Sections

The <sec> element is used to break textual information into sections, providing the basic structure of a document. Short articles, such as Editorials and Introductions, may only contain paragraphs, but most journal articles are divided into clear sections with headings that summarise the content of the section. Examples include: Introduction, Results, Conclusions, Findings.

Sections must contain a <title>, a <label>, or both, and are recursive; for example, a <sec> element may contain sub-section elements tagged using the element and does not need to contain a child element such as <sec1>, <subsec> etc. An @id attribute is used to differentiate the sections (e.g. <sec id-type=”S0001”>).

<sec> can be used within the <back> element to capture information that does not fall into existing elements such as <app>, <ack>, etc. For more information on how <sec> is used in <back>, see the documentation on Permitted sections within Backmatter.

Other elements in which the <sec> element can be included are:

  • <abstract>

  • <ack>

  • <app>

  • <bio>

  • <body>

  • <boxed-text>

  • <notes>

  • <sec>

  • <trans-abstract>

The @sec-type attribute can be used to capture the type of content being included in the section. However, it is not mandatory and should only be used for the below:

  • coi-statement

  • correction-statement

  • conclusions

  • data-availability

  • discussion

  • intro

  • materials

  • methods

  • open-scholarship

  • orcid-section

  • results

  • subjects

  • supplementary-material

Title and ID naming conventions

Each element should be given an id that is unique within the document. The @id naming convention is as follows:

S001

Each new section should contain ‘S’ suffixed by three digits (I.e. S001, S002). The top-level section contains a disp-level value of 1, with subsequent sub-sections tagged as follows:

<sec id="S001-S1001" disp-level="2">

Note that the S is suffixed with four digits, starting with 1 (I.e. S1001, S1002, S1003). Sub-sections within S002 would be tagged as: S002-S2001 etc. Further examples below.

The level of a section is based on the depth or the number of elements that are nested inside parent elements. For example, a level 2 section would be a element inside a element with no other containing elements. The @disp-level attribute may be used as an additional way to identify the section level, and the disp-level attribute is optional. If the @disp-level attribute is used then it must have an integer value that matches the depth of nesting elements.

Examples

Example 1: <sec> within <abstract>

<abstract abstract-type="section"> 

<sec> 

<title>Context</title> 

<p>There are few treatment options for managing autonomic dysreflexia in patients with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI). According to some studies, intravesical botulinum toxin for SCI patients with autonomic dysreflexia has a preventive effect on symptoms of autonomic dysreflexia. However, the usefulness of an intravesical botulinum toxin injection has never been reported for autonomic dysreflexia in an adult patient with chronic cervical SCI, although there has been for one pediatric patient.</p></sec> 

<sec> 

<title>Findings:</title> 

<p>A 62-year-old man with chronic cervical SCI had neurogenic bladder due to C6-7 SCI since sustaining a fall in 1980. He presented with an intermittent headache and severe hypertension because of persistent autonomic dysreflexia. His symptoms did not improve with conservative management, and he could not undergo an operation to resect the lung cancer because of his uncontrolled blood pressure. To control his fluctuating blood pressure, he was taken to an operating room to receive an intravesical botulinum toxin injection for refractory bladder spasms. Subsequently, his blood pressure was controlled, and then the lung mass could be surgically removed. His improved condition lasted for more than 6 months.</p> 

</sec> 

<sec> 

<title>Conclusion</title> 

This case suggests that botulinum toxin is a logical treatment option for autonomic dysreflexia as well as neurogenic detrusor overactivity in patients with chronic SCI. Dedicated research is warranted to assess the efficacy of an intravesical botulinum toxin injection, as it was used successfully to stop the symptoms of autonomic dysreflexia in our patient.</p> 

</sec> 

</abstract>

Example 2: <sec> within <body>

<body> 

<sec id="S001"> 

<title>Introduction</title> 

<p>A patient with chronic cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) can have many complications, such as respiratory dysfunction, cardiovascular problems, bladder&sol;bowel dysfunction, spasticity, and pain.<sup><xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CIT0001">1</xref></sup> Autonomic dysreflexia, a cardiovascular complication, is one of the most life-threatening complications secondary to SCI at the T6 level or higher. Many symptoms of autonomic dysreflexia develop due to various stimuli, such as paroxysmal hypertension, bradycardia, headaches, etc. The health care cost burden in patients with SCI with autonomic dysreflexia is high, and effective treatment methods are insufficient.</ p> 

</sec> 

<sec id="S002"> 

<title>Case report</title> 

<p>A 62-year-old male with chronic cervical SCI who visited the rehabilitation medicine outpatient clinic in February 2016 had voiding dysfunction due to C6-7 SCI since he sustained a fall in 1980, and he had undergone a C6 and C7 vertebrae fusion (posterior approach) operation. Postoperatively, he had been in a quadriplegic state with neurogenic bladder for more than 35 years. </p> 

</sec> 

<sec id="S003"> 

<title>Discussion</title> 

<p>Subsequent to SCI, the descending central modulation of bladder activity becomes disrupted. However, as spinal bladder reflexes re-emerge several weeks to months after SCI,<sup><xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CIT0007">7</xref></sup> independent sacral reflex activity leads to uninhibited bladder muscle activation during filling at a given volume threshold and urinary incontinence without the sensation of bladder filling or the urge to void.<sup><xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CIT0008">8</xref></sup>.</p> 

</sec>

Example 3: Sections within sections

<sec id="S001"> 

<title>Elizabeth Mertz, &lsquo;reading, writing, speaking, and teaching law: James Boyd White and legal integrity&rsquo;</title> 

<p>The original volume entitled <italic>The Legal Imagination</italic> is a coursebook &ndash; a book meant to be used in teaching. As is the custom in such volumes, the main readings are excerpts from other texts. Of course, the selection of those excerpts tells us a lot about the author.</p> 

<sec id="S002"> 

<title>Elizabeth Mertz, &lsquo;reading, writing, speaking, and teaching law: James Boyd White and legal integrity&rsquo;</title> 

<p>The original volume entitled <italic>The Legal Imagination</italic> is a coursebook &ndash; a book meant to be used in teaching.</p> 

<sec id="S002-S2001"> 

<title>Intellectual integration as a calling</title> 

<p>Like many others, I have benefitted from White&rsquo;s generosity of spirit. After completing my PhD in Anthropology, I held a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Psychosocial Studies in Chicago; as part of that experience I was asked to help organize a working group on &lsquo;Language and Law&rsquo; that met at the University of Chicago. </p> 

<sec id="S002-S2002"> 

<title>Learning legal language</title> 

<p><italic>Justice as Translation</italic> opens by quoting Wittgenstein, in a passage that echoes a recurring theme found throughout White&rsquo;s writings: &lsquo;To imagine a language means to imagine a form of life&rsquo;.</p> 

</sec> 

</sec>