Applying for an ISSN

An ISSN is critical for journals who want to be indexed, add DOIs, and be apart of the greater research ecosystem. This documentation includes helpful information for getting a DOI.

Mockups

ISSN applications for new journals often require a mockup. The mock up should include:

  • A page showing the title of the publication (cover, title page, title screen, main menu)

  • A page showing the name of the publisher and the place of publication (masthead, copyright statement, “About Us,” “Contact Us”) in the Roman alphabet.

  • Contents of publication (articles)

Submitting

ISSN applications are submitted via ISSN uplink, the customer service portal that supports the U.S. ISSN Center’s mission to assign ISSN (International Standard Serial Numbers) to serials and other continuing resources.

Submissions require about 6 weeks for review.

More information can be found in the FAQ.

Provisional Acceptance

Once an ISSN is provisionally accepted, we need to submit a sample issue once published.

To do so, log in to your ISSN Uplink account and click on the “Update Publication Status” option we have added to your application. Use the status update to provide the following proof of publication:

  • For print formats, please mail a sample issue to our office. For your convenience, a mailing label is available when you select “Published” on the Update Publication Status form. Please also upload surrogates of the print issue.

  • For online/electronic formats, please provide the URL that allows us to verify proof of publication. We need to determine that there are published issues and/or articles available.

  • For tangible media formats (e.g., flash drives, CD-ROMs), please upload scans of CD-ROM disc labels, title pages, and other front matter from discs, flash drive content or similar pages for other formats.

More information on how to use the Update Publication Status form is available in the Library of Congress’s Publishers: Update Publication Status document.

Provisional ISSN are subject to cancellation if you do not provide proof of publication for each format as indicated above.