# The RefDB database design

The RefDB database is a helper database for the RefDB reference databases. It holds data for the recognition of unabbreviated words in journal names as well as the bibliography style information.

## The table t_journal_words

This table holds a list with unabbreviated journal words. These are words in the names of journals which are not an abbreviation of something else. Many online sources of bibliographic information provide the journal information without periods so it is not clear whether a word in a journal name is complete by itself or whether it is an abbreviation. Some bibliographic formats ask for periods after abbreviated words, so we have to get these periods from somewhere. RefDB adds the periods if necessary when a reference is added to the database. This way you have the additional information that the periods provide always at your hands. If you don't need it, it is trivial to strip the periods away.

name

  An alphanumeric field (maximum length 255 characters) that holds a word in uppercase which is an unabbreviated word in a journal name.

  Examples: CELL, BIOCHEMISTRY, DRUGS

## The table CITSTYLE

This table together with the REFSTYLE, POSITION, and SEPARATORS tables are used to store bibliography style sets. The CITSTYLE table contains one entry per bibliography style. It defines the appearance of the citations as well as the general appearance of the bibliography.

## The table REFSTYLE

The REFSTYLE table contains zero or one entry for every publication type (such as book, journal, abstract) per bibliography style. Each entry is linked to one entry in the CITSTYLE table via the CITSTYLEID column.

## The table SEPARATORS

The SEPARATORS table contains one entry per separator used in the POSITION table. Each entry is linked to an entry in the REFSTYLE table via the REFSTYLEID field.

## The table POSITION

The SEPARATORS table contains one entry per separator used in the REFSTYLE table. Each entry is linked via the REFSTYLEID and POSITION fields.