Can you send me a screenshot of your conkeyref in source mode? When I try to add a <p>, I get an error message.      Also, <ph> is allowed in some contexts within the prolog.     

Hi there,    By rule, <p> is not allowed in the prolog.  It is meant for topic-level metadata.  Try creating a keydef that uses one of the allowed elements within prolog. Then you should be able to conkeyref that element.     I hope this helps.