- Publishers who wish to identify their serial publications and incorporate a barcode on the magazine, journal or newspaper for sale via major retailers.

- Libraries that use the ISSN as a fundamental identifier for distinguishing between identical serial titles and facilitating checking and ordering procedures, collection management, legal deposit, digital preservation, interlibrary loans, etc.

- Catalogue databases that use the ISSN as a record control number and can make use of the records from the ISSN register.

The ISSN can be thought of as the social security number of the serials world. Just as an individual's social security number is used in many automated systems to distinguish that person from others with the same or similar names, the ISSN distinguishes a particular serial from others with which it might be mistaken.

The International Standard Serial Number is an 8-digit code used to identify unambiguously newspapers, journals, magazines and periodicals of all kinds and on all media–print and digital.