SubTitle
RIXML 2.5 Element
Optional string element providing additional title context or elaboration beyond the primary Title. Works in conjunction with Title to create complete headline presentation.
This is the sub title of the product. No markup permitted.
Usage
Optional child of Content element that can appear at most once. Contains string value providing supplementary title information, such as 'Ipods, Jump Drives, and more...'
Business Context
Enhances content discovery and user understanding by providing additional context for research topics, improving search effectiveness and content categorization in research distribution systems.
Specification Guide
Overview
SubTitle is an optional secondary heading that supplements the primary Title of a research product with additional context, qualification, or descriptive detail. It carries plain text only — markup-enabled subtitles are conveyed through its sibling SubTitleFormatted — and supports localisation so that regional audiences can quickly assess a product's relevance [RIXML Release Notes v2.5 p.24].
Usage
SubTitle appears as an optional child of Content with cardinality 0..1, immediately complementing the required Title (sources: level-one-2.2 p.14, level-one-2.3 p.9, level-one-2.4 p.9, level-one-2.5 p.9). From version 2.5 onward, additional language variants of the subtitle are carried on ContentDetails inside ContentDetailsAlternativeLanguages rather than by repeating the element in Content [RIXML Release Notes v2.5 p.24].
Typical use is to elaborate on or qualify the headline — for example, a main title accompanied by a subtitle such as *"iPods, Jump Drives, and more..."* [RIXML Level One Addendum v2.5 p.9]. Because the element accepts no markup, publishers needing inline formatting should populate SubTitleFormatted instead.
In the in-progress v3.0 draft, SubTitle is restructured to live inside a SubTitleList container where it becomes required and repeatable, mirroring the multi-language pattern proposed for Title [RIXML Research Suite Data Dictionary v3.0 (DRAFT) p.25]↗. This v3.0 model is a draft and differs materially from the 2.x usage above.
Rules
- MUSTSubTitle appears at most once as a child of Content in RIXML 2.2 through 2.5.[RIXML Level One Addendum v2.2 p.14] [RIXML Level One Addendum v2.3 p.9] [RIXML Level One Addendum v2.4 p.9] [RIXML Level One Addendum v2.5 p.9] [RIXML Release Notes v2.5 p.24]
- MUSTSubTitle contains plain text only; publishers needing inline markup should use SubTitleFormatted instead.[RIXML Release Notes v2.5 p.24] [RIXML Research Data Dictionary v2.5.1 p.37]
- SHOULDAdditional language variants of the subtitle should be expressed via ContentDetails within ContentDetailsAlternativeLanguages rather than by repeating SubTitle inside Content.[RIXML Release Notes v2.5 p.24]
- MUSTIn the RIXML v3.0 draft, Title and SubTitle support a
languageattribute so that title content can be localised for non-English markets.[RIXML All-Member Meeting June 2023 p.27]↗ - MUSTIn the RIXML v3.0 draft, Title, SubTitle, Synopsis, and Abstract are to expose an optional
includesFormatCodingboolean attribute indicating whether the content contains embedded markup.[RIXML All-Member Meeting June 2023 p.29]↗
Relationships
- child-ofContent — SubTitle is an optional child of Content in RIXML 2.2–2.5, sitting alongside Title, Abstract, Synopsis and Resource.
- complementsTitle — SubTitle supplements the primary Title with additional headline context; it never replaces the title.
- contrasts-withSubTitleFormatted — SubTitleFormatted carries the same subtitle content but permits limited HTML markup, whereas SubTitle accepts no markup. Publishers choose one based on whether formatted output is required.
- localised-byContentDetails — Alternative-language versions of the subtitle are carried by ContentDetails inside ContentDetailsAlternativeLanguages from RIXML 2.5 onward.
Where It Fits
Definition
| Type | string |
| Namespace | http://www.rixml.org/2017/9/RIXML |
| Min Occurs | 1 |
| Max Occurs | 1 |
Attributes
No attributes defined for this element
Children
No child elements defined
Example
<SubTitle />Version History
Unchanged since introduction in RIXML 2.2
2.2 — SubTitle is available as an optional, plain-text child of Content, introduced to provide elaboration on the main Title (sources: level-one-2.2 p.8, p.14).
2.3–2.4 — No semantic change; remains an optional 0..1 child of Content used to extend the headline (sources: level-one-2.3 p.9, level-one-2.4 p.9). In 2.4 the parallel SubTitleFormatted is introduced for HTML-enabled subtitles [RIXML Release Notes v2.4 p.20].
2.5 — Globalisation improvements: multi-language subtitles are supported via ContentDetailsAlternativeLanguages / ContentDetails rather than by repeating the element. SubTitle itself remains plain text and 0..1 within Content [RIXML Release Notes v2.5 p.24].
3.0 (draft) — The v3.0 working draft restructures subtitles into a SubTitleList container in which SubTitle becomes required and repeatable, gains a language attribute for localisation, and gains an includesFormatCoding boolean to indicate embedded markup (sources: data-dictionary-v3-draft p.25, meeting-2023-06 pp.27, 29). This design is provisional and not part of any released RIXML version.
Semantic Relationships
Replaces1 relationship
SubTitleFormatted serves as an alternative to SubTitle when HTML formatting is needed, containing identical content with markup
RIXML Research Data Dictionary v2.5.1, p.12— Embedding HTML content
Contrasts With1 relationship
SubTitleFormatted allows limited HTML markup for the product subtitle whereas SubTitle accepts no markup
RIXML Research Data Dictionary v2.5.1, p.37— SubTitleFormatted (Optional, String)