4.4. Identifiers assigned by the Publications Office

The Publications Office assigns identifiers (ISBN, ISSN, DOI and catalogue number) to publications issued by European Union institutions, bodies and organisations.

Since 2001 the Publications Office has acted as the official agency assigning the following identifiers to publications issued by European Union institutions, bodies and organisations: international standard book number (ISBN); international standard serial number (ISSN) for serial publications and other continuing resources; and digital object identifier (DOI). These international identifiers are used to classify publications all over the world in an unequivocal and exclusive way. An internal identifier (catalogue number) is also assigned for every product (book, leaflet, poster, etc.) in any format (paper, electronic, CD/DVD, etc.).

In order for an identifier to be assigned to a work, the originating services must provide the Publications Office with two physical copies of the work, in addition to sending the electronic version (PDF).

The Publications Office automatically assigns an identifier whenever it receives a publication request.