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Please consult the list of ISSN National Centres and check whether your country has an ISSN National Centre or comes under the responsibility of the ISSN International Centre. The ISSN International Centre assigns ISSN to 3 types of publishers:

 

8.1.1. Publishers located in countries without any ISSN Centre [see section 8.2. How to register as a publisher, option 1]

 

8.1.2. International Organisations [see section 8.2. How to register as a publisher, option 2]

 

8.1.3. Multinational Publishers which have a specific agreement with the ISSN IC. They are directly registered by the ISSN International Centre and may benefit from additional services.

 

Please contact sales [at] issn.org for more information.

8.2.1. How to submit the registration form?

 

If you want to get an ISSN, you need to be registered. The registration process will take place when submitting your first ISSN assignment request. Click on “Publishers’ area” in the upper left-hand corner. Two options are offered according to the country of publication to be selected: National or International. 

Option 1: If you are located in a country without any ISSN Centre, in the frame “National”, select your country of publication and click on the button “Submit”. Your request will be processed by the ISSN International Centre. If there is an ISSN Centre in your country, you will be informed on how to contact the relevant national ISSN Centre which is responsible for your ISSN assignment request.

 

Option 2: If you are an international organisation listed in the Yearbook of International Organisations, section A to F (United Nations, Word Bank, …), your request will be processed by the ISSN International Centre. Enter your International Organisation ID that you may retrieve by clicking on the link to the Union of International Associations (https://uia.org/yearbook). Your ID is composed of one letter and four numbers. This ID is mandatory to be considered as an international organization. You can then submit the web form. Fill in the form about your credentials, especially mandatory fields with an (*), and the additional information. Tick the boxes to confirm that you have read and approved the General Terms of Use. By ticking this box, you acknowledge that you can use ISSN Services because you accept these Terms of Use without any reservation, and you undertake to abide by these terms. You may (or may not) confirm that you authorize the ISSN International Centre to use your personal data for commercial purposes [See UGC - ARTICLE 7: CONFIDENTIALITY - PERSONAL DATA]. You can then send your web form.

 

8.2.2. Why do I receive an email after registering?

After having validated the General Terms of Use and submitted the registration form, you will receive an email on the main contact address indicated in the web form. This ensures that this email address is valid. Please carefully read this email:

- It indicates the login you should use to access ISSN publisher services, - It provides you with a link on which you should click.

Clicking on the link provided in the email will direct you to a one-time login page, and then to your account page. On your account page, you will be requested to create your password.

 

 

8.2.3. How to pay my registration fee?

 

After having set up your password, you will be directed to a page where you should pay your registration fee. You may pay, depending of your country, by Paypal, Paysafe, or wire transfer. You will be effectively registered as a publisher after you have paid for your ISSN request. [See section 8.4. ISSN assignment]. Note that you will not be able to access the ISSN Publisher services before your payment is processed by the ISSN International Centre.

 

8.2.4. I haven’t received any email after having submitted the registration form: what should I do?

 

It may take some time before you receive your email. Please first check in your spam box if you have not received your email. If you have not received it, you may request a new email. To that end:

- Please click on the “temple” icon at the top-right corner, - Click on “forgot password”, - Indicate your email (the main contact email provided in the form you submitted) and click on “Email new password”.

If you still have trouble, please use the contact form available at the bottom of each page of the Portal, indicating as subject “ISSN assignment”.

 

8.3.1. What is the use of my personal area?

 

From your personal area, you will be able to send requests to the ISSN International Centre, buy credits for ISSN assignment, exchange messages with librarians and follow the status of your requests. There are three kinds of requests:

 

- ISSN assignments to new publications [see 8.4. ISSN assignment], - ISSN claiming [See 8.5. ISSN Claiming and transfer of ownership], - Modification requests [see 6. Modification requests].

 

Your personal area is organized in a dashboard divided into 2 parts. At the top of the page, you have a summarised dashboard with 2 tabs:

 

the number of requests and their different processing statuses. [see What are the different statuses of an ISSN assignment request?]. Clicking on a status from the dashboard will filter all the corresponding requests listed in the table below. - a summarized view of the number of publications you have registered in your account, either through ISSN assignment requests [see section 8.4. ISSN assignment] or through a claiming process [see section 8.5. ISSN claiming and transfer of ownership].

Below, the main frame of your personal area is a table summarising all your requests and enabling you to follow their processing status and view more details for each request. From this table, you can:

- access your requests using filters on Request ID, processing status, request nature (assignment / modification / claim), urgent status (yes/no) title, ISSN or requester, - sort this table by clicking on the header of any column, - access the details of the request form by clicking on the request ID, - access the record of your resource by clicking on the ISSN number,

 

- write a message to the librarian in charge of your requests.

 

On the left-hand side, the menu enables you to:

- Go back to your home page with the dashboard,

 

- Request an ISSN assignment, accessing the ISSN assignment request web form [see section 8.4. ISSN assignment],

 

- Purchase ISSN credits and see how many ISSN credits you have left [see section 8.4.1. What is an ISSN credit?],

 

- Search the portal [see section 3. Search and discovery options],

 

- Claim responsibility over a resource [see section 8.5. ISSN claiming and transfer of ownership],

 

- Check the records of your registered resources. The “Registered resources” are all publications attached to your account, either because you have requested an ISSN assignment for them, or because you have claimed responsibility over them, - Communicate with an ISSN librarian [see section 8.4.11. How to communicate with a librarian?].

 

 

8.3.2. What are the different statuses of an ISSN request?

 

You may follow the outcome of each request by checking their processing statuses:

Draft: you can prepare your request and save it as a draft to send it later, in case some information is missing. Please note that ISSN librarians do not have access to information from draft requests;

 

Pending: you have sent your ISSN request, but it has not been evaluated yet by the ISSN International Centre;

 

In process: your request has been checked by the ISSN International Centre; a provisional ISSN record has been generated. It will be accessible from the ISSN Portal on the next day. However, the confirmed ISSN record is not yet accessible in the Portal;

 

Processed: your request has been processed and a confirmed ISSN record is accessible in the ISSN Portal. It will be accessible from the ISSN Portal on the next day.

 

Provisional: your request has been processed and a Provisional record was created corresponding to a pre-publication. It will be accessible from the ISSN Portal on the next day. You are expected to send further information when the resource is actually published.

 

Incomplete: some elements of the request are missing, and you are expected to provide the relevant information in return.

 

Rejected: your request was rejected, for example because the resource is not a continuing resource.

 

Clicking on a status from the dashboard will filter the corresponding requests listed in the table below. Clicking on the ISSN assigned will give you access to the record of the corresponding resource. Icons placed next to ISSN represent the medium (print, online, digital carrier/other carrier). Clicking on the ID of a request will enable you to view the web form you submitted.

 

 You can modify/edit the web form and send it to an ISSN Librarian only when the request status is Draft, Provisional or Incomplete. You cannot modify/edit the web form when the request status is Pending, In Process, Processed, or Rejected. You can export this table as a CSV file

8.4.1. What is an ISSN credit?

 

Publishers are requested to pay a fee for ISSN assignment. Thus, you have to buy ISSN credits. An ISSN Credit is a unit of value representing an ISSN assignment. This unit of value is available to publishers registered on the extranet. It includes the ISSN data creation, maintenance and dissemination services. An ISSN credit offers you the possibility of requesting the assignment of an ISSN to one specific title, whatever the number of medium versions. If you request an urgent assignment, you are invited to send an “urgent request”, which costs two credits [see section 8.4.8 My ISSN assignment request is urgent. What should I do?]. Some requests are free of charge:

 

- requesting an ISSN assignment for a title already existing on another medium, - claiming the responsibility over a resource, - requesting the modification of an ISSN record for your registered resources.

 

 

 

8.4.2. How to purchase ISSN credits?

 

Log in to your personal area; from the left-hand menu, click on the button “Purchase ISSN credits”. Enter the number of ISSN credits needed in the right tranche (2-4 credits, 5-20 credits, more than 20 credits). Click on the button “Add to cart”, validate the amount. Click on “Carry out the payment”. You will be re-directed to a payment page where you must choose to pay by PayPal, Paysafe or by banking transfer (depending on your country). Follow the instructions and proceed to payment. The process is identical as the one for subscribing to ISSN portal [see section 9. You are a corporate customer - How to pay for ISSN portal subscription?].

 

8.4.3. How to request an ISSN?

 

Log in to your account [see section 8.2. How to register as a publisher?] From your personal area, make sure you have enough ISSN credits in your account, by checking the figure in red in the left-hand menu “Purchase ISSN credits”. If your balance is equal to 0, then click on the button “Purchase ISSN credits” in the left-hand side menu and proceed to online payment [see section 8.4.2. How to purchase ISSN credits?]. Click on the button “Request an ISSN” in the left-hand side menu. Fill in the web form thoroughly, providing all mandatory information in the fields marked with an (*) and additional information. The proofs of publication must be uploaded and attached to the web form. The allowed files types are: JPEG, PNG or PDF, with a maximum size of 10 Mb per title. If a document is missing, save your request as a draft and continue after you have all the documents ready for upload. Save the web form and send the request.

 

8.4.4. How many ISSN do I need?

 

You need a different ISSN:

- For each different language edition of the same publication, - For each different local edition of the same publication, - For each different local medium version of the same publication.

Please request each ISSN separately. By exception, you may send a single ISSN request for several different medium versions of a same publication (in that specific case, only one ISSN credit will be charged for the whole request) [See section 1. General information about ISSN]

 

8.4.5. What kind of documents should I gather before requesting an ISSN?

 

Before proceeding to your ISSN request, please gather: For a print version: complete issue or copy of the cover, title page and editorial page. The editorial page must show the name and address of the publisher, For a CD-ROM version: sample or copy of the label affixed on the disc and/or on the container with the name and address of the publisher printed on it. For an online version: the URL (electronic address) of the publication. The name and address of the publisher must be displayed on the publication. For a mobile version (for e-readers and smartphones): screenshots of the title screen and/or of any other screens showing the name and address of the publisher. These documents must be attached as JPEG, PNG or PDF files, with a maximum size of 10 Mb per title. If an element is missing, save your request as a draft and continue once you have gathered all the documents ready for upload.

 

8.4.6. When should I apply for an ISSN?

 

For a print publication, an ISSN shall be requested up to three (3) months before the release of the first issue. For an online publication, an ISSN is assigned only after the release of the first 2 issues, provided that these issues contain 5 articles at least.

 

8.4.7. What is the average processing time of an ISSN request?

 

The processing of the ISSN request by the ISSN International Centre, that is to say, the transition of the request from the status "pending" to "in process" will be handled within twenty (20) working days on average.

 

8.4.8. My ISSN assignment request is urgent. What should I do?

 

If you have at least 2 ISSN credits, you may request an urgent ISSN assignment from the ISSN International Centre. There is a limit of five urgent requests per day. Your request will be handled within five working days if the request is complete. If your request is incomplete, this processing period will run from the day when you have sent all the required items to the ISSN International Centre.

 

8.4.9. How will I know that my ISSN request was accepted?

 

You can follow the process of your ISSN assignment on your dashboard, in your Personal area. You also receive e-mails. [See section 8.3 Publishers’ area and section 8.4.11 How to communicate with a librarian?]. As soon as your request is accepted, the request is switch to “in process” status and the ISSN of the publication is provided. A provisional record is automatically generated in the Portal. Note however that this provisional record will be accessible in the Portal within one hour. When the resource is catalogued by an ISSN librarian, the request is either switch to “processed” status (for a publication) or “provisional” status (for a pre-publication). The corresponding updated record is be accessible in the Portal within one hour.

 

8.4.10. My publication has been assigned an ISSN. How should I print / display it?

 

According to the ISO standard 3297 which defines the ISSN and its uses, the ISSN should be printed/displayed this way: For print version, print this ISSN prominently on each issue of your publication, preceded by the letters ISSN, preferably in the upper right-hand corner of the cover page; For online version, display this ISSN prominently on the title screen, homepage and/or first page (for PDF formats) of your online publication, preceded by the letters ISSN. On your website, if you received 2 ISSN for print and online version, both ISSN can be displayed as follows: ISSN XXXX-XXXX (Online), ISSN XXXX-XXXX (Print)

 

8.4.11. How to communicate with a librarian?

 

Once you are logged in your personal area, you can access your mailbox from the left-hand menu “My Services”, clicking on the button “Messages”. You can:

- View your messages in your Inbox and reply, - Write and send a message mentioning the subject and specifying the tracking number if necessary, in order to contact a person in charge of your request, - Keep track of your sent messages.

When you receive a message in your personal area, you will be notified by e-mail that you have received a new message with a link to your personal area. In the same way, from your detailed dashboard, at the end of the line corresponding to every request, clicking on the button “Contact a librarian” will direct you to your mailbox in your personal area

 

 

8.4.12. Why was my ISSN assignment request rejected?

 

The ISSN International Centre may refuse to assign an ISSN, particularly in the following cases:

- an ISSN has already been assigned to the publication, - the publication is not eligible for an ISSN assignment, - the publication does not exist, - the data provided by the requester is incorrect or misleading.

 

 

 

8.4.13. My ISSN assignment request was rejected. Will I be reimbursed?

 

No, the ISSN International Centre does not reimburse the requester in case of a refusal to assign an ISSN to a publication. However, depending on the cases, the ISSN International Centre may refund your credit account. The refunded credit may then be used for subsequent requests.

8.5.1. What does “claiming responsibility for a resource” mean?

 

As a publisher, you may “claim” responsibility for a resource belonging to you, and to which an ISSN has already been assigned. After the process is validated by the ISSN International Centre, the resources are attached to your personal account.

 

8.5.2. What is the benefit of claiming responsibility for a resource?

 

Once you have claimed responsibility for a resource, you have access to full information on the records attached to your account, in order to get certificates, download the records, or ask for updates or modifications.

 

8.5.3. How to claim responsibility for a resource that belongs to me?

 

First, you need to be registered as a publisher. From the ISSN record selected, click on the button “Claim the record” and fill in the specific form. This form is pre-filled with your own essential credentials, and the ISSN and the key title of the resources selected. Please provide documentary evidence of your ownership by uploading proofs (any document bearing the name and address of the publisher of the selected title). Allowed files types are: JPEG, PNG and PDF. The total size of the documents should not exceed 10 Mb. Your claiming request will be assessed by an ISSN librarian. If you did not provide enough evidence of your ownership, you will be asked to complete your request and add more documents. When the request is validated, the resource will be attached to your account, as a “registered resource”. Click on the “registered resources” button, accessible from the left-hand menu, to access the complete list of your resource. Then click on a specific record to view its complete bibliographic information, request a modification, or download a certificate. Please repeat the process for each publication you want to claim. You can follow your claiming requests from your dashboard. You will also receive a notification e-mail.

 

8.5.4. How to declare a transfer of ownership?

 

The ISSN Extranet allows publishers to declare transfers of ownership. The ISSN International Centre checks and validates the transfer, and inform both publishers (receiving and transferring) of the outcomes of the transfer request. The transfer of ownership is requested by the receiving publisher, which should be registered in the ISSN Extranet.

8.5.4.1. I am a receiving publisher acquiring the responsibility over a resource from another publisher: how can I declare the transfer of ownership?

 

Please proceed to your request through the “claim resource” function [see section 8.5.3. How to claim responsibility for a resource that belongs to me?]. There are two cases:

The resource for which a transfer is requested is not attached to the transferring publisher. This case happens if the transferring publisher has not registered to the ISSN Extranet, or if it has not registered the resource. In that case, you are invited to indicate, in the claim request web form, the name and contact address of the transferring publisher. It will allow the ISSN International Centre contacting the transferring publisher to get its feedback (see below). - The resource for which a transfer is requested is already attached to the transferring publisher. This case happens if the transferring publisher is already registered to the ISSN Extranet, and if it has already registered the resource (through ISSN assignment request or through a claiming request). In that case, you are informed that the resource is already registered by this message at the beginning of the web form: “This resource is already under the responsibility of the publisher: [Name of the publisher]. Please however proceed to your claiming request if there is a change of ownership or if you think the current statement of responsibility is erroneous”. The name of the transferring publisher is already recorded in the web form and may not be modified.

Please provide documentary evidence for the transfer of ownership. Besides, you may provide a date of the transfer of ownership if it is not immediate. Your request will be handled by an ISSN librarian. Please repeat the process for each publication for which there is a transfer of ownership.

 

 

8.5.4.2. I am a transferring publisher leaving the responsibility over a resource to another publisher: how can I declare the transfer of ownership?

 

 

- If you have not registered to the ISSN Extranet, or if the resource is not part of your registered resources: you will be notified by e-mail, provided the receiving publisher specified your name and contact details. You will be able to send your feedback by email to the ISSN International Centre. - If you have registered to the ISSN Extranet, and the resource is part of your registered resources: you will be informed of the transfer request by email and through the ISSN Extranet messaging system. You will be able to provide feedback on this transfer request by accessing the record of the resource in the ISSN Portal. On the record of the resource, in the section “Modification actions”, an informative note will inform you that a transfer of ownership has been requested. You will be able to send your comments to the ISSN International Centre.

In case of a disagreement between publishers, the ISSN International Centre will postpone the transfer and wait for further clarification from the two publishers. Ultimately, the ISSN record will be updated to reflect the change of publisher.

n your personal area, from the left-hand menu “My Services”, click on the button “My registered resources”. You will be able to:

view the records registered under your account, - request a modification to update the information or report an error on the record of your resource, - generate a certificate.

 

 

8.6.1. How to view the records of my registered resources?

 

From your personal area, click on the button “My registered resources” and you can see the short records of the resources registered under your account. In order to view the complete records, select the resource(s) of your choice, clicking on the cross on the left of each title you want to view, and click on the button “View records”.

 

8.6.2. How to report an error or request an update on the record(s) of my publication(s)?

 

You may request an update for a record corresponding to your registered resources. From your personal area and the left-hand menu, click on the button “My registered resources”, select and access the record to be updated. From the record, click on the button “Report an error” on the right, and fill in the modification request web form. Please refer to section 6. Modification requests for more information.

 

8.6.3. What is an ISSN certificate?

 

You may need an original and official document certifying that your publication has obtained an ISSN from the ISSN International Centre. The ISSN certificate is a document issued on a letterhead signed by the Director of the ISSN International Centre. As a formal evidence, it certifies that:

– a specific ISSN number has been assigned to a continuing resource, – this ISSN is included in the ISSN Register.

The certificate shows complete information from the publication’s descriptive record.

 

 

8.6.4. What is an ISSN certificate?

 

You may request a certificate only for the resources registered under your account (through an ISSN assignment or claiming request). Search the record in your registered resources. Select the record of your choice by clicking on the cross on the left-hand side of the title. Once the record is displayed, click on the button “Generate a certificate”. The record is displayed as a PDF document that you can print and download for free.

From the login area, you can access these two sections: my account, my corporate information. My account Click on the temple icon, and then “My account”. Click on the tab “Edit”, and modify your user name, e-mail address, password and language settings. We recommend you leave ticked the “Private messages” section, to enable you to receive e-mail notifications from ISSN librarians. My corporate information This section enables you to view:

- your credentials as you entered them when you registered; your current subscriptions (ISSN credits and ISSN portal if the case occurs); - your invoices; - your own login user.

Click on each tab to access the sub-section of your choice. Click on the button “See more” to edit your corporate information and display more details. Click on the button “Submit” to save your updated information.