TS ISO 3297

TS ISO 3297 addresses the International Standard Serial Number, or ISSN, as a standard identifier for serials and other continuing resources. In practical publishing and bibliographic control, it provides a stable way to distinguish recurring resources that may exist in more than one medium or version.

The role of ISSN in bibliographic identification

ISSN is used for resources that continue over time rather than for single, finite works. Typical examples include newspapers, journals, magazines, blogs, conference proceedings, serial monographic series, and ongoing reports. In general technical terms, the value of ISSN lies in identifying a continuing resource independently of its title wording, language, or distribution channel; separate identifiers for print and electronic manifestations help avoid ambiguity when the same publication appears in multiple formats.

What the standard covers and how it is distinguished

• ISSN applies to serials and other continuing resources in print or electronic form.
• The distribution model does not matter, so free, open-access, and subscription-based resources are all within scope.
• Updating resources such as websites, institutional repositories, directories, and databases are included as typical continuing resources.
• Related resources may be grouped into clusters using a separately prefixed ISSN, as defined in the document.
• Monographs and some other publication types have their own identifiers, but they may also carry an ISSN when they form part of a continuing resource.

This document defines and promotes the use of ISSN at the conceptual level, but it does not provide operational guidance for implementation. It is therefore best understood as the standard reference for what ISSN identifies and where it applies, rather than as a manual for assignment procedures.