How to Write Newsletter Volumes & Issues

Keep newsletters organized by printin the volume and issue numbers on every edition.

Newsletter publishers help their readers keep track of content by labeling their newsletters with volume and issue numbers. Typically printed on the cover or page 1, this simple chronological notation system helps keep newsletters, as well as magazines, journals and other periodicals, organized for posterity and easy to access for quick reference. The volume number printed on the newsletter usually denotes the number of years it has been published (some newsletters numerate volume by season or fiscal year, such as for a corporation). The issue citation denotes the number of newsletter editions produced thus far in a given volume.

Instructions

1. Write the volume number for each time period the newsletter has been published, such as number of years, number of business quarters or any other recurring time frame, such as spring, summer, winter and fall. For example, Volume 3 might denote the newsletter is in its third year of publication. In this example, the volume is published and abbreviated on the front page of the newsletter as Vol. 3. In the next time period of a year, business quarter or season, the volume would be changed to Vol. 4.

2. Write the issue number in increasing order for each issue that appears within a given volume. For example, a monthly newsletter publishing in April would be listed as Issue 4. A weekly newsletter would have 52 annual issues. Bi-monthly publications would produce 26 issues per year.

3. Write the volume number, then the issue number in sequence for printing on the front page of each newsletter, typically at the top of the page in the upper left-hand or right-hand corner, depending on the design of the publication. For example, a newsletter in its fifth year of monthly publication appearing in June would display the volume and issue information as Vol. 5, Issue 6.

4. Print newsletter volume and issue numbers using Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.), not Roman numerals (I, II, III, etc). Arabic numbers will be more familiar to most readers and easier to understand.

5. Follow the same numbering pattern for volumes and issues until the publication schedule changes for the newsletter, then include a brief announcement in the newsletter that it will be moving to a new schedule; for example, weekly instead of monthly. This lets readers know the issue frequency and numbering system will be different.

6. Substitute "Number" for "Issue" if desired, for example, Vol. 5 No. 7 is the same as Vol. 5 Issue 7.

Tips & Warnings

• When citing a newsletter in a bibliography, the volume and issue would be written as (volume) and issue, for example, (3) 12 would refer to Volume 3, Issue 12.

References

• University of California Berkeley: Chicago Style Guidelines
• Email Universe: Email Newsletter Volume and Numbering Schemes