What is an ISSN?
An ISSN (International Standard Serial Number) is an 8-digit code used to identify newspapers, journals, magazines and periodicals of all kinds and on all media–print and electronic. It identifies all continuing resources, irrespective of their medium (print or electronic):
- newspapers,
- annual publications (reports, directories, lists, etc.),
- journals,
- magazines,
- collections,
- websites,
- databases,
- blogs,etc.
In many countries and indexing bodies, an ISSN is mandatory for all publications subject to the legal deposit.
The ISSN takes the form of the acronym ISSN followed by two groups of four digits, separated by a hyphen. The eighth digit is a check digit calculated according to a modulus 11 algorithm on the basis of the 7 preceding digits; this eighth control digit may be an “X” if the result of the computing is equal to “10”, in order to avoid any ambiguity.
e. g.:
- ISSN 0317-8471
- ISSN 1050-124X
What is its role?
The ISSN role is to identify a publication.
It is a digital code without any intrinsic meaning:
-
it does not include any information about the origin or contents of the publication,
- it does not guarantee the quality or validity of the contents.
The ISSN is associated with the title of the publication. If the publication is modified significantly, a new ISSN must be assigned.
Click here to authenticate your existing ISSN number. If the name of your Journal is displayed then you have an authentic ISSN number. If it doesn’t please get in touch so we can process for you.
