ISSN (International Standard Serial Number)

An eight-digit number used to identify periodical publications such as journals, magazines, and newspapers.

Why it matters

ISSNs help distinguish between journals with similar or identical titles, ensuring you cite the correct publication. They also help librarians and databases catalog and retrieve serial publications accurately, which is especially important when searching for a specific journal across different platforms.

How to use

You can find an ISSN on the journal's masthead, copyright page, or in databases like ISSN.org and WorldCat. While most citation styles do not require the ISSN in your reference entry, knowing a journal's ISSN helps you verify you have the correct publication and locate it in library catalogs.

In academic writing

Students encounter ISSNs when searching for journal articles in academic databases or when verifying that a publication is a legitimate, indexed journal. Many print and online editions of the same journal have different ISSNs (print ISSN vs. electronic ISSN), which can be helpful for locating the specific format you accessed.