Languages and Translations

JATS supports multi-language documents by using the xml:lang attribute, and allows many elements to repeat in order to capture multiple language versions (often, elements that normally appear only once are repeatable to allow multiple language versions). JATS also provides some trans-* grouping elements for capturing translations of specific parts of an article. It is important that these features be used correctly to identify the language of content.

The xml:lang attribute is inherited by all descendant elements until another xml:lang appears. The xml:lang attribute is required on the <article> root element, and there is no default value. The xml:lang attribute should also be placed at each level where language changes. The value for the xml:lang attribute should be chosen from the ISO-639-1 list of two-letter language codes, or, if no two-letter code is defined for a language, from the ISO-639-2 list of three-letter language codes. The list of language codes is available online, and language codes should be tagged using lower-case letters. A -script code and -region code should only be added to the language code when necessary.

Article's Primary Language

The xml:lang attribute must appear on the <article> element. For most Taylor & Francis journal articles the primary language is English. For example:

<article xml:lang="en" ...

Article Title

When an article title appears in more than one language, the <trans-title-group> element should be used to tag each additional language version of the article title and subtitle. For example:

<title-group>
    <article-title>Article title</article-title>
    <subtitle>Article subtitle</subtitle>
    <trans-title-group xml:lang="fr">
        <trans-title>Article title in French</trans-title>
        <trans-subtitle>Article subtitle in French</trans-subtitle>
    </trans-title-group>
    <trans-title-group xml:lang="es">
        <trans-title>Article title in Spanish</trans-title>
        <trans-subtitle>Article subtitle in Spanish</trans-subtitle>
    </trans-title-group>
</title-group>

Abstract

When an article's abstract appears in more than one language the primary-language version should be tagged in <abstract>, and the <trans-abstract> element should be used to tag each additional language version of the abstract. For example:

<abstract>
    <title>Abstract</title> 
    <p>Through a qualitative research design, this article investigates the impacts of differentiated laboratory instructional materials on English language learners&rsquo; (ELLs) laboratory task comprehension. The factors affecting ELLs&rsquo; science learning experiences are further explored.</p> 
</abstract> 
<trans-abstract xml:lang="fr"> 
    <title>R&eacute;sum&eacute;</title> 
    <p>Gr&acirc;ce &agrave; une recherche qualitative, cet article analyse l&rsquo;impact du mat&eacute;riel p&eacute;dagogique diff&eacute;renci&eacute; sur la compr&eacute;hension des t&acirc;ches de laboratoire chez les &eacute;tudiants d&rsquo;anglais langue &eacute;trang&egrave;re (ALE). Les facteurs qui affectent l&rsquo;apprentissage des sciences chez ces &eacute;tudiants sont &eacute;galement analys&eacute;s.</p> 
</trans-abstract>

Keywords

When an article contains keyword lists in more than one language, a separate <kwd-group> element should be used to tag each language version of the keywords list. The xml:lang attribute should be used to identify the language for each <kwd-group>. For example:

<kwd-group kwd-group-type="author"> 
    <title>Key Words</title> 
    <kwd>British Columbia colonialism</kwd> 
    <kwd>First Nations&rsquo; health</kwd> 
    <kwd>social and geographic determinants</kwd>
</kwd-group> 
<kwd-group kwd-group-type="author" xml:lang="ch"> 
    <title>&#x5173;&#x952e;&#x8bcd;</title>
    <kwd>&#x4e0d;&#x5217;&#x98a0;&#x54e5;&#x4f26;&#x6bd4;&#x4e9a;&#x6b96;&#x6c11;&#x4e3b;&#x4e49;</kwd> 
    <kwd>&#x7b2c;&#x4e00;&#x6c11;&#x65cf;&#x7684;&#x5065;&#x5eb7;</kwd>
    <kwd>&#x793e;&#x4f1a;&#x548c;&#x5730;&#x7406;&#x56e0;&#x7d20;&#x3002;</kwd> 
</kwd-group> 
<kwd-group kwd-group-type="author" xml:lang="sp"> 
    <title>Palabras clave</title> 
    <kwd>colonialismo de la Columbia Brit&aacute;nica</kwd> 
    <kwd>salud de las Primeras Naciones</kwd> 
    <kwd>determinantes sociales y geogr&aacute;ficos</kwd> 
</kwd-group>

The primary-language <kwd-group> does not need an xml:lang attribute because the language identification is inherited from the xml:lang attribute on the <article> element.

Within Article Text

When multiple languages are used within the text of an article, an xm:lang attribute should be tagged at each level where the language changes. For example, if an article's primary language is English and the article contains a paragraph in Spanish, the <p> element containing the Spanish text should be given an xml:lang="es" attribute. The xml:lang attribute can be placed on many different elements, including block-level elements <p>, <sec>, <disp-quote> and inline element <styled-content>.

Captions

When a figure or table caption appears in more than one language, each language version should be captured in a <p> element with an xml:lang attribute to identify the language (for each additional version). For example:

<fig id="F0001">
    <label>Figure 1.</label> 
    <caption> 
        <p>HS-GC-MS extracted ion chromatograms and mass spectra of (a) furan and (b) furan-d<sub>4</sub>. </p> 
        <p xml:lang="es">Figura 1.&emsp;Cromatogramas HS-GC-MS de iones extra&iacute;dos y espectros de masas de (a) furano y (b) furano-d<sub>4</sub>.</p> 
    </caption> 
    <graphic xlink:href="TCYT_A_669797_F0001_B.gif" content-type="black-white"/> 
</fig>

Complete Article Translations

There are two options for tagging translations of an entire article.

  1. Separate article - The translation may be treated as a separate article with its own DOI. The translation should include a <related-article related-article-type="translated-article"> tag linking to the original form of the article by its DOI.
  2. Within the article - The translation may be tagged as a section within the article, using a <sec> element with an xml:lang attribute. Alternatively, each language version may be tagged using <sub-article>.

Please contact Taylor & Francis Journals Electronic Production if any clarification is needed.