New Series

For the purposes of the GCD, a series is a publication, normally issued in successively numbered and/or dated parts or issues with a consistent Book Name and Publisher, and with no major discontinuities in issue numbers if numbered. For the purposes of the GCD, a series may consist of a single publication (such as a book or one-shot). Generally, a new Series should be created when a book or group of books is discovered that is not already in the database IF:

• The Book (Series) name is different from any current Book (Series) name,
• Publisher's name is different, even if the Book (Series) name is the same,
• The publishing format (e.g. hardcover vs. softcover) is different from a current series, even if both the Book (Series) name AND Publisher are the same,
• When an ongoing series restarts its numbering to a point that repeats numbering already used in the series, a new series will be started.
• When a book (series) is published in multiple language versions, even if under a single publisher. A new series is required for each different language, because currently, the database forces this by defining language at the series level.

• Examples:

 George (Fred Publications, began in 1992-ended in 1996) would be a series,
 George The Pig (Fred Publications, began in 1992-ended in 1993) would be a series,
 George (Irving Comics, Inc., began in 1992-ended in 1992) would be a series,
 George (Fred Publications, began in 2012-presently published) would be a series IF it begins with new numbering

Exceptions to these rules are:

• When a regularly published series jumps forward in numbering to re-align with older and discontinued series of the same name, it remains one series, with no split.
• Regularly published, on-going series will NOT be split on the basis of disruptions in the publication schedule IF the numbering continues.

Additionally, series shall not be split due to a change in format, see Variant_Issues, Point 8.

• Examples:

 Fantastic Four (Marvel, 1998 Series) - Renumbering jump from #70 to #500 does not create a new series.
 Wendy the Good Little Witch (Harvey, 1960 series) would remain as it currently is in the database -- one series -- despite the 14-year gap in publication.

Publications that reprint the covers of comic books are allowed to be added to the GCD under the following conditions:

1. The covers are from a comic book publication according to our definition, i.e. it is at least 50% comics.
2. The covers have to be at least covering 1/4 of the page they are being printed on.
3. The publication itself being indexed must be at least 50% reprints of comic book covers and/or other comic material as defined by the GCD.

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Policy Votes Affecting This Topic

http://www.comics.org/voting/ballot/206/ - 2014-04-04

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Back to the Formatting Documentation

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