LibGuides: Library Research Support: ISBNs, ISSNs and DOIs

Unique identifiers for your outputs: ISBNs, ISSNs and DOIs

These are unique identifiers for publications and research outputs that you can use to identify your work:

International Standard Book Numbers (ISBNs) for books
International Serial Standard Numbers (ISSNs) for serials such as journals and monograph series
DOIs for digital documents such as journal articles and conferences papers

If you are publishing your work through a publisher it is very likely that they will assign a unique identifier. If you are publishing through the university or self-publishing, you may wish to do this yourself. The information below explains more about the identifiers and how to get them.

International Standard Book Numbers (ISBNs)

International Standard Book Numbers (ISBNs) are unique identifiers for books and related material. You will need an ISBN for your publication if you wish to sell it through bookshops and online retailers as they rely on ISBNs to identify, select and stock the correct titles and editions. It is advisable to get the ISBN before you publish, so it can be printed on the work itself.

There is no requirement for a book to have an ISBN.

How do I get an ISBN?

The Library at SHU can provide you with an ISBN if you are publishing a book through the University. Please contact the Library Research Support Team: Email: library-research-support@shu.ac.uk or call: (0114) 225 3852

If you are self-publishing a book externally to the University and you need to obtain an ISBN, you can buy an ISBN through the Nielsen UK ISBN Agency.

If you are publishing through a publisher, they will usually organise an ISBN for your book.

Legal Deposit of books: the British Library

The Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003 requires one copy of each book to be sent to the Legal Deposit Office of the British Library within one month of publication and specifies other libraries which are entitled to a copy upon request. Please be prepared to provide at least one and up to five copies for this purpose. If you are publishing through the University, the Library Acquisitions team will submit these on your behalf.

The requirement for legal deposit also covers electronic materials. If your book is published in print and electronically you only need to deposit one medium – this would usually be the print format. If your publication is only in electronic format and is freely accessible on the web, the British Library will attempt to archive it through a crawling process. If access to the book requires a password, subscription or payment, the British Library will contact you.

For more information see the Legal Deposit pages on the British Library website.

International Standard Serial Numbers (ISSNs)

An International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) is an internationally accepted code that identifies the title of a serial publication. Serials are publications that have multiple issues published over time, which retain the same title for each issue and for which there is no planned end. Examples include whole journals, magazines, annual reports, and monograph series. The ISSN UK Centre assigns ISSNs to publications. If you are the editor of a serial publication produced at SHU and would like to obtain an ISSN, please contact the Library Research Support Team: Email: library-research-support@shu.ac.uk or call: (0114) 225 3852

If your work is going to appear in a journal or other serial published by a publisher, the serial should already have an ISSN.

Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs)

A Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is a unique identifier for an online resource. DOIs are routinely assigned to research outputs such as journal articles, conference papers, reports, dissertations, and data sets. If you have published your output with a publisher, it is likely that the publisher has already created a DOI. Check your output on the journal, conference or publication webpage.

The DOI Service

The DOI Service can assign and manage persistent identifiers for SHU research outputs. Making your digital outputs easier to find and helping you to track the social media attention they receive.

What is a DOI

You may see DOIs presented as a link. For example:

https://doi.org/10.3390/jcdd10030126

Sometimes DOIs are presented as just the DOI name. For example:

10.3390/genealogy7010023

If you have a DOI name and you want to find the resource it identifies, copy and paste the DOI name into ‘Resolve a DOI name‘ or into a web search engine such as Google.

Why do I need a DOI for my output?

Below are some reasons why you may want to request a DOI for your output.

Stable access – a DOI provides a persistent link directly to the output. Even if the URL changes or disappears, the DOI will remain the same.
Tracking attention – having a DOI helps enable attention to your output in social media to be tracked through altmetrics.
Increasing discoverability– when a DOI is created for your output, details about your work (metadata) is entered into the database at CrossRef or DataCite. Many tools use the stored metadata to provide information about research outputs.
Meeting funder requirements – research funders may require a DOI to be created for any outputs related to the research they have funded.
Improving references to your work – some citation styles require a DOI to be used in references to online resources. Authors using such a style will be able to include the DOI in references to your work. Anyone looking at the reference list can easily use the DOI to find your work.

How do I know if my output already has a DOI?

If you have published your output with a publisher, it is likely that the publisher has already created a DOI. Check your output on the journal, conference or publication webpage.

If you cannot find the DOI this way, try searching for your output on CrossRef metadata search.

Can I get a DOI for my output?

The Library has subscriptions to CrossRef (DOIs for publications) and DataCite (DOIs for datasets) which enables us to generate DOIs for outputs published by the university.

We can provide DOIs for publications including:

reports, technical papers, working papers, etc.
conference papers and presentations
e-books
doctoral theses (all new SHU PhD theses deposited on SHURA are given a DOI)

For us to be able to provide a DOI, your output must meet the following criteria:

not already have a DOI
be associated with SHU, for example published by a SHU Department or Research Centre
will be or already has been deposited on the Sheffield Hallam University Research Archive (SHURA) http://shura.shu.ac.uk

You must also agree to let the library know if anything changes about your output, especially if the URL changes. We can then update the DOI record.

Who do I contact to request a DOI?

To request a DOI, please contact the Library Research Support Team:
Email: library-research-support@shu.ac.uk
Call: (0114) 225 3852

You will need to provide us with the following details about your research output:

author(s)
title
year of publication
resource type (report, conference presentation, etc.)
the URL that the full text of the output can be found from. This should be a ‘landing page’ where the document is described and which provides a link to the PDF or other full text version of the output. The SHURA entry for your output can be used as the landing page.

This basic information above is essential. However, if you can provide further information, we can create a more detailed record in CrossRef or DataCite. This will enhance the discoverability of your work through online searches, etc

What should I do with my DOI once I have it?

We recommend that you do the following:

add the DOI to the landing page for the output (this is essential)
include the DOI on the document
include the DOI when you deposit your document in SHURA
use the DOI when you link to your research from social media such as Academia, LinkedIn, ResearchGate and in blog posts, CVs, etc.

If you have any questions, please contact the Library Research Support Team:
Email: library-research-support@shu.ac.uk
Call: (0114) 225 3852