A method and apparatus are provided for setting a plurality of demodulation reference signal (DMRS) structures and determining uplink and downlink transmission timing for reducing a delay. A method performed by a terminal includes receiving, from a base station, information associated with a first symbol position for a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) in a transmission time interval; identifying the first symbol position for the DMRS, the first symbol position for the DMRS being identified relative to a start of the transmission time interval based on the information; and receiving, from the base station, the DMRS on the identified first symbol position of the DMRS.