Magazines & Periodicals

 

International Standard Serial Number

 

The barcodes for magazines and periodicals are still EAN-13 barcodes but they incorporate ISSNs (International Standard Serial Numbers). The often have a two-digit add-on barcode which incorporates the issue number (for each week, or month). These barcodes always begin with the digits 977, and they incorporate the eight-digit ISSN issued by a national agency. It will cost you nothing to obtain an ISSN, and the UK’s national agency is the British Library at Boston Spa.

 

More information about how to create correct EAN-13 barcodes from these ISSNs is available from the PPA (Professional Publishers Association) in the UK at www.ppa.co.uk