For university presses and scholarly publishers, structured XML is no longer a specialist concern. Journal hosting platforms, aggregators, discovery services and digital archives expect content in standard XML, and an XML-first workflow allows one source file to drive every edition.
JATS and BITS in brief
JATS, the Journal Article Tag Suite (ANSI/NISO Z39.96), is the established standard for tagging journal articles. It describes the article’s metadata, body, figures, tables, equations and references in a consistent, machine-readable way, and is widely accepted by hosting platforms and archives, including PubMed Central.
BITS, the Book Interchange Tag Suite, extends the same approach to books. It covers book-level metadata, parts, chapters and front and back matter, which makes it suitable for monographs, edited volumes and reference works. Because BITS is built on JATS, presses that publish both books and journals can use one shared approach.
Why presses move to an XML-first workflow
- One source, every format: print PDF, EPUB 3, HTML and repository packages are generated from the same validated file, so corrections are made once.
- Discoverability: complete, structured metadata and tagged references improve indexing and linking across scholarly platforms.
- Accessibility: semantic structure and MathML in the XML carry through to accessible EPUB and HTML outputs.
- Long-term preservation: standard XML remains readable and reusable long after proprietary file formats become obsolete.
A typical production workflow
- Manuscript preparation: copy-edited Word files are styled consistently so that every element has a defined role.
- Conversion to XML: styled content is converted to JATS or BITS, with references, figures, tables and equations tagged in full.
- Validation: files are checked against the DTD or schema, with Schematron rules for publisher- or platform-specific requirements.
- Output generation: typeset PDF, EPUB and HTML are produced from the validated XML.
- Delivery and deposit: packages are delivered to hosting platforms, aggregators and repositories in the format each requires.
Common pitfalls
- Reference tagging: untagged or loosely tagged references limit linking and citation tracking. Each element of a reference should be tagged individually.
- Mathematics as images: equations should be encoded in MathML within the XML, not embedded as pictures.
- Incomplete metadata: missing identifiers such as ORCID iDs, funding information or licence details reduce the value of the XML downstream.
- Validation as an afterthought: XML that is only checked at the end of production leads to late corrections. Validation belongs at every stage.
- Inconsistent tagging conventions: a written tagging specification keeps output consistent across titles and suppliers.
Choosing between JATS and BITS
Use JATS for journal articles and article-like content. Use BITS for books and book chapters, particularly where chapters are distributed individually on scholarly platforms. Presses publishing both benefit from a shared tagging specification that covers the two suites consistently.
How Studio of Solutions supports scholarly publishers
Studio of Solutions converts manuscripts, PDFs and legacy files to validated JATS, BITS and canonical XML, including MathML, full reference tagging and complete metadata, and generates print, EPUB and HTML outputs from the same source.