Synopsis

Overview

Synopsis is a plain-text element that carries a very brief, highly condensed statement of the research product's subject matter, intended for space-constrained displays such as mouse-over tooltips, mobile previews, alert lists and summary dashboards. It sits between Title (shortest) and Abstract (longest) in the content-description hierarchy, providing more context than a title but far less detail than an abstract (sources: data-dictionary-2.5.1 p.18, level-one-2.4 p.10, user-guide-2.3 p.22). In RIXML 2.x it is an optional child of Content; in the draft v3.0 schema it becomes a required child of a SynopsisList container with support for multiple audience- and language-targeted variants [data-dictionary-v3-draft p.26].

Usage

In RIXML 2.0–2.5, Synopsis is an optional child of Content with cardinality 0..1, containing plain-text only (sources: level-one-2.5 p.10, release-notes-2.5 p.24). The recommended maximum length is 300 characters, and the content should be limited to a few lines suitable for highly abbreviated displays such as tooltips, mobile previews and alert feeds (sources: data-dictionary-2.5.1 p.18, user-guide-2.1 p.22). Where markup is required, publishers should additionally provide the parallel SynopsisFormatted element rather than embedding HTML inside Synopsis [release-notes-2.4 p.20]. Multilingual synopses in v2.5 are supplied by repeating the synopsis under ContentDetailsAlternativeLanguages rather than via attributes on the element itself [release-notes-2.5 p.24]. In the v3.0 draft, the cardinality model changes: a SynopsisList container holds one or more Synopsis elements, each of which may carry language, format-coding and AudienceTypeEnum attributes so that publishers can deliver audience-segmented variants (e.g. professional vs. retail) from a single document (sources: data-dictionary-v3-draft p.26, meeting-2023-06 p.25).

Rules

• SHOULDSynopsis content should not exceed approximately 300 characters and should be limited to a few lines suitable for highly abbreviated displays.[RIXML Research Data Dictionary v2.5.1 p.18] [RIXML Research Data Dictionary v2.5.1 p.36] [RIXML Research Suite Data Dictionary v3.0 (DRAFT) p.26]↗ [RIXML User Guide v2.1 p.22] [RIXML User Guide v2.2 p.22] [Best Practices for Publishing RIXML p.22]
• MUSTHTML or other markup must not be embedded inside Synopsis (or Abstract); use SynopsisFormatted when markup is needed.[Best Practices for Publishing RIXML p.15] [RIXML Research Data Dictionary v2.5.1 p.12]
• SHOULDWhere consumer systems vary in their ability to render markup, publishers should provide both plain-text and formatted variants of key content elements, i.e. Title/TitleFormatted, Abstract/AbstractFormatted and Synopsis/SynopsisFormatted.[Company Report (Advanced) Sample v2.4]↗ [RIXML Release Notes v2.4 p.20]
• MUSTFrom RIXML v2.5 onward, Synopsis supports multi-language delivery via ContentDetailsAlternativeLanguages, alongside Title, SubTitle and Abstract.[RIXML Quarterly Update 2017 Q2 p.8]↗ [RIXML Release Notes v2.5 p.24]
• MAYIn the v3.0 draft, multiple Synopsis elements may be provided within a SynopsisList container, each optionally tagged with an audience via AudienceTypeEnum to allow audience-segmented variants.[RIXML All-Member Meeting June 2023 p.25]↗ [RIXML All-Member Meeting June 2023 p.29]↗ [RIXML All-Member Meeting Spring 2024 p.23]↗ [RIXML Research Suite Data Dictionary v3.0 (DRAFT) p.26]↗
• MAYIn the v3.0 draft, Synopsis (along with Title, SubTitle, Abstract and Biography) carries an optional includesFormatCoding boolean attribute indicating whether the text contains embedded markup such as bold or italic tags.[RIXML All-Member Meeting June 2023 p.29]↗

Relationships

• child-ofContent — In RIXML 2.x, Synopsis is an optional child (0..1) of Content, alongside Title, SubTitle, Abstract and Resource.
• contrasts-withAbstract — Synopsis is the very brief variant (≈300 characters) suitable for abbreviated displays, while Abstract is the longer detailed summary (≈3000 characters) covering key points and highlights.
• contrasts-withTitle — Synopsis should be shorter than Abstract but longer and more descriptive than Title, filling the middle tier of the content-description hierarchy.
• paired-withSynopsisFormatted — SynopsisFormatted is the markup-enabled counterpart of Synopsis; the two carry equivalent content, with Synopsis restricted to plain text and SynopsisFormatted permitting limited HTML markup.
• localized-byContentDetailsAlternativeLanguages — Multilingual variants of Synopsis are supplied through ContentDetailsAlternativeLanguages from RIXML 2.5 onward.
• qualified-byAudienceTypeEnum — In the v3.0 draft, Synopsis may be tagged with an audienceType attribute drawn from AudienceTypeEnum so that publishers can provide audience-specific synopses within a SynopsisList.