---
title: "Journal Article Tag Suite"
chunk: 2/2
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_Article_Tag_Suite"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:49:22.745801+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

The DOCTYPE header is optional, a legacy from SGML and DTD-oriented validators. The dtd-version attribute can be used even without a DTD header.
The root element article is common for any version of JATS or "JATS family", as NLM DTDs.  The rules for front, body and  back tags validation, depends on the JATS version, but all versions have similar structure, with good compatibility in a range of years. The evolution of the schema preserves an overall stability.
Less common, "only front", "only front and back" variations are also used for other finalities than full-content representation. The general article composition (as an DTD-content expression) is

   (front, body?, back?, floats-group?, (sub-article* | response*))

== Tools ==
There are a variety of tools for create, edit, convert and transform JATS.
They range from simple forms to complete conversion automation:

=== Conversion to JATS ===
Take as input a scientific document, and, with some human support, produce a JATS output.

OpenOffice (LibreOffice) and MS Word documents to JATS:
Typeset: provides automated set of converters for MS-Word to JATS XML.
OxGarage: can convert documents from various formats into "National Library of Medicine (NLM) DTD 3.0".
meTypeset: meTypeset "is a fork of the OxGarage stack" "to convert from Microsoft Word .docx format to NLM/JATS-XML".
eXtyles: automates time-consuming aspects of document editing in Microsoft Word and exports to JATS XML (as well as many other DTDs).
Markdown to JATS: Pandoc 2.0 can convert a number of input formats to JATS.
PDF to JATS: this is a very difficult problem to solve.  Success depends on how well structured your PDFs are and, for batch conversion, how consistently structured your PDFs are.
Shabash Merops
Typeset's PDF to JATS XML Converter
The Public Knowledge Project is developing a pipeline for converting PDF to JATS.  It will include use of pdfx.
CERMINE Content ExtRactor and MINEr 

=== Conversion from JATS ===
Take JATS as input, produce another kind of document as output.

from JATS to HTML
JATS Preview Stylesheets (canonical XSLT conversion), see classical (2013) conversor.
eLife Lens converts NLM XML to JSON for displaying using HTML and Javascript.
from JATS to PDF: some JATS Preview Stylesheets, XSLT + XSL-FO conversion.
from JATS to EPUB.
Generic (from JATS DTD): DtdAnalyzer — compare JATS with other DTDs and helps into create a XML representation, XSLT and Schematron generation, and other tools.

=== Editors ===
Typeset provides a WYSIWYM editor for scholarly articles. Supports XML exports in NISO JATS and NLM JATS standards. It is mostly used by Journals and Publishers looking to convert author submitted MS-Word files to XML, PDF, HTML and ePuB.
JATS Framework for oXygen XML Editor:  users of oXygen XML Editor and oXygen XML Author can now install support for current versions of NISO JATS (and as a bonus, NLM BITS). Based on an identifier given in a DOCTYPE declaration, oXygen will detect that you are editing a JATS document and provide stylesheets and utilities.
FontoXML for JATS: WYSIWYS editor for editing and reviewing JATS content:
PubRef "Pipeline": Browser-based realtime-preview JATS editor:
Annotum: a WordPress theme that contains WYSIWYG authoring in JATS (Kipling subset), peer-review and editorial management, and publishing.
JATS edition for web-based XML editor Xeditor.
Texture Editor of the Substance Consortium.  The first online "born to JATS" editor.
Libero Editor, developed by eLife describes itself as 'A user-friendly editing interface designed for publishing staff and authors for the production of high-quality JATS XML.'

=== Preview ===
Tools that render JATS as HTML, usually on fly.

JATS Preview Stylesheets: the JATS Preview Stylesheets are a series of .xsl, .xpl, .css, and .sch files that will create .html or .pdf versions of valid NISO Z39.96-2012 JATS 1.0 files. It is primarily intended for internal use by publishers and a basis for customization.
Typeset - Allows to generate HTML from JATS XML within a click. Also, offers capacity to generate custom HTML based on the requirements of the journal.
PubReader – "The PubReader view is an alternative web presentation ... Designed particularly for enhancing readability on tablet and other small screen devices, PubReader can also be used on desktops and laptops and from multiple web browsers".

=== Customization ===
Jatsdoc - Produces documentation for any particular JATS customization. Jatsdoc is integrated with NCBI's DtdAnalyzer.

== JATS central repositories ==
As NISO JATS began the de facto and de jure standard for open access journals, the scientific community has  adopted the JATS repositories as a kind of legal deposit, sometimes deemed more valuable than the traditional digital libraries where only a PDF version is stored. Open knowledge need richer and structured formats as JATS: PDF and JATS must be certified as "same content", and the set "PDF+JATS" forming the unit of legal deposit. 
List of JATS repositories and its contained:

PubMed Central: (please check these numbers)
US PubMed Central: in 2016 ~3.8 million articles
Europe PubMed Central: in 2016 ~3,7 million articles 
SciELO: in 2016 ~0.6 million articles
These repositories do overlap and the same article can be held by more than one repository.

== Alternatives and semantic ==
There are some effort and experiments using RDF conversion in the 2012, with no impact in the JATS community.
Later, in ~2016, for Semantic Web context, with SchemaOrg initiative, the class ScholarlyArticle was defined, receiving better reception. It  is an initial "JATS-like standardization" for RDF contexts of use.

== See also ==

== References ==

== Further reading ==
Packer, Abel L.; Salgado, Eliana; Araujo, Javani; Aquino, Letícia; Almeida, Renata; Santos, Jesner; Lucena, Suely; Soares, Caroline M. (4 April 2014). "Why XML?". SciELO in Perspective.
Sharp, Molly (4 June 2013). "Structured Documents for Science: JATS XML as Canonical Content Format". PLOS Tech.

== External links ==
NLM Journal Article Tag Suite – NCBI's information and documentation site.
NISO JATS Version 1.1 (current standard):
Archiving and Interchange tag library
Publishing tag library
Article Authoring tag library
Styles and customization:
SciELO Publishing Schema (SPS) – SciELO's customization.
Tagging Guidelines of PubMed Central's preferred XML tagging style
ISO Standards Tag Set (ISOSTS) as a customization of NISO JATS
NISO Book Interchange Tag Suite (BITS), based on JATS.
TextureJATS, a  minimal coherent subset of JATS.
JATS open community:
"JATS for Reuse" (JATS4R) community, validator
SchemaOrg community, ScholarlyArticle
PeerJ's XML-JATS to HTML5-ScholarlyArticle