sec-type

Type of Section

Definition

Identifies the semantic content of a section, where that is known, for example, a section on “Materials” or a “Conclusions”

Usage

This attribute is typically provided as part of conversion when the semantic information is explicit in the source documents. Although designed to accept any text as its value, for best practice, this attribute should be used only if the section is one of the types listed below and should otherwise be omitted. This is a way to provide information classing to structural sections, for searching and grouping purposes.

A section that contains content of more than one type should have the type IDs combined (e.g., “Materials and Methods” would be tagged “type="materials|methods"”).

Attribute Values

In Element

<sec> Section
Value Meaning
Text, numbers, or special characters Names the main semantic type of section content. This attribute may take any value, but is really only meaningful when a list of values is maintained and articles are tagged accordingly. See the list of suggested values such as “conclusions” below.
Restriction: This attribute may be specified if the element is used.

Suggested usage

Recommended section type values are:

cases

Cases/Case Reports

conclusions

Conclusions/Comment

discussion

Discussion/Interpretation

intro

Introduction/Synopsis

materials

Materials

methods

Methods/Methodology/Procedures

results

Results/Statement of Findings

subjects

Subjects/Participants/Patients