Re: [jats-list] Linking <contrib> to <aff>

["Michael Boudreau mboudreau@xxxxxxxxxxxx" <jats-list-service@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Pieter,

I agree that multiple affiliations per author complicates things, and our XML
vendors use <xref> when this is the case, since the articles generally display
a footnote-style reference for each affiliation.

But it seems to me that in the simpler case (and more common, for us) of one
affiliation per author, if the value of contrib[@rid] matches the ID of an
<aff> element, then you know exactly what kind of reference is being made,
since the purpose of <aff> is not at all ambiguous. (Though I have seen <aff>s
grievously misused.)

--
Michael R. Boudreau
Electronic Publishing Technology Manager
The University of Chicago Press
1427 E. 60th Street
Chicago, IL 60637
www.journals.uchicago.edu

From: Pieter Lamers pieter.lamers@xxxxxxxxxxxx
<jats-list-service@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Monday, December 15, 2025 at 11:41b/PM
To: jats-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <jats-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [jats-list] Linking <contrib> to <aff>

Hi Michael,

I see two major problems with your use of @rid.
1. it does not tell what kind of reference we are seeing; it is possible to
have other kinds than affiliation.
2. it does not allow for multiple references, unless you'd be willing to have
rid="af1 af2" for an author with multiple affiliations, which would require
decomposing the attribute value at all times.

Best,
Pieter

On 15/12/2025 22:41, Michael Boudreau
mboudreau@xxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:mboudreau@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi all,

I've been discussing with our platform vendor a feature that doesn't support
our practice of linking article authors and their affiliations via
contrib/@rid and aff/@id, e.g.,

<contrib-group>
\xA0 \xA0 <contrib contrib-type="author" rid="af1">
\xA0 \xA0 \xA0 \xA0 <string-name name-style="western">
\xA0 \xA0 \xA0 \xA0 \xA0 \xA0 <given-names>Sam</given-names>
\xA0 \xA0 \xA0 \xA0 \xA0 \xA0 <surname>Masur</surname>
\xA0 \xA0 \xA0 \xA0 </string-name>
\xA0 \xA0 </contrib>
\xA0 \xA0 <contrib contrib-type="author" rid="af2">
\xA0 \xA0 \xA0 \xA0 <string-name name-style="western">
\xA0 \xA0 \xA0 \xA0 \xA0 \xA0 <given-names>Sadie</given-names>
\xA0 \xA0 \xA0 \xA0 \xA0 \xA0 <surname>Green</surname>
\xA0 \xA0 \xA0 \xA0 </string-name>
\xA0 \xA0 </contrib>
\xA0 \xA0 <aff id="af1">Harvard University</aff>
\xA0 \xA0 <aff id="af2">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</aff>
</contrib-group>\xA0

The vendor points out that the preferred way of linking <contrib> and <aff> is
with a contrib/xref[@ref-type="aff"], which the JATS documentation indeed
labels a "best practice":
https://jats.nlm.nih.gov/archiving/tag-library/1.2/element/contrib.html<https
://urldefense.com/v3/__https://jats.nlm.nih.gov/archiving/tag-library/1.2/ele
ment/contrib.html__;!!BpyFHLRN4TMTrA!8jBNM2u5LZzpIVdQwPyDV2d4j-9gGfTQsFTLqLcP
5dySZ26mt_7JQZCb2iY1Zw1-Nvtj2H_bhr52ENjaxVHg_WzHk7VbSHiG5mgs1lVf7g$>

I'm wondering if someone can elaborate on the rationale for recommending
<xref> and whether there's anything inherently problematic with the markup
illustrated above. It strikes me as, at least, simple and unambiguous, well
suited for articles whose authors have a single affiliation, as is extremely
common in the humanities and social sciences.


--\xA0

Michael R. Boudreau

Electronic Publishing Technology Manager

The University of Chicago Press

1427 E. 60th\xA0Street

Chicago, IL 60637

www.journals.uchicago.edu<http://www.journals.uchicago.edu>

\xA0

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--
Pieter Lamers
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