How authorship is made and named: a meta-aggregator / ISNI (International Standard Name Identifier)
ISNI (International Standard Name Identifier)
infrastructureAttribution, credit and identity infrastructureHeteronymy, persona and pseudonymous authorshipactive
The archive's reading. ISNI identifies public identities and, by Wikipedia's account, gives each published name or pseudonym of an author its own ISNI, so a chosen name can stand on the record as its own identifier; the saved sources do not show whether those identifiers are linked back to one person, and the single linking record for a performer who also writes shows the system's other direction, one identity across several functions. In #940's terms ISNI can keep the label unreduced on the record; it records no distinct authorial function, and its stated aim is attribution of each work 'to its creator'.
| Relation to this census | infrastructure |
|---|---|
| Record type | registry |
| The question it answers | Which public identity (a name, a pseudonym, an imprint) is a contributor recorded under, so that works can be attributed to it across repertoires (name disambiguation)? |
| Kind | the ISO certified global standard number for identifying the millions of contributors to creative works and those active in their distribution (its own words); ISO 27729 |
| Operator | ISNI International Agency (ISNI-IA) Limited, registered c/o EDItEUR, London (company 07476425); per Wikipedia (third party) a UK not-for-profit company limited by guarantee founded by CISAC, CENL, IFRRO, IPDA, OCLC and ProQuest, with registration agencies appointed by it that deal with applicants |
| Evidence | identity registry |
| Unit of record | an ISNI, 16 digits (15 digits and a check character), assigned to a public identity: an individual, a pseudonym, or an organization or group |
| What it records | the public identities of contributors to creative works and those active in their distribution (researchers, inventors, writers, artists, visual creators, performers, producers, publishers, aggregators): public records of more than 16.6 million identities, with direct contributions from 100 sources |
| Whose authorship it keeps | the public identities of contributors, so that 'every published work can be unambiguously attributed to its creator wherever that work is described' |
| Under what name | under the public name: the ISNI-IA mission is to assign an identifier 'to the public name(s)' of a contributor; Wikipedia (third party) says an ISNI can identify 'a single identity (such as an author's pseudonym or the imprint used by a publisher )' and that 'If an author has published under several different names or pseudonyms, each such name will receive its own ISNI'; the same article gives a performer who also writes music and poems 'a single linking ISNI record'; whether the separate ISNIs of one author's names are linked to one another or to a civil person is not shown in the saved sources; a Gender Identities Policy is linked from the home page and was not saved |
| Who holds it | ISNI-IA, through registration agencies that control access to the assignment system, deal with customers and recompense ISNI-IA, appointed by it and funded independently (Wikipedia); a subset of the data is under CC0 (Wikipedia) |
| Authorial function and responsibility | not recorded as authorship: the identifier resolves name ambiguity and attributes works 'to its creator'; it records no authorial function, voice or responsibility distinct from the identity it identifies |
| Method | assignment through registration agencies (national libraries, book-trade and music-industry services, WIPO, YouTube and others) using a system of user interface, data schema, disambiguation algorithms and database 'based primarily on the Virtual International Authority File (VIAF)' (Wikipedia); direct data contributions from 100 sources |
| Coverage | geography: global: 'across all repertoires in the global supply chain'; period: standard published 15 March 2012 (Wikipedia) |
| Count | value: public records of more than 16.6 million identities (headline 16.69 million); over 14.6 million individuals, of which over 2.9 million researchers; 2,076,462 organizations or groups; 100 direct sources; as_of: home page read 2026-11-01 (figures undated); Wikipedia's coverage table ends at 2025-10-13 with 16.4 million identities |
| Holdings | public records of more than 16.6 million identities; over 14.6 million individuals, of which over 2.9 million researchers; 2,076,462 organizations or groups; direct contributions from 100 sources |
| Stated limits | its scope is public identities: the mission assigns identifiers 'to the public name(s)' of contributors; the saved home page states no rule on pseudonyms; its FAQs, data quality procedures and Gender Identities Policy were not saved |
| Data access | public database search and an ISNI request service on isni.org; Linked Data named in its resources; a subset of the data under CC0 (Wikipedia) |
| Licence | a subset of the data is available under CC0 (Wikipedia, third party); not stated on the saved home page |
| Lifecycle | state: active; detail: the home page (read 2026-11-01) carries news of new assignment services (CBL in Latin America, Bowker for the book industry) and a February 2026 press release on guidance for authors; standard published 15 March 2012 |
| Version and time | standard_published: 2012-03-15; press_release: 2026-02; wikipedia_last_edited: 2026-10-13; read: 2026-11-01 |
| Founded | 2012 (ISO 27729 published 15 March 2012, per Wikipedia) |
What its record can settle
- whether a public name of a contributor has an ISNI, and which works are attributed to it
- that, per Wikipedia, each published name or pseudonym of an author receives its own ISNI
- how many identities, individuals and organizations ISNI holds
What it cannot settle
- whether the ISNIs of one author's several names are linked to one another or to a civil person (not shown in the saved sources)
- whether a name is a pseudonym or a heteronym in #940's sense: the record identifies a public identity and records no authorial function
- how ISNI handles a name whose bearer is a collective or a machine-participating function (not in the saved sources)
- what its Gender Identities Policy provides (unread)
Kept apart
- NOT a record of authorial function: it identifies a public identity and attributes works to it
- NOT shown to keep an author's several names apart from the civil person: the linking of one author's ISNIs is not in the saved sources
- NOT ORCID: ORCID iDs are drawn from a block of ISNI (ORCID's Wikipedia article), and ORCID is its own row
- NOT VIAF: the assignment system is based primarily on VIAF, which is its own row
Relations
- uses: Virtual International Authority File (VIAF) (the ISNI assignment system is 'based primarily on' VIAF (Wikipedia, ISNI article))
- neighbour: ORCID (ORCID iDs are a subset of ISNI, drawn from a block reserved for ORCID (Wikipedia, ORCID article))
- used_by: Wikidata (Wikidata has the property ISNI (P213) (Wikipedia, ISNI article))
Evidence
- self_description (the resource's own statement):
ISNI is the ISO certified global standard number for identifying the millions of contributors to creative works and those active in their distribution, including researchers, inventors, writers, artists, visual creators, performers, producers, publishers, aggregators, and more.
https://isni.org/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 c6fa28e3c6f49acd… - iso (the resource's own statement):
As ISO 27729, it is part of a family of international standard identifiers
https://isni.org/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 c6fa28e3c6f49acd… - mission (the resource's own statement):
The mission of the ISNI International Agency (ISNI-IA) is to assign to the public name(s) of a researcher, inventor, writer, artist, performer, publisher, etc. a persistent unique identifying number in order to resolve the problem of name ambiguity in search and discovery
https://isni.org/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 c6fa28e3c6f49acd… - attributed (the resource's own statement):
so that every published work can be unambiguously attributed to its creator wherever that work is described.
https://isni.org/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 c6fa28e3c6f49acd… - identities (the resource's own statement):
ISNI holds public records of more than 16.6 million identities
https://isni.org/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 c6fa28e3c6f49acd… - headline (the resource's own statement):
16.69 million
https://isni.org/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 c6fa28e3c6f49acd… - individuals (the resource's own statement):
ISNI holds public records of over 14.6 million individuals (of which over 2.9 million are researchers)
https://isni.org/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 c6fa28e3c6f49acd… - organizations (the resource's own statement):
ISNI holds public records of 2,076,462 organizations or groups
https://isni.org/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 c6fa28e3c6f49acd… - sources (the resource's own statement):
The ISNI database is a cross-domain resource with direct contributions from 100 sources
https://isni.org/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 c6fa28e3c6f49acd… - press_2026 (the resource's own statement):
ISNI Press Release, February 2026: The ISNI International Agency Launches Guidance to Help Authors and Creators Protect Their Digital Identity
https://isni.org/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 c6fa28e3c6f49acd… - news_bowker (the resource's own statement):
Bowker Launches New International ISNI Assignment Service for the Book Industry
https://isni.org/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 c6fa28e3c6f49acd… - operator (the resource's own statement):
ISNI International Agency (ISNI-IA) LIMITED Registered address: c/o EDItEUR, United House, North Road, London, N7 9DP, UK Company registration number: 07476425
https://isni.org/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 c6fa28e3c6f49acd… - gender_policy (the resource's own statement):
Gender Identities Policy
https://isni.org/ · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 c6fa28e3c6f49acd… - wp_public_identities (a third-party account):
The International Standard Name Identifier ( ISNI ) is an identifier system for uniquely identifying the public identities of contributors to media content such as books , television programmes , and newspaper articles.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Name_Identifier · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 24575f41df384288… - wp_standard (a third-party account):
the valid standard was published on 15 March 2012.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Name_Identifier · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 24575f41df384288… - wp_format (a third-party account):
ISNI consists of 15 digits followed by a check character.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Name_Identifier · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 24575f41df384288… - wp_pseudonym (a third-party account):
The ISNI allows a single identity (such as an author's pseudonym or the imprint used by a publisher ) to be identified using a unique number.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Name_Identifier · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 24575f41df384288… - wp_linking_record (a third-party account):
An example of the use of such a number is the identification of a musical performer who is also a writer both of music and of poems. While they might be identified in various databases using numerous private and public identification systems, under the ISNI system, they would have a single linking ISNI record.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Name_Identifier · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 24575f41df384288… - wp_each_name (a third-party account):
If an author has published under several different names or pseudonyms, each such name will receive its own ISNI.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Name_Identifier · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 24575f41df384288… - wp_founders (a third-party account):
This UK registered, not-for-profit company has been founded by a consortium of organisations consisting of the Confédération Internationale des Sociétés d'Auteurs et Compositeurs (CISAC), the Conference of European National Librarians (CENL), the International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations (IFRRO), the International Performers Database Association (IPDA), the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) and ProQuest .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Name_Identifier · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 24575f41df384288… - wp_viaf (a third-party account):
The system is based primarily on the Virtual International Authority File (VIAF) service, which has been developed by OCLC for use in the aggregation of library catalogues.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Name_Identifier · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 24575f41df384288… - wp_agencies (a third-party account):
Access to the assignment system and database, and to the numbers that are generated as the output of the process, are controlled by independent bodies known as registration agencies.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Name_Identifier · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 24575f41df384288… - wp_agencies_funded (a third-party account):
Registration agencies are appointed by ISNI-IA but will be managed and funded independently.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Name_Identifier · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 24575f41df384288… - wp_cc0 (a third-party account):
A subset of the data is available under CC0 .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Name_Identifier · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 24575f41df384288… - wp_wipo (a third-party account):
In 2024, WIPO became an ISNI Registration Agency, enabling its network of Collective Management Organizations around the world to assign ISNI IDs to creators.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Name_Identifier · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 24575f41df384288… - wp_coverage_2025 (a third-party account):
2025-10-13 [ 26 ] 16.4 14.3 2,017,936
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Name_Identifier · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 24575f41df384288… - wp_wikidata (a third-party account):
Wikidata has the property: ISNI (P213)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Name_Identifier · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 24575f41df384288… - wp_last_edited (a third-party account):
This page was last edited on 13 October 2026, at 13:38
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Name_Identifier · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 24575f41df384288… - orcid_subset (a third-party account):
ORCID IDs are a subset of the International Standard Name Identifier (ISNI),
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ORCID · read 2026-11-01 · http 200 · sha256 08dcd844e5310347…
Unchecked
ISNI's own FAQs, data quality procedures, guidance for practitioners and the February 2026 guidance for authors (linked and unsaved); the Gender Identities Policy (linked from the home page, not saved); any ISNI record for a pseudonym, and whether it links to other names of the same author; the date of the home page's key statistics
Cite: Lee Sharks, ed. "ISNI (International Standard Name Identifier)." How authorship is made and named: a meta-aggregator, leesharks.com, compiled 2026-11-01. https://www.leesharks.com/apparatus/aggregators/isni