Article Abstract

Most journal articles include an abstract that summarizes the content of the article. The <abstract> element should be used to tag the article abstract if the article includes an abstract. For example:

<abstract>
<p>...</p>
</abstract>

If the abstract has a title the <title> element should be included in <abstract>, for example:

<abstract>
<title>Abstract</title>
<p>...</p>
</abstract>

The <abstract> element should be omitted if the article does not have an abstract.

If the article has more than one abstract, the article's primary abstract should be placed in the first abstract element.

Translated Abstracts

Some articles include translations of the article abstract. The version of the abstract that is in the article's primary language should be tagged using the <abstract> element. Versions of the abstract in other languages should be tagged using the <trans-abstract> element. See Languages and Translations for more information.

Graphical Abstracts

Graphical abstracts should be tagged using an <abstract> element with attribute abstract-type="graphical". The graphical abstract should contain only a <title> (if needed) and one or more <fig> elements. The <fig> element within a graphical abstract must have attribute position="anchor". For example:

<abstract abstract-type="graphical">
    <title>GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT</title>
    <fig id="UF0001" position="anchor">
        <graphic xlink:href="GPSS_A_793592_UF0001_B.gif" content-type="black-white"/>
    </fig>
</abstract>

There are specific requirements for the format of the image files used for the online version of a graphical abstract. As described in Image File Guidelines, the online image file for a graphical abstract should:

be in .jpg, .png or .gif format,
be 525 pixels wide. If the image is smaller than this white padding should be added to either side of the image.

An alternate version of the image formatted for print may be included in the graphical abstract. This is an example of a graphical abstract where both an online version and a print version of the image file are included:

<abstract abstract-type="graphical">
    <title>GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT</title>
    <fig id="UF0001" position="anchor">
        <alternatives>
            <graphic xlink:href="GPSS_A_793617_UF0001_OB.gif" content-type="black-white" specific-use="web-only"/>
            <graphic xlink:href="GPSS_A_793617_UF0001_PB.tif" content-type="black-white" specific-use="print-only"/>
        </alternatives>
    </fig>
</abstract>

If needed, a <fig> element within a graphical abstract may include a label, title, and caption. If the graphical abstract has more than one image file a <fig> element can be included for each figure.

Appended Abstract Text

Some articles require additional text that is not part of the author-submitted abstract to be included at the end of the article abstract. The appended text should be tagged as a paragraph with the content-type attribute set to "appended-text".

<abstract>
<p>...text of the author's abstract...</p>
<p content-type="appended-text">Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website.</p>
</abstract>

If needed, the specific-use attribute may be added to the <p> element with value set to either "web-only" or "print-only" to specify that the appended text should appear only online or only in print.

Text Above Abstract

Some articles have text, such as an editors' introduction or an opening quote, that appears in print above the abstract, or between the section heading and the article. This content is normally not part of the article itself even though it appears with the article. This opening content can be tagged using the <notes> element in <front>. For example:

<notes>
  <sec sec-type="intro">
    <title>Editor's Note:</title>
    <p>...</p>
  </sec>
</notes>
</front>