What the back of your books should look like

Last updated June 23, 2009

ISBNs are displayed on the outside back cover (Cover 4) of most books and additionally on the inside front cover (Cover 2) of most mass market paperback books in 9 point or larger font. See Section 8 of ISO's ISBN Users' Manual, "Location and Display of the ISBN on Publications", for additional information.

• Book Labeling Until January 1, 2007
• Book Labeling After January 1, 2007
  
• Dual Numbering
• ISBN Hyphenation
• Marking Co-Publications

Book Labeling Until January 1, 2007

The ISBN-10 is printed in human-readable form, 9 point or larger font, above the EAN-13 barcode. The EAN-13 is displayed below (and encoded within) the barcode.

Printing only the ISBN-10 above the barcode is appropriate for titles printed before January 1, 2007.

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Book Labeling After January 1, 2007

The ISBN-13 is printed in human-readable form, 9 point or larger font, above the EAN-13 barcode. There is no change to the EAN-13 barcode itself and the EAN-13 is still displayed below (and encoded within) it.

Printing only the ISBN-13 above the barcode is recommended for titles printed after January 1, 2007 (either as reprints or as first editions).

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Dual Numbering

If they choose, publishers may display both the ISBN-10 and the ISBN-13 above the barcode, in 9 point or larger font, during the transition to ISBN-13. While printing only the ISBN-13 above the bar is recommended after January 2007, publishers may continue dual numbering until the marketplace fully completes the transition to ISBN-13.

Dual numbering allows trading partners to identify books using both an ISBN-10 and an ISBN-13.

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• Dual numbering is valid only for ISBN-13s that begin with '978'.
• There is no dual numbering for ISBNs that begin with '979'.
• When displaying dual ISBNs above the barcode, publishers may display the ISBNs in the sequence they prefer (i.e., ISBN-13 above ISBN-10 - as shown in the example above - or ISBN-10 above ISBN-13 - not shown).
• If dual numbering is used above the barcode, it should also be used everywhere else the book's identifier is referenced (i.e., the copyright page, catalogues, order forms, etc.).

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ISBN Hyphenation

ISBNs in human-readable form should be hyphenated. The Library of Congress ISBN Converter can be used to determine the proper placement of hyphens for specific ISBNs. General information about ISBN hyphenation rules can be found in BISG's Frequently Asked Questions.

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Marking Co-Publications

When a publication is published jointly or as a co-edition by two or more publishers, each of the co-publishers may assign its own ISBN and display each of them on the copyright page. However, only one ISBN shall be displayed as a barcode on the publication. For foreign co-editions this shouldn't be a problem as different language versions will have to be printed anyway. For UK and US, separate jackets will need to be printed or the barcode will have to be stickered.

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