Serial Publication

A serial publication is a publication issued in successive parts (numbers, volumes, fascicles, etc.), usually having numerical or chronological designations and intended to be continued with no predetermined end. A serial publication may appear in printed form or on any other medium (microfiche, floppy disc, CD-ROM or on the Internet).

The main kinds are: newspapers, periodicals, yearbooks, periodically issued reports, communications, lists of data, addresses, etc., publications of conferences held periodically, numbered and unnumbered series. The latter type are processed in two ways in bibliographic, library and documentation practice: the serial title grouping the series is identified by the ISSN, while volumes appearing within this frame and having an individual title are recorded as books and assigned an ISBN. If a periodical, not a book, appears within the series, this periodical is also identified by an ISSN.

Works appearing in a number of volumes cannot be regarded as serial publications since they are intended to be published in a finite number of parts, even if the individual parts are not published simultaneously.