FAQ

Both persons and organizations can obtain an ISNI to identify themselves during publication. While an ISNI is not mandatory, it helps in the clear attribution of publications to the respective person or organization.

Persons publishing in an academic context can register for a free ORCID at www.orcid.org. An ISNI can be additionally registered for the person but is not necessary, as publications can be uniquely identified using the ORCID.

A GND (Gemeinsame Normdatei, Integrated Authority File) can only be created and maintained by libraries and archives. Since ISNI and ORCID can be registered by individuals or publishers, these IDs should always be included in product information.

If an ISNI, ORCID, or GND is missing for an author or contributor, you should establish an internal process to check for these IDs for every new publication. If one exists, it can be added to your publishing system.

If no ISNI or ORCID is registered, the author or contributor must first register for a new ISNI or ORCID, which can then be added to your system.

New ISNIs can be registered through ISNI agencies. MVB is one such ISNI agency and offers an ISNI registration service at https://www.isni-service.com.

Before registering, you should first check whether an ISNI already exists for the person or organization. This can be done using our ISNI search.

• Name
  • For persons: A surname is required. For single-name identities (mononyms), enter the stage name or alias as the surname.
  • For organizations: A name must be provided.
• Publication
  • For both individuals and organizations, at least one publication title must be listed. An ISBN or another identifier for the title is not required.
• One additional attribute
  • For persons, an additional attribute is usually required for a successful registration. Examples include:
    • A website with further information about the individual or their work.
    • A GND or ORCID for differentiation.
    • Ideally, you should provide the person’s life dates, as these are the best indicators for distinguishing between individuals with the same name.

Important: Ensure you have the right to publish the data you submit for registration.

• Forename: Enter all given names of the person.
• Surname: Enter the person’s surname. If the person has only a stage name, enter it here as well. This field is mandatory.
• Year of birth: Provide the year of birth, ensuring it has already been published elsewhere or with the individual's consent for living persons.
• Year of death: Provide the year of death, if applicable.
• ORCID: The ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) uniquely identifies academic authors and contributors. Search for the ORCID at orcid.org.
• GND: The GND (Integrated Authority File) identifies individuals in library contexts. Search for the GND in the GND-Explorer.
• Websites: Only list websites with relevant information about the individual (e.g., personal homepage, Wikipedia). Avoid commercial links. Confirm each website by clicking "Add."
• Not identical to person with the same name: If you find persons with equivalent names in the ISNI search that do not match the person to be registered, list their ISNIs here. Confirm each ISNI by clicking "Add."
• Publications: At least one publication must be reported for every individual. More information is available in the “Reporting Publications” FAQ section.

• Name: Enter the organization’s name. This field is mandatory.
• Subdivision: If registering an ISNI for a subunit or department of an organization (e.g., Börsenverein der Deutschen Buchhändler / Historical Commission), enter its name here.
• Location: Enter the organization’s headquarters location.
• Country: If you list a location, you must also specify the country. You can add a country even without a location.
• Founded: Enter the establishment date (year or full date). Use “switch to year/day format” to toggle between year and full date.
• Dissolved: Enter the dissolution date (year or full date), if applicable. Use “switch to year/day format” to toggle between year and full date.
• MVB ID: The MVB ID uniquely identifies publishers, bookstores, and related companies. Search for the MVB ID in the German Book Trade Address Book (AdB).
• Verkehrsnummer: The Verkehrsnummer also uniquely identifies companies in the German book trade and can be found in the German Book Trade Address Book (AdB).
• GND: The GND (Integrated Authority File) identifies organizations in library contexts. Search for the GND in the GND-Explorer.
• Websites: Only include websites with relevant information about the organization (e.g., homepage, Wikipedia). Avoid commercial links. Confirm each website by clicking "Add."
• Not identical to organization with the same name: If you find organizations with equivalent names in the ISNI search that do not match the orgnaisation to be registered, list their ISNIs here. Confirm each ISNI by clicking "Add."
• Publications: At least one publication must be reported for every organization. More information is available in the “Reporting Publications” FAQ section.

A birth year is only mandatory if the ISNI database considers the name and associated products insufficient for unique identification. Generally, a birth year helps users find the correct individual faster.

Since a publication title is mandatory, ensure the debut work’s title is finalized. Ideally, the product should already be listed in the VLB (German Books in Print).

The individual or organization being identified can register themselves. However, the publisher may also register on their behalf. It is up to the publisher to decide whether to cover the registration cost, as the ISNI is valuable for product promotion in the market.

If you want to register an contributor who shares the same name with others already listed in ISNI entries, it is helpful to include the ISNIs of those other similarly named authors in the “Not identical to person/organization with the same name” field in the registration form. This aids in the data matching process and helps prevent potential confusion during registration.

If you publish under a pseudonym, whether secret or public, we recommend creating a separate ISNI record for the pseudonym. You can also register an ISNI for your real name if you publish under it as well. If you want the ISNI records for your pseudonym and real name linked, this can only be done via our customer service at isni@mvb-online.de.

If your pseudonym represents a person and consists of only one name component (e.g., 50 Cent), enter it in the surname field and leave the first name field blank.

No, unique author IDs like ISNI are designed to identify the same person under different names or name spellings.

A birth year is only required if your name and associated works are deemed insufficient by the ISNI database for unique identification. In such cases, providing a website can also help.
In general, including a birth year makes it easier for users to find the correct person.

If the person or organization already has publications listed in the VLB (Verzeichnis Lieferbarer Bücher), you can copy their ISBN/GTIN into the “ISBN/GTIN of VLB Products” field.

By clicking “Add,” these products will be included in the publication table. For these products, the title, ISBN/GTIN, publisher, and publication year are submitted to the ISNI database during registration.

For publications that are not listed in the VLB, you can add their titles to the publication table. Optionally, you can include an ISBN/GTIN, DOI, ISSN, ISRC, ISWC, ISMN, or ISAN to identify the publication.

By clicking “Add,” the publication is included in the table and sent to the ISNI database upon registration completion.

Yes, you can follow the process described under “How do I report products not listed in the VLB?”
For accurate identification, please provide ISRC, ISWC, ISMN, or ISAN whenever possible.

Yes, you can report publications without an identification number, or identify them using DOI, ISSN, ISRC, ISWC, ISMN, or ISAN instead of an ISBN/GTIN.

1. ISBN - International Standard Book Number

• Uniquely identifies books and similar publications. Each ISBN corresponds to a specific edition of a book.

• Found as a barcode on products, GTIN uniquely identifies trade items worldwide. It is primarily used in retail and logistics. In publishing, GTINs are assigned to non-book products ineligible for an ISBN.

• Permanently identifies digital objects like research articles, datasets, or eBooks. It provides a stable link even if URLs change.

• Used for serial publications like journals and magazines. The eight-digit code is unique to each serial.

• Uniquely identifies audio and music recordings, aiding in licensing and distribution.

• Identifies musical compositions and texts regardless of performance type. Commonly used in copyright and royalty management.

• Identifies printed music works such as sheet music or scores, tailored to the music industry.

• Uniquely identifies audiovisual works like films, TV shows, commercials, or video games, facilitating their management and licensing.

Always search the database before starting registration to check if an ISNI has already been assigned to your person or organization by a third party.

If no ISNI exists but similarly named individuals or organizations are registered, list their ISNIs in the “Not identical to person/organization with same name” field of the registration form. This helps the matching process and prevents confusion during registration.

Once you submit the registration form, your information is reviewed by the international ISNI database. During the review, the system checks for existing ISNI entries matching your data. If a potential duplicate is found, you must decide:

• Identical to the person being registered.
• Not identical to the person being registered.

The ISNI database also contains provisional records, which lack enough information to qualify for an ISNI. Provisional records are marked with a PPN instead of an ISNI.

During registration, the system attempts to convert provisional records into full ISNIs. If the displayed record matches your person or organization, decide whether it is identical or not.

If your registration data suggests a match, you may encounter provisional records, which are identified by a PPN. These records were created by third party registrations when insufficient information was provided for a full ISNI assignment.

During registration, the system attempts to convert provisional records into full ISNIs. If the content matches your person or organization, you must indicate whether it is identical or not.

When entering your payment information, you can specify the number of ISNIs you wish to register.

The invoice provided upon completion of the registration process will cover all ISNIs successfully registered by you.

If you register fewer ISNIs than initially specified during the payment setup, MVB will only charge the service fee for the ISNIs that were successfully registered.

After successfully registering an ISNI using our registration service, you will receive an invoice via email, attached as a PDF, sent to the email address you provided.

The invoice may take a few hours to arrive. Please check your spam folder as well. If you have not received the invoice by the next day, contact our customer service team at isni@mvb-online.de. Please include the registration date, your name, and the email address used for the registration to help us assist you quickly.

If you intentionally or unintentionally abort a registration, you will only be charged a service fee for the ISNIs that were successfully registered.

If the registration is aborted during the first attempt and no ISNI is registered, no service fee will be charged to your payment method.

The payment amount is only authorized on your account during the registration process. MVB is permitted to charge this amount after the registration is completed.

If no ISNIs are registered, MVB will release the authorization after 12 hours.

If you register fewer ISNIs than initially specified, MVB will only charge the service fee for the ISNIs that were successfully registered.

Products displayed with a cover under "Associated Products in VLB" are assigned to the author or contributor with an ISNI by the publisher in the VLB.

If you are certain that additional products need to be assigned to the author/creator or that some products are incorrectly assigned, please contact the publisher and ask them to correct the assignment in the VLB.

Products listed under "Works at isni.org" primarily serve to uniquely identify an author or contributor. If individual products are missing on isni.org, it may not necessarily require correction.

What is most important is ensuring accurate assignment in the VLB so that all products are visible under "Associated Products."

If you find incorrect product assignments under "Works on isni.org," you can report them as errors on the ISNI website for the respective ISNI entry.

Using the web form on each record at isni.org, you can submit your observations to the ISNI Quality Team. The Quality Team may need to forward the information to the relevant ISNI agency for updates to their database.

Please provide:

• How you know the information is incorrect (e.g., you are the person or their publisher).
• What information should be removed and/or added.

Note: Report only genuine errors, not requests for additions (ISBNs, titles, etc.). A person or organization registered in ISNI already has sufficient information for unique identification.

ISNI registration agencies worldwide contribute information to the ISNI database. Different agencies may use varying preferred names for the same person.

All preferred name forms are displayed, with the most commonly used form shown at the top. The same applies to a person’s birth and death dates or an organization's founding and dissolution dates.

Errors can be reported in the ISNI feedback form for the respective ISNI entry on the ISNI website.

You can use the web form to provide feedback to the ISNI Quality Team. They may escalate the issue to the appropriate ISNI agency for corrections in their records.

Please provide:

• How you know the information is incorrect (e.g., you are the person or their publisher).
• What information should be removed and/or added.

Note: Report only genuine errors, not requests for additions (ISBNs, titles, etc.).

You can report duplicates via the ISNI feedback form on the ISNI website for the respective ISNI entry.

Use the web form to report duplicate entries to the ISNI Quality Team. They will review the data and merge the duplicates into a single record.

Please provide:

• How you know the information is incorrect (e.g., you are the person or their publisher).
• Whether all information from the merged entries should be retained or if certain details should be removed. If any data does not belong to the author/creator, specify which ISNI entry it pertains to.
• Which of the ISNIs should be the primary one (e.g., the one already used in your publishing system). This ISNI will most likely remain active after merging, allowing you to continue using it.

ISNI and ORCID are not mandatory fields in the VLB. However, starting in 2025, ISNI/ORCID will become relevant for status-related information. This means that if a product has the contributor role of "Author" or "Edited by" and the role is assigned to a "Person," at least one of these contributors must have an ISNI or ORCID linked to their profile to fulfill the status requirement. If the author or editor is an "Organization", they do not need an ISNI or ORCID. Nevertheless, it is recommended to provide one of these IDs as author identification becomes increasingly important for clear attribution between authors/creators and works for both the trade and readers.

In our ISNI guide for VLB publishers (in German language), you can find information on how to add ISNI, ORCID, and GND to your product metadata. The guide explains how to enter the information in ONIX or directly in the VLB web interface. Additionally, you can upload the assignments for all your products via an Excel file.

Please note: If you report product metadata via ONIX to the VLB, you must also include ISNI, ORCID, and GND in your ONIX messages. Any IDs entered via the web interface or Excel will be deleted during an ONIX update if they are not included in the ONIX data. Therefore, please ensure you enter the information in your publishing system.

As an ONIX sender, you must integrate the author IDs into your ONIX message. Your publishing system provider needs to enable the functionality for assigning ISNI, ORCID, or GND in your system. Please contact your system provider.

Once you have entered author IDs into your system, these details should be included in your ONIX message to the VLB and will appear with each product update on vlb.de. Additionally, the products you have assigned to authors will be displayed in the search results on www.isni-service.com.

The biography should be related to the specific product and thus may differ from product to product. Therefore, please report product-specific biographies for a person or organization whenever possible.