ISBN vs ISSN vs DOI vs JAN — Quick Guid

ISBN vs ISSN vs DOI vs JAN — Quick Guide

ISBN / ISSN / DOI / JAN — Quick Comparison

A handy, publisher-neutral cheat sheet for librarians, researchers, and retail ops.

One-line purposes

  • ISBN: Identifies a specific edition/format of a book.
  • ISSN: Identifies the title of a continuing resource (journals, series).
  • DOI: Persistent identifier for digital objects (articles, datasets).
  • JAN: Retail barcode for distribution/inventory (EAN-13/GTIN-13).

Quick comparison table

Item ISBN ISSN DOI JAN (EAN-13/GTIN-13)
Target Book edition/medium (print/ebook) Continuing publications (title level) Digital objects (papers, figures, data, software) Retail products (general)
Format 13 digits (e.g., 978-4-xxxx-xxxx-x) 8 digits (e.g., 1234-567X) 10.xxxx/xxxxx 13 digits (e.g., 490xxxxxxxxxx)
Main use Book trade & bibliographic control Serial trade & bibliographic control Persistent ID & link resolution POS & inventory
Authority International ISBN Agency + national agencies ISSN International Centre + national centres International DOI Foundation + RAs (Crossref/DataCite/JaLC) GS1 (GS1 Japan in JP)
Barcode Bookland EAN (978/979 as EAN-13) ISSN EAN (prefix 977 as EAN-13) Optional (QR, etc., possible) EAN-13 (JP prefixes include 45/49)
Assignment unit Per edition/format Per title (ISSN-L links media) Per object (persists) Per SKU/item

Common mix-ups clarified

  • Books use both ISBN and JAN: the retail barcode is EAN-13 (JAN) carrying the ISBN as Bookland EAN (prefix 978/979).
  • Magazines use ISSN + EAN: prefix 977 embeds the ISSN into EAN-13.
  • A DOI isn’t a URL: 10.****/*** is the ID; resolvers redirect to the current URL (the ID stays stable).
  • ISBN ≠ “work” level: it identifies the edition/format (hardcover/paperback/ebook each differ).
  • JAN “country code” is a GS1 company-prefix region, not the manufacturing origin.

Which to use

  • Citing scholarly content → DOI
  • Specifying a book → ISBN (shown as Bookland EAN on the barcode)
  • Specifying a serial title → ISSN (barcode is ISSN EAN)
  • Retail product management → JAN/EAN (GS1 GTIN)

Need the check-digit math (including ISBN-10/ISSN with “X”)? I can add a worked example.

© Your Team — This page is a concise explainer; it does not replace the official standards.

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