NLM Accepts ISSN Centre Title Abbreviation Assignments
Beginning March 1, 2007, NLM will adjust the way it assigns title abbreviations to journals indexed for MEDLINE® and cited in PubMed®. Rather than independently assigning title abbreviations for each title, NLM will accept the abbreviations assigned by the International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) Centre and modify the punctuation and capitalization to conform to NLM standards. The ISSN key title abbreviation will be stripped of all punctuation except for parentheses around a title qualifier. The first letter of each word will be capitalized. Subfields will not be included in the abbreviation. The abbreviation used by GenBank (ISO Abbreviation) will follow the same punctuation and capitalization formatting as the NLM title abbreviations. Because NLM uses a single record approach in its cataloging, ISSN qualifiers for specific formats will be dropped.
Examples:
| Title: | The Pediatric infectious disease journal. | |
| ISSN key title abbreviation: | Pediatr. infect. dis. j. | |
| NLM TA: | Pediatr Infect Dis J | |
| Punctuation is removed and the first letter of each word is capitalized. | ||
| Title: | Beginnings : $b the official newsletter of the American Holistic Nurses' Association. | |
| ISSN key title abbreviation: | Beginnings $b (Am. Holist. Nurses' Assoc.) | |
| NLM TA: | Beginnings (Am Holist Nurses Assoc) | |
| Subfielding and punctuation are removed. | ||
| Title: | European journal of morphology. | |
| ISSN key title abbreviation: | Eur. j. morphol. (Print) | |
| NLM TA: | Eur J Morphol | |
| Format specific qualifier and punctuation are removed and the first letter of each word is capitalized. | ||
This change is prospective only. No existing title abbreviations will be changed.
For more information on how title abbreviations are constructed, see the Factsheet: Construction of National Library of Medicine title abbreviations http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/constructitle.html
Boehr D. NLM Accepts ISSN Centre Title Abbreviation Assignments . NLM Tech Bull. 2007 Mar-Apr;(355):e4.
