, <alternatives>, <fig>, <graphic>, <media>, <textual-format>, <list>

@abstract-type, @specific-use, @xml-lang, @alt-text, @long-description

Description

This document provides a best-practice recommendation for capturing commonly used types of journal abstracts and multiple abstracts using JATS XML. These recommendations refer to abstracts relating to the entire article, abstracts appearing in other objects within the article  (e.g. <chem-struct-wrap>) are considered to be out of scope. Capture of meeting abstracts is considered to be out of scope for these recommendations.

The following recommendation is for JATS v 1.3 and backward. Differences between the Journal Publishing  and Archiving DTDs are noted within the recommendations as applicable.

Additional reading

JATS4R Recommendations: Display objects (e.g. figures, tables, and boxed text)

Recommendation

1. <abstract> as described within these recommendations must be contained within  <article-meta>.

2. @abstract-type is used to indicate distinct semantic features as detailed in the JATS v1.3 documentation (see Point 5 below).
   
   Note: If an abstract is tagged without an @abstract-type it will be assumed to be the main abstract (See Example 1).

3. <sec>. Where an abstract is structured into different sections, these must be tagged using <sec>.
   
4. <title>. Where an abstract has sections, each section must have a <title> and there should be more than one section present if there are no paragraphs before the first section (See Example 2).
   
   [[Validator tool result: If <sec> within <abstract> is has no child <title> ERROR]]
   
   [[Validator tool result: If <abstract> has one child <sec> and no child <p> ERROR]]

5. @abstract-type and/or @xml:lang. If there are multiple abstracts then each abstract, other than the main abstract, must have one of these attributes to differentiate them from each other (See Example 3).
   
   Note: An abstract which does not have any distinguishing attributes (@abstract-type and/or @xml:lang) will be assumed to be the main abstract. As such, if there are multiple abstracts then only one, the main abstract, may be tagged without any distinguishing attributes.
   
   [[Validator tool result: If <article-meta> has more than one child <abstract> without any of the following attributes: @abstract-type, @xml:lang, @specific-use ERROR]]

6. @abstract-type=“graphical”. Graphical abstracts should be identified by using the abstract-type=”graphical” attribute value.
   
7. <fig>. A graphical abstract should always contain one or more <fig> elements.
   
   [[Validator tool result: if not abstract-type=”graphical” and descendant <fig> with child <graphic> WARNING]]
   
   [[Validator tool result: if abstract-type=”graphical” and no descendant <fig> with child <graphic> ERROR]]

8. <graphic>. <fig> should always be used as a wrapper to contain <graphic> for graphical abstracts, <graphic> directly under <abstract> is not recommended
   
   [[Validator tool result: if <graphic> is descendant of <abstract> and not a child of <fig> WARNING]]

9. If using the Journal Publishing  DTD then <fig> will need to be contained within a parent <p> wrapper (See Example 4A). If using the Archiving DTD then <fig> can occur directly within <abstract> without the <p> wrapper (See Example 4B).

10. @alt-text and @long-description information should be made available in order to aid accessibility. Full details on JATS4R recommendations in tagging these can be found in the Display Objects recommendations.
    
11. <alternatives>. Where different graphic options are available for different purposes (i.e. web, print, colour, mono etc) then <alternatives> should be used to represent those options (see Example 5). Full details on JATS4R recommendations in tagging these can be found in the Display Objects recommendations. 

12. Where the abstract is available in video format, abstract-type=”video” must be used (See Example 6A). Although this is not recommended in the JATS Documentation it is now common practice.
    
13. Where the abstract is available in audio format, abstract-type=”audio” must be used (See Example 6B).
    
    [[Validator tool result: if abstract-type is “video” or “audio” and there is no descendant <fig> with child <media> or child <alternatives> with child <media> ERROR]]
    
    [[Validator tool result: if <abstract> does not have the attribute abstract-type=”video” and contains descendant <media mimetype=”video”> ERROR]]
    
    [[Validator tool result: if <abstract> does not have the attribute abstract-type=”audio” and contains descendant <media mimetype=”audio”> ERROR]]

14. <media>. <fig> must be used as a wrapper to contain <media>
    
    [[Validator tool result: if <media> is descendant of <abstract> and not a child of <fig> ERROR]]

15. If an abstract contains multiple types of media (i.e. video and graphical) then these should be handled as separate abstracts with their own abstract-type attribute values applied.

16. <trans-abstract> should be used where the content is a direct translation of the main abstract. The xml:lang attribute should also be used to indicate what language the translation is in (see Example 7).
    
    [[Validator tool result: if <trans-abstract> does not have an xml:lang attribute ERROR]]
    
    Note: If an abstract is presented in an alternative language to the main article but is not a direct translation of the main abstract then this should be captured using <abstract> with the appropriate value assigned to the xml:lang attribute (See Example 8).

17. Multi-language. Where an article is multi-language, the main language of the article should be represented using the xml:lang attribute on <article>. The abstract in the main language of the article does not need an xml:lang attribute. Any abstracts which are not in the main language of the article should use xml:lang on <abstract> or <trans-abstract> to indicate the language of the abstract (See Example 9).

18. <trans-abstract>. Where a video depicts sign language which is a direct translation of the main abstract, <trans-abstract> should be used with attributes of abstract-type=”video” and an appropriate value assigned to xml:lang as detailed here.
    
    Note: Further information regarding the ISO-639-3 standard for sign language designation by language code can be found here. The use of <trans-abstract> illustrates that the sign language used is a direct translation of the main abstract.
    
    [[Validator tool result: if <abstract> has the xml:lang attribute with values ISO-639 sign language values  WARNING]]
    
    Note: Where a video depicts sign language (See Example 10) which is not a direct translation of the main abstract, <abstract> should be used with attributes of abstract-type=”video” and an appropriate value assigned to xml:lang as detailed here. 

19. <textual-form> within <alternatives>. Where a video has an accompanying transcript this should be captured using <textual-form> within <alternatives> (See Example 11)

20. <list>. Abstract types which typically consist of bulleted lists, such as Key Points or Highlights, should be captured as a <list> as a direct child of <abstract> if using the Green DTD (See Example 12A) or within a <p> wrapper if using the Blue DTD (See Example 12B).

21. Accessibility. The JATS documentation on Accessibility suggests “For accessibility purposes, it is useful to provide a very short synopsis abstract (much like a Table of Contents blurb or a dek in some journals) whose purpose is to tell a non-sighted reader what the document is about. This <abstract> can be given the @abstract-type value such as “meta-description”, “description”, or “dc:description” to indicate that, when making web pages from this XML, the abstract can be used to create the NISO JATS XHTML-inspired metadata description.” 
    
    We recommend that the @abstract-type “description” be used in this instance.

22. @abstract-type. Common usage of the abstract-type attribute tends to deviate between usage to describe semantic differences in abstracts such as abstract-type=”graphical” and abstract-type=”teaser” and differences in usage and intended audience such as abstract-type=”web” or abstract-type=”lay-person”. 
    
    The abstract-type attribute should be used to describe the semantic abstract type. The @specific-use attribute should be used to describe the intended audience of a particular abstract where there are multiple abstracts with the same @abstract-type. 
    
    [[Validator tool result: if @abstract-type is not one of the recommended values  WARNING]]

@abstract-type values
Recommended	Caters for
teaser	precis, toc, web-summary, gloss, social-media
extract	excerpt
editor-summary
executive-summary
interpretive-summary
summary	shortsynopsis
plain-language-summary	lay-person
graphical	key-image
description	meta-description, dc:description
simple
structured
video	media
audio	media

Examples

Example 1: Basic abstract in context

<article dtd-version="1.3">
<front>
...
<article-meta>
...
<volume>97</volume>
<issue>4</issue>
<fpage>1000</fpage>
<lpage>1010</lpage>
<history>...</history>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright &#x00A9; 2000, The National Academy of
Imaginary Sciences</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2000</copyright-year>
</permissions>
<abstract>
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. In maximus mauris aliquet blandit tincidunt. Aenean ut sapien ac lorem tempor ornare ut ut neque. Etiam scelerisque sem ac massa molestie cursus. Cras posuere condimentum purus non ultrices. Aliquam et gravida ex, sit amet tristique eros. Phasellus sollicitudin aliquet nunc, eget laoreet turpis semper vel. Nullam et est porta, aliquet leo at, mattis lectus. Etiam in risus quis neque tempus vestibulum sed commodo justo. Integer rhoncus diam vel eros rutrum venenatis.</p>
</abstract>
<kwd-group kwd-group-type="author">...</kwd-group>
</article-meta>
</front>
...
</article>

Example 2: Structured abstract

<abstract>
<sec>
<title>Objective</title>
<p>To examine the effectiveness of day hospital attendance in prolonging independent living for elderly people.</p>
</sec>
<sec>
<title>Design</title>
<p>Systematic review of 12 controlled clinical trials (available by January 1997) comparing day hospital care with comprehensive care (five trials), domiciliary care (four trials), or no comprehensive care (three trials).</p>
</sec>
<sec>
<title>Subjects</title>
<p>2867 elderly people.</p>
</sec>
<sec>
<title>Main outcome measures</title>
<p>Death, institutionalisation, disability, global &#x201C;poor outcome,&#x201D; and use of resources.</p>
</sec>
<sec>
<title>Results</title>
<p>Overall, there was no significant difference between day hospitals and alternative services for death, disability, or use of resources. However, ...</p>
</sec>
<sec>
<title>Conclusions</title>
<p>Day hospital care seems to be an effective service for elderly people ...</p>
</sec>
</abstract>

Example 3: Multiple Abstract sample

<abstract>
<p>This is the third and last part of the volume devoted to solubility data of rare 
earth metal chlorides in water and in ternary and quaternary aqueous systems. 
Compilations of all available experimental data for each rare earth metal chloride 
are introduced with a corresponding critical evaluation. Every such evaluation 
contains a tabulated collection of all solubility results in water, a scheme of the 
water-rich part of the equilibrium ... Because the ternary and quaternary systems 
were almost never studied more than once, no critical evaluations or systematic 
comparisons of such data were possible. Simple chlorides (no complexes) of 
Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, and Lu are treated as the input substances. The 
literature (including a thorough coverage of papers in Chinese and Russian) 
has been covered through the middle of 2008.</p>
</abstract>
<abstract abstract-type="short">
<p>The is the third and last part of the volume devoted to solubility data of rare 
earth metal chlorides in water and in ternary and quaternary aqueous systems. 
Compilations of all available experimental data are introduced for each rare earth 
metal chloride with a corresponding critical evaluation. This part covers chlorides 
of Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, and Lu, with coverage of the literature through the 
middle of 2008.</p>
</abstract>

Example 4A: Blue DTD graphical abstract

<abstract abstract-type="graphical">
<title>Graphical Abstract</title>
<p>
<fig id="fig1g">
<label>Graphical Abstract Figure.</label>
<caption><p>Woody plant encroachment…</p></caption>
<graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="abcfig1g.png"/>
</fig>
</p>
</abstract>

Example 4B: Green DTD graphical abstract

<abstract abstract-type="graphical">
<title>Graphical Abstract</title>
<fig id="fig1g">
<label>Graphical Abstract Figure.</label>
<caption><p>Woody plant encroachment…</p></caption>
<graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="abcfig1g.png"/>
</fig>
</abstract>

Example 5: Alternative graphical abstracts

<abstract abstract-type="graphical"> 
<title>Graphical Abstract</title> 
<fig id="UF0001" position="anchor"> 
<alternatives> 
<graphic xlink:href="TSTA_A_1586051_UF0001_OC.jpg" content-type="color" specific-use="web-only"/> 
<graphic xlink:href="TSTA_A_1586051_UF0001_PB.jpg" content-type="black-white" specific-use="print-only"/> 
</alternatives> 
</fig> 
</abstract> 

Example 6A: Video abstract

<abstract abstract-type="video">
<title>Video Abstract</title>
<p>
<fig id="abstract_video1" fig-type="video">
<label>Video 1.</label>
<caption><p>Caption about video…</p></caption>
<media content-type="brightcove" xlink:href=”http://bcove.me/id”>
<object-id pub-id-type="videoid">123456789</object-id>
<object-id pub-id-type="referenceid">myVideo1</object-id>
</media>
</fig>
</p>
</abstract>

Example 6B: Audio abstract

<abstract abstract-type="audio">
<title>Audio Abstract</title>
<p>
<fig id="abstract_audio1" fig-type="audio">
<label>Audio 1.</label>
<caption><p>Caption about audio...</p></caption>
<media content-type="brightcove" xlink:href="http://bcove.me/id">
<object-id pub-id-type="videoid">012345678</object-id>
<object-id pub-id-type="referenceid">myAudio1</object-id>
</media>
</fig>
</p>
</abstract>

Example 7: Translated abstract

<trans-abstract xml:lang="fr">
<title>Résumé</title>
<p>La présente révision contient de nouvelles recommandations afin d’atténuer le risque de transmission.</p>
</trans-abstract>

Example 8: Alternative language version

<abstract xml:lang="de">
<title>Abstrakt</title>
<p>Dies ist ein anderer Inhalt als der Hauptabstract, es ist definitiv keine direkte Übersetzung.</p>
</abstract>

Example 9: Multi-language article

<article dtd-version="1.3" xml-lang=”fr”>
...
<abstract>
<p>L'essai Medication Reviews Bridging Healthcare est un essai croisé randomisé en grappes qui a été mené dans 8 services avec des équipes multiprofessionnelles dans 4 hôpitaux en Suède du 6 février 2017 au 19 octobre 2018, avec un suivi de 12 mois terminé le 6 décembre 2019 L'étude était prédéfinie dans le protocole de l'essai. Les évaluateurs des résultats ne connaissaient pas l'attribution du traitement. Au total, 2644 patients âgés de 65 ans ou plus qui avaient été admis dans 1 des services de l'étude pendant au moins 1 jour ont été inclus. Les données de la population en intention de traiter modifiée ont été analysées du 10 décembre 2019 au 9 septembre 2020.</p>
</abstract>
<trans-abstract xml:lang=”en”>
<p>The Medication Reviews Bridging Healthcare trial is a cluster randomized crossover trial that was conducted in 8 wards with multiprofessional teams at 4 hospitals in Sweden from February 6, 2017, to October 19, 2018, with 12 months of follow-up completed December 6, 2019. The study was prespecified in the trial protocol. Outcome assessors were blinded to treatment allocation. In total, 2644 patients aged 65 years or older who had been admitted to 1 of the study wards for at least 1 day were included. Data from the modified intention-to-treat population were analyzed from December 10, 2019, to September 9, 2020.</p>
</trans-abstract>
…
</article>

Example 10: Sign language video

<trans-abstract abstract-type="video" xml:lang="jsl">
<title>Abstract (Japanese Sign Language)</title>
<fig id="video-1">
<alternatives>
<inline-supplementary-material specific-use="print">
<ext-link ext-link-type="doi">10.1075/aplv.19010.ree.video</ext-link>
</inline-supplementary-material>
<media id="abstract-video-1" mime-subtype="mp4" mimetype="video" position="anchor" xlink:href="http://benjamins.com/series/aplv/aplv.19010.ree/video/video.mp4" specific-use="web"/>
</alternatives>
</fig>
</trans-abstract>

Example 11: Video abstract with transcript

<abstract abstract-type="video"> 
  <fig> 
    <caption><title>Video abstract</title></caption> 
    <alternatives>
      <inline-supplementary-material content-type="vimeo" xlink:href="https://vimeo.com/185496584">Watch the video on Vimeo</inline-supplementary-material>
      <media mimetype="video" mime-subtype="mp4" xlink:href="rglo_a_1207934_med0001.mp4"/> 
      <textual-form specific-use="transcript">XXXXX</textual-form>
    </alternatives>
  </fig> 
</abstract>

Example 12A: Green DTD bulleted list abstract

<abstract>
<title>HIGHLIGHTS</title>
<list list-type="bullet">
<list-item>
<p>Half-life in persimmon is longer than in crops such as cabbage, chili, and pak choi.</p>
</list-item>
<list-item>
<p>Refrigeration can extend the half-life.</p>
</list-item>
<list-item>
<p>Washing with 1&#x25; alcohol solution and peeling effectively remove pesticide residues from persimmon.</p>
</list-item>
</list>
</abstract>

Example 12B: Blue DTD bulleted list graphical abstract

<abstract>
<title>HIGHLIGHTS</title>
<p>
<list list-type="bullet">
<list-item>
<p>Chlorfenapyr half-life in persimmon is longer than in crops such as cabbage, chili, and pak choi.</p>
</list-item>
<list-item>
<p>Refrigeration can extend the half-life.</p>
</list-item>
<list-item>
<p>Washing with 1&#x25; alcohol solution and peeling effectively remove pesticide residues from persimmon.</p>
</list-item>
</list>
</p>
</abstract>

History

Working: April 16, 2021 – 1 Dec 2021

JATS4R Committee review: 2 Dec 2021 – 25 Jan 2022

Working: 26 Jan 2022 – 1 March 2022

JATS4R Committee review: 1 March 2022

Public review: 3 March 2022 – 4 April 2022

JATS4R Steering Committee review: 4 April 2022 – 10 May 2022

NISO Topic Committee review: 8 June 2022 – 14 June 2022

Published: 27 June 2022