MeridianMERIDIAN

ISSN

identity.commerce.issn

International Standard Serial Number. 8-digit identifier for periodicals (magazines, journals, newspapers). Format: XXXX-XXXX. Last digit is check character.

Casts to
VARCHAR
Check digit
ISSN mod 11
Standard

Shape

Pattern
^[0-9]{4}-[0-9]{3}[0-9X]$
ValueLengthShape
0028-08369matches
2434-561X9matches
0003-75169matches
0028-0838rejected: one character short

Background

Origin

An ISSN is an 8-digit code used to identify newspapers, journals, magazines and periodicals of all kinds.[1] The ISSN system was first drafted as an ISO international standard in 1971.[2] It was published as ISO 3297 in 1975.[2] ISO subcommittee TC 46/SC 9 is responsible for maintaining the standard.[2]

ISSNs are assigned by a network of ISSN National Centres, usually located at national libraries.[2] The network is coordinated by the ISSN International Centre, based in Paris.[2] The ISSN International Centre and its Network were formally established in 1975 under an agreement between UNESCO and France.[3] The ISSN International Centre's press release marking 40 years of the ISSN said its Register contained more than 1.8 million ISSN bibliographic records.[3]

The ISSN is written as the acronym ISSN followed by two groups of four digits, separated by a hyphen.[1] The eighth digit is a check digit calculated with a modulus 11 algorithm.[1] Each of the first seven digits is multiplied by a weight of 8 down to 2, and the products are added.[2] If the sum leaves no remainder modulo 11 the check digit is 0, and otherwise the remainder is subtracted from 11.[2] When that result is 10, the check digit is an uppercase X.[2]

Use

When a serial with the same content is published in more than one medium, a different ISSN is assigned to each medium.[2] For example, Nature has a print ISSN, 0028-0836, and a separate ISSN for the web version, 1476-4687.[2] A linking ISSN, the ISSN-L, groups the different media of the same serial publication.[4] ISSN-L was defined in the ISSN standard ISO 3297:2007.[2]

Crossref's REST API documentation writes an ISSN without its hyphen in its example request for the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology, ISSN 03064530.[5] ISSNs can be encoded in EAN-13 barcodes with a 977 prefix, followed by the seven main digits of the ISSN without its check digit.[2] The EAN check digit at the end of such a barcode is calculated differently and in most cases does not match the ISSN check digit.[2] An ISSN can be written as a URN by prefixing it with urn:ISSN:.[2] Expect ISSNs with and without the hyphen, with an ISSN prefix, or embedded in a 13-digit barcode, and normalise them to the hyphenated eight-character form before comparing. (Meridian's view)

Where you'll meet it

Crossref's REST API identifies journals by ISSN, with a /journals/{issn} endpoint returning the details of the journal with the given ISSN.[5] The Directory of Open Access Journals' public journal CSV carries columns named Journal ISSN (print version) and Journal EISSN (online version), with values such as 2596-092X.[6]

Sources

  1. [1]What is an ISSN? | ISSNdocumentation
  2. [2]ISSN - Wikipediasecondary source
  3. [3]Press Release: ISSN: 40 years of identification for serial publications | ISSNdocumentation
  4. [4]The ISSN-L for publications on multiple mediadocumentation
  5. [5]REST API - Crossreforganisation
  6. [6]doaj_journalcsv_20260917_2320_utf8.csvdataset

Detection notes

v1 migration: Was code.issn. 8 characters including hyphens: XXXX-XXXX. Last character can be digit or X (for check digit 10).

Use it

CLI · DuckDB
$ finetype infer -i "0028-0836" --mode column
→ identity.commerce.issn

SELECT ft_infer('0028-0836');
-- → 'identity.commerce.issn'
Cast expression
CAST({col} AS VARCHAR)

Schema

https://meridian.online/schemas/identity.commerce.issn · Frictionless type string

finetype taxonomy identity.commerce.issn -o json-schema

Type Registry