Personal Names in Citations

Names and String Names

The names of authors, editors, translators, and other contributors can all be tagged within <element-citation> and <mixed-citation> using <name>, <string-name>, or <person-group>. The elements <name> and <string-name> identify the surname (family name) and given names (first names) of the person. Here are examples of <name> inside both citation styles. Note that even when <name> is in <mixed-citation>, it does not allow spacing or punctuation between elements:

<mixed-citation publication-type="journal">
  <name>
    <surname>Jefferson</surname><given-names>T</given-names>
  </name>. ...
<mixed-citation>

<element-citation publication-type="journal">
   <name>
      <surname>Jefferson</surname><given-names>T</given-names>
    </name>
</element-citation>

<string-name> allows, but does not require, spacing and punctuation:

<mixed-citation publication-type="journal">
   <string-name>
      <surname>Jefferson</surname>, <given-names>T</given-names>
    </string-name>. ...
<mixed-citation>

<element-citation publication-type="journal">
   <string-name>
      <surname>Jefferson</surname><given-names>T</given-names>
   </string-name>
</element-citation>

<string-name> is more likely to be used in textually mixed citations because it allows the preservation of the punctuation that separates the surname from the initials or the given names (both of which are tagged with <given-names>):

<mixed-citation publication-type="journal">
  <string-name>
  <surname>Washington</surname>, <given-names>George</given-names>
  </string-name>. ...
<mixed-citation>

In element-style citations, which do not preserve punctuation or spacing, <string-name> is only used to hold unusual names that are not easily broken into <surname> and <given-names>. For example:

<string-name>His Royal Highness The Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester</string-name>

The element <string-name> can also be used to preserve the order of publication as all of the following are legal string names:

  <string-name>
  <surname>Petitti</surname>, <given-names>DB</given-names>
  </string-name>

  <string-name>
  <given-names>DB</given-names> <surname>Petitti</surname>
  </string-name>

  <string-name>D.B. <surname>Petitti</surname></string-name>

The first example above would not be a valid <name> because of the comma and space between <surname> and <given-names>. The second and third examples are not valid <name>s because of name order. To help a publisher or archive regularize the data, <name> requires a particular order for the elements:

The @name-style attribute can be used on the <name> element to record the preferred display order for the name to make the distinction between eastern and western display order.

Here is a typical citation tagged using <name>, tagged as an element citation :

  <element-citation publication-type="journal" publication-format="print">
  <name><surname>Leifer</surname><given-names>BP</given-names></name>
  <article-title>Early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease: clinical and 
  economic benefits</article-title><source>J Am Geriatr Soc</source>
  <year>2003</year><month>May</month><volume>51</volume>
  <issue>5 Suppl</issue><issue-title>Dementia</issue-title>
  <fpage>S281</fpage><lpage>S288</lpage>
   </element-citation>

and here is the same citation tagged as a mixed citation:

  <mixed-citation publication-type="journal" publication-format="print">
  <string-name><surname>Leifer</surname>, <given-names>BP</given-names>
  </string-name>. <article-title>Early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease: clinical 
  and economic benefits</article-title>. <source>J Am Geriatr Soc</source>. 
  <year>2003</year> <month>May</month>;<volume>51</volume>(<issue>5 
  Suppl</issue> <issue-title>Dementia</issue-title>):<fpage>S281
  </fpage>-<lpage>S288</lpage>.</mixed-citation>

Using Person Groups

<name> elements within citations may be grouped using the <person-group> element. <person-group> is very similar to <contrib-group> in the article metadata in that it can contain <name>, <collab>, <string-name>, or <anonymous> elements. <person-group> takes an optional attribute @person-group-type that identifies the type of contributor (editor, illustrator) tagged within the group.

Here is an editor tagged using <person-group> inside <element-citation>:

  <element-citation publication-type="journal" publication-format="print">
  <source>Folia Primatologica: International Journal of Primatology</source>
  <person-group person-group-type="editor">
  <name><surname>Crompton</surname><given-names>R.H.</given-names></name>
  </person-group>
  <publisher-loc>Basel (Switzerland)</publisher-loc>
  <publisher-name>S. Karger AG</publisher-name>
  <vol>1</vol><year>1863</year><comment> -suspect date, may be 1864.</comment>
  </element-citation>

And that same person group in a mixed citation:

  <mixed-citation publication-type="journal" publication-format="print">
  <source>Folia Primatologica: International Journal of Primatology</source>. 
  <person-group person-group-type="editor">
  <name><surname>Crompton</surname><given-names>R.H.</given-names>
  </name></person-group>, editor. <publisher-loc>Basel (Switzerland)</publisher-loc>: 
  <publisher-name>S. Karger AG</publisher-name>. Vol. <vol>1</vol> 
  <year>1863</year> -suspect date, may be 1864.</mixed-citation>

The <person-group> element can also be used to tag a person’ name and affiliation or to collect a group of contributors, all of whom have a single affiliation. In the example below, a single individual has an affiliation, tagged in an element-style citation.

  <element-citation publication-type="commun">
  <person-group>
  <name><surname>Hennen</surname><given-names>John</given-names></name>
  <aff>Edinburgh, Scotland</aff></person-group>
  <source>Letter to: Dr. Duncan</source><year>[date unknown]</year>
  <size units="page">9 p</size><comment>Located at: History of Medicine
  Division, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD; W6 P3 v.1575.
  Observations on the cure of syphilis without mercury.</comment>
  </element-citation>

Notice that, in the mixed-style example just given, the information that a person is an editor may be there twice, once as loose textual material with a comma and space, and once as a searchable attribute on the <person-group> element.

Another possible use of the <person-group> is to hold the element <etal>, to designate unnamed individuals (typically indicated in print with the text “et al.”.

Name Display Order

The problem of eastern versus western display of name, e.g., Toshiro Mifune versus Mifune Toshiro can be addressed using the @name-style attribute on the element <name>. This information can be used for choosing an inversion algorithm or for sorting or other processing functions. The three values and approximate meanings are given below.