What is an ISSN? Print vs Online ISSN for an Agriculture Journal Explained

An ISSN is an eight-digit International Standard Serial Number that identifies a journal as a title. A journal published in both print and online form gets two: a P-ISSN for print and an E-ISSN for online. This agriculture journal carries P-ISSN 2664-844X and E-ISSN 2664-8458. An ISSN identifies the journal; it says nothing about its quality.

Authors meet agriculture journal ISSNs when a submission form asks for one, when a university form demands it, or when they are trying to work out whether a journal that emailed them is real.

How to read an ISSN

Eight digits, printed as two groups of four with a hyphen:

2664-844X

The digits carry no meaning — not a year, not a country, not a subject code. Numbers are assigned in sequence, which is why two journals in completely different fields can have adjacent ISSNs.

The eighth character is a check digit, calculated from the first seven, and its whole job is to catch typing errors. Where the calculation produces the value 10 it is written as the letter X. So this journal’s print ISSN ending in X is correct, not a mistake — a point that costs authors time when a form rejects it as invalid.

Why an agriculture journal has two ISSNs

Print and online are treated as separate media, so each gets its own number. When a form asks for “the ISSN” without saying which, give the one for the version you actually used — for anything read or downloaded from the website, that is the E-ISSN.

The ISSN-L exists because databases need a single handle for a title appearing in two forms. Without it, the print and online records would look like two different journals.

ISSN, ISBN, DOI: three different jobs

The confusion that matters: an ISSN cannot get you to a paper. It identifies the container. To point at one article you need its DOI. A reference list giving the journal’s ISSN but not the article’s DOI is missing the useful half.

How to verify an ISSN in two minutes

Every ISSN is registered with the ISSN International Centre and the record is public. Open:

portal.issn.org/resource/ISSN/2664-844X

Three things to look at when the record loads:

1. Does the title match? If the record names a different journal, the number on the website is wrong or borrowed.
2. Does the medium match? The record says Print or Online. A journal quoting a print ISSN for its online edition has its paperwork confused.
3. Is the country what you expect? The register records the country from which the ISSN was applied for, which is not always where the journal now operates.

If a journal’s website shows an ISSN that does not resolve on the portal at all, stop there. That is the fastest check you can run on an unfamiliar agriculture journal, and it costs two minutes.

What an ISSN does NOT tell you

This is where authors assessing an agriculture journal get hurt. An ISSN is an administrative identifier. Obtaining one is a registration step, not an assessment, and a journal with no peer review at all can hold a perfectly valid ISSN.

• Not evidence of peer review. Newsletters and magazines have ISSNs too.
• Not evidence of indexing. Check the databases directly.
• Not a ranking or an impact measure.
• Not proof the journal still exists. Numbers are not withdrawn when a title stops publishing.

So “we have an ISSN” in a solicitation email means almost nothing. The things that do mean something are checkable in the same few minutes: is the review process described, are the indexing claims verifiable, does every article get a DOI, and are charges stated openly before submission.

How a journal gets one

The number is issued by an ISSN National Centre, a body designated in each country working under the ISSN International Centre in Paris. A publisher applies with the title, medium, frequency and a sample issue; the centre checks the title is distinct and assigns the next number.

Two consequences follow. Nobody evaluates the content at this stage — the check is on the title and the paperwork. And the number is issued once and not reviewed again, so an ISSN granted in 2019 says nothing about how the journal operates in 2026.

ISSNs and the predatory journal problem

Solicitation emails lean on ISSNs precisely because the number sounds official and is trivial to obtain. “Our journal is ISSN registered” is a sentence that is usually true and never useful.

The reason the number still helps is different from what those emails imply. It helps because the register is public and independent. You can look up the record yourself and compare it against what the website claims. Three mismatches are worth walking away from:

• The ISSN does not resolve at all. Either invented or mistyped — both bad signs on a journal’s own homepage.
• The record names a different journal. Occasionally a real number belonging to somebody else has been copied.
• The record says print, the site is online only (or the reverse) — sloppy at best.

None is proof of bad intent alone. All three are reasons to look harder at the review process, the indexing claims and the charges before sending a manuscript.

Where the numbers appear on this journal

If an institutional form asks for “the ISSN” and you are unsure which is wanted, give both and label them. No form has ever objected to more precision.

What to do if a form rejects your ISSN

Three causes, in order of how often they occur:

1. The form cannot handle the X. Some validators only accept digits. This is a bug in the form, not in the ISSN. Contact whoever runs it, or supply the E-ISSN instead, which is all digits.
2. The hyphen. Some systems want 2664844X with no hyphen. Try both formats before assuming anything is wrong.
3. You have the wrong medium. A form wanting the online ISSN will not accept the print one and may not say so clearly.

None of these means the journal has a problem, and all three are worth ruling out before you ask the editorial office.

Using the ISSN correctly in your own work

• In a reference list — Vancouver does not require it. Give the journal name, year, volume, issue, pages and DOI instead.
• On a university or funding form — give the ISSN of the medium you published in, and say which it is.
• In a CV — quoting the ISSN alongside a paper adds nothing a reader wants. The DOI does.
• When checking a journal — this is the one place the ISSN earns its keep. Look it up before you submit.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does ISSN stand for?

International Standard Serial Number. It is an eight-digit code that identifies a serial publication — a journal, a magazine, a newspaper — as a title, not any individual article within it.

Why does one journal have two ISSNs?

Because the print edition and the online edition are treated as separate media and each gets its own number. This journal carries P-ISSN 2664-844X for print and E-ISSN 2664-8458 for the online version.

Why does an ISSN end in X?

The eighth character is a check digit calculated from the first seven, and where that calculation produces the value 10 it is written as X. So 2664-844X is a valid ISSN, not a typo — and forms that reject it are wrong.

Does an ISSN mean a journal is indexed or peer reviewed?

No, and this is the most damaging misunderstanding. An ISSN is an identifier, not a quality mark. Getting one is an administrative step, not an assessment.

Where can I verify an ISSN?

On the ISSN Portal at portal.issn.org, run by the ISSN International Centre. Put the number after /resource/ISSN/ in the address. If the record does not exist or names a different title, the number on the website is wrong.

What is an ISSN-L?

A linking ISSN. Where a title exists in more than one medium, one number is designated the ISSN-L so databases can group the print and online records as a single title.

Related Guides

What comes next in the manuscript:

• What is a DOI? A Plain Guide for Research Authors
• What is an Indexed Agriculture Journal? Databases Explained
• What Makes a Good Agriculture Journal? 9 Checks Before You Submit