Ukraine refuses ISSNs for publishers and printing houses in occupied territories

The Ukrainian National ISSN Agency does not and will not provide ISSN services to entities functioning in Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories. The decision was made due to the illegal use of Ukrainian ISSN identifiers by propaganda and disinformation outlets.

“A pressing issue in Ukraine is that publications in the temporarily occupied territories by Russia are unjustifiably using the ISSNs of Ukrainian journals originally founded by displaced Ukrainian higher education institutions, or obtaining entirely new ISSNs while falsely claiming to be the legal successors of these publications,” the agency notes.

Furthermore, ISSN use has allowed unauthorized magazines to become part of international databases within the global academic community, which increases the risk of spreading propaganda and disinformation.

From this point forward, the Ukrainian agency will not be responsible for assigning ISSNs to serial publications in occupied territories. These responsibilities have been transferred to the ISSN International Center, which “applies special measures to ensure fairness and consistency in the performance of ISSN tasks.”

“This is the first case of actively protecting the rights of Ukrainian publications. Moreover, this issue has global implications for other regions affected by war, aggression, or conflict, Iryna Izarova, Chair of the Ukrainian Regional Chapter of the European Association of Science Editors, said.

The technical solution to terminate services in the occupied territories, which involves indicating the publication history in all publications and adding a special note to each available ISSN, was developed by the National ISSN Center in Ukraine and the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, with the active support of the Ukrainian Regional Branch of the European Association of Science Editors and Supporting Ukrainian Publishing Resilience and Recovery Program.

“We thank the ISSN International Centre for its attention to the matter and we call on the international academic and political communities to recognize these challenges and support efforts to restore and protect Ukrainian science, ensuring Ukrainian scholars’ contributions to global knowledge,” Frances Pinter, founder of SUPRR, commented.

Founded in 2023, the Supporting Ukrainian Publishing Resilience and Recovery Program (SUPRR) is an independent initiative supported by the leading European publishing house Amsterdam University Press, which publishes academic monographs, collections, reference books, textbooks, journals, and conference proceedings.

The European Association of Science Editors (EASE) is a global community of over 600 members from various disciplines and countries dedicated to enhancing the worldwide quality of scholarly publishing through education, resources, and collaboration. Established in February 2021, the Ukrainian Regional Chapter of EASE (EASE Ukraine), led by Professor Iryna Izarova, unites editors and scholars committed to advancing best practices in publishing ethics and reinforcing the Ukrainian academic community.

As reported earlier, the Russian occupation administration is changing the curriculum of schools located within Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories, which includes glorifying the cult of the so-called “SVO heroes,” a special military operation among Ukrainian children.

Ukraine joined the international ISSN system in 2021. Work on the country’s accession to the ISSN system has been underway since Ukraine regained its independence in 1991.

Copy editing: Terra Friedman King