Submitting a Periodical Publication
Monograph or Periodical Publication?
If you are unsure whether your submission is a monograph or a periodical publication, please consult the figure below for help.
General information
For your information, there is a quick guide next to each fillable field. The Help button (i) at top right takes you to this detailed online help.
To navigate, please only use the Back button within the website. Do not use the arrows of your browser.
Data accuracy
The publications that you submit to us will be accessible to users in the Digital State Library in accordance with the terms of the legal requirements (Access and rights status). To ensure that these can be researched, we request the relevant data via a web form. When filling out the web form, please ensure that the data is correct.
If you report a new periodical title, we will enter your information into the German Union Catalogue of Serials where it can be searched for in this manner.
Submission of a periodical publication
Periodical publications appear regularly.
These include newspapers and journals, but also newsletters, annual reports, statistical reports and (cultural) calendars.
A periodical publication consists of a "title" and several editions that are assigned to the "title". We need some important information so that interested readers can subsequently find the publication in our database.
When submitting a specific edition of a periodical publication, there are two scenarios:
a. You have not yet entered the corresponding title
In the main menu, click on Upload periodical publication.
Select Enter new title.
Record New Title
The figure below shows an example of a periodical publication.
Please note: Relevant information about the description of a publication can usually be found on the cover page and in the imprint.
Explanations of the individual fields using the example (VÖBB annual report):
Information in the title that varies from edition to edition is omitted, e.g. the reporting year in the case of annual reports.
Example:
Annual report 2016 : Berlin public libraries.
(VÖBB Annual Report)
Enter the subtitle here, if there is one.
Example:
Annual report 2016: Berlin public libraries.
(VÖBB Annual Report)
Enter the responsible corporate bodies here. For each case, select the type of involvement.
The Federal Agency for Civic Education defines a corporate body as an association of persons, who have joined together for a common purpose. This can be, for example, an association, a public limited company (stock company) or a co-operative. (bpb - Das junge Politik-Lexikon, 2023).
You can add further corporate bodies with the '+' button.
Example:
Association of Public Libraries in Berlin (publishing corporate body)
(VÖBB Annual Report)
Enter the languages used in the publication here.
You can add more languages with the '+' button.
Example:
German
(VÖBB Annual Report)
If your publication has identification numbers (such as ISBN, DOI, URN), enter them here.
You can add more identification numbers with the '+' button.
Example:
The VÖBB Annual Report does not have an identification number.
Select a subject area to which you can assign the publication most appropriately.
Example:
Municipal sciences
(VÖBB Annual Report)
If the content of your publication has a specific reference to Berlin, select a category that seems most appropriate to you.
Example:
Education, school, science, research
(VÖBB Annual Report)
This is where you specify how accessible your publication should be for users.
You can choose from three access options:
Restricted access with usage restriction (legal standard) → Your publication is only accessible in the ZLB reading rooms. Usage restrictions apply, i.e. it is ensured that copying, sending and complete printing-out of your publication is not possible.
Restricted access → Your publication is only accessible in the ZLB reading rooms without usage restrictions.
Free access → Your publication is accessible worldwide without usage restrictions.
Indicate the publication’s copyright here. This allows you to specify how the publication can be used.
If you select Rights reserved, German copyright law applies. If your publication has been published under a creative commons licence, you can select this.
We have summarised the details for you on the Access and rights status page.
Note: You cannot make any subsequent changes to metadata that has already been submitted. If you would like to subsequently change the access authorisations or the rights status of a publication that has already been submitted, please contact e-pflicht@zlb.de.
Enter the Internet address (URL) of the original publication here. The field is optional.
Example:
https://www.berlin.de/stadtbibliothek-reinickendorf/wir-ueber-uns/jahresbericht/artikel.1208232.php.
If you would like to tell us something about the submitted publication, you can do so in the Message (non-public) field.
The text will not be publicly viewable.
As soon as you have entered the title, you can add the corresponding edition directly afterwards.
Note: The submission is not completed without an edition.
Add Issue
Explanations of the individual fields using the example (VÖBB annual report):
Select the journal to which you would like to add an edition from the list of suggestions.
You can only select titles that you have previously created (under Create new title) and which we have activated.
Note: If the title you are looking for has not yet appeared in the list, it is currently being checked and catalogued by our staff.
The spelling of the title may differ slightly from your specifications.
Example:
Annual report 2016 (your formulation)
Annual report … : Berlin Public Libraries (suggestions list)
(VÖBB Annual Report)
Individual magazine editions can have their own title, which is shown next to the main title of the magazine. You can enter such a title here.
Example 1 :
The VÖBB Annual Report does not have a stand-alone title.
Example 2 :
With this Suburban edition, Die Natur der Stadt is the stand-alone title.
Reporting years do not count as stand-alone titles.
Enter the year of publication as a four-digit year in the format YYYY.
Example 1:
2017 (Annual reports are usually published in the following year)
(VÖBB Annual Report)
Example 2 :
For suburban Volume 8, Issue 1/2 (2020).
(Suburban Edition)
Enter the year of publication as a four-digit year in the format YYYY. For annual and business reports, enter the reporting year if it is part of the title.
Example 1
Annual report 2016: Berlin Public Libraries
VÖBB Annual Report
Example 2:
2020
(Suburban Edition)
Many journals have more extensive count data than annual reports.
The volume number or (overall) issue number is a consecutive number, i.e. it begins with the first publication of a journal and changes with each new calendar year. All editions of a journal published within the same year have the same volume number or belong to the same year.
Example 1
2016 (VÖBB Annual Report)
Example 2 :
For Suburban Volume 8 8, Issue 1/2, 2020.
(Suburban Edition)
The numbering of the issue number describes the number of publications within a year. With each new calendar year, the count starts again at issue number 1. In special cases there is a continuous issue count from the first edition onwards.
Example 1
Annual reports do not normally have an issue number.
(VÖBB Annual Report)
Example 2 :
For Suburban Volume 8, Issue 1/2, 2020.
(Suburban Edition)
This is where you specify how accessible your publication should be for users.
You can choose from three access options:
Restricted access with usage restriction (legal standard) → Your publication is only accessible in the ZLB reading rooms. Usage restrictions apply, i.e. it is ensured that copying, sending and complete printing-out of your publication is not possible.
Restricted access → Your publication is only accessible in the ZLB reading rooms without usage restrictions.
Free access → Your publication is accessible worldwide without usage restrictions.
Indicate the publication’s copyright here. This allows you to specify how the publication can be used.
You can choose between Rights reserved and various Creative Commons licences, which we list for you in detail on the Rights status page.
Note: You cannot make any subsequent changes to metadata that has already been submitted. If you would like to subsequently change the access authorisations or the rights status of a publication that has already been submitted, please contact e-pflicht@zlb.de.
Enter the Internet address (URL) of the original publication here. The field is optional.
Example:
https://www.berlin.de/stadtbibliothek-reinickendorf/wir-ueber-uns/jahresbericht/artikel.1208232.php (VÖBB Annual Report)
If you would like to tell us something regarding the submitted publication, you can do so in the field Message (non-public) field. Your entry is an internal message that will not be made available to the public.
Upload Editions
Notes:
- only one publication can be submitted at a time (do not enter more than one)
- a publication can also consist of several files
- file name must not contain umlauts
- file format must be PDF or EPUB
- file must be unrestricted (without password protection)
- file must not have any other technical protection measures (digital rights management)
Upload a document by either selecting a file from your computer (purple button) or by entering the specific Internet address (URL) for the file (yellow button).
After uploading, the file is checked to make sure it meets the above-mentioned requirements.
You will receive a system-internal confirmation message within a few seconds if your document fulfils the technical requirements. You can then click on Next at the bottom right to move to the next step where you then enter all the important information about the monograph.
If there is a problem with the document, refer to the FAQs for an overview of the most common sources of errors and suggested solutions.
Before you can continue to add further editions you will have to wait a bit:
Our staff will use your details to create a new catalogue entry for your publication in the Journals database. During this time, you cannot add any more editions to this title (the submission field in the web portal is greyed out).
We will inform you about the activation of the title by email. The greyed out Add edition field will then be available again. This process can take several business days.
b. You have already entered the corresponding title
You can immediately click on Add edition and select the title you have already entered.
Note:
It is not possible to upload an edition without first having entered the respective title.
If you add editions to an incorrect title, the edition is deemed as not having been submitted.
If there are any difficulties with the journal title, we will get in touch with the specified contact person.
Special Case: Title Change
Has the title of your periodical publication changed? Please contact us at e-pflicht@zlb.de!
In the event of title changes, we will create a new title entry in the German Union Catalogue of Serials (ZDB) to keep the data as up-to-date as possible for users. We then link both entries with each other so that users can easily identify which entry is the predecessor and which entry is the successor.
