Overview

France has developed a national programme for the coordinated management and long-term preservation of print serials (journals, magazines, annuals and other continuing publications). The programme, known as the Plans de Gestion des Périodiques (PGP – Serials Management Plans), aims to ensure sustainable access to research collections while reducing duplication of preservation efforts across libraries.

The programme was launched in 2026 as part of a broader national policy for the preservation and description of serial publications. It follows the reorganisation of the former Sudoc PS network, which had coordinated serials information across French libraries for several decades.

The new national system is based on cooperation between the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Space, the Ministry of Culture, the French Bibliographic Agency for Higher Education (Abes), the National Technical Centre for Higher Education Libraries (CTLes), and the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF).

The framework is organised around two complementary components:

PGP (Plans de Gestion des Périodiques): discipline-based programmes covering academic and research serials. They are funded by the Ministry of Higher Education and Research and coordinated by Abes and CTLes.

PCP (Plans de Conservation Partagée): regional shared preservation programmes for local, regional and heritage serial collections. They are coordinated by the Ministry of Culture.

Objectives

The programme seeks to:

• preserve complete and reliable collections of serial publications;
• distribute preservation responsibilities among participating institutions;
• improve the visibility and discoverability of holdings through shared cataloguing;
• optimise storage space and reduce preservation costs;
• create a national reference collection for serial literature.

How the PGP Works

Each disciplinary PGP is coordinated by a lead academic institution with recognised expertise in a particular subject area. Participating libraries agree to retain, preserve and document specific serial titles on behalf of the wider community. Rather than every institution attempting to maintain complete collections, responsibilities are shared across the network.

The programme covers not only preservation but also collection management, bibliographic description and, where appropriate, coordination with digitisation initiatives. This broader scope distinguishes the PGP from earlier preservation-only schemes.

Current Challenges

Discussions held during the first national study day on PGPs in June 2026 highlighted several challenges:

• convincing researchers of the benefits of transferring low-use collections to shared storage facilities;
• integrating highly specialised serials that do not easily fit within existing disciplinary plans;
• preserving important non-academic serials that nevertheless constitute primary research sources;
• determining responsibility for multidisciplinary or discontinued titles;
• improving coordination between preservation programmes, digitisation projects and national bibliographic systems.

Towards a National Reference Collection

A key ambition of the programme is the creation of a distributed national reference collection of serial publications. Through coordinated preservation, improved metadata quality and stronger cooperation among libraries, France seeks to guarantee long-term access to serial literature for future generations of researchers.

Video of the presentations from the first study day on PGPs (June 16, 2026): https://www.youtube.com/live/-OEVduDN5MY

National libraries are entering a new era in which memory, open knowledge and artificial intelligence converge to transform access to information across Africa. Hosted by the National Library of the Kingdom of Morocco in Rabat on 10–11 June 2026, the African National Libraries Forum will bring together leading experts and institutions to discuss digital sovereignty, heritage preservation, AI, and open access. The forum’s objectives are to strengthen cooperation among African national libraries and to establish them as pivotal players in knowledge governance and innovation. Gaelle Bequet, Director of the ISSN International Centre, will be contributing to Panel 3, ‘National Libraries, Open Access and Innovation’, with a presentation on African journals, scientific visibility and access. Her talk will highlight the role of the ISSN network in enhancing the discoverability and international recognition of African scholarly publications.

The 49th annual UKSG Conference (Glasgow, 30 March–1 April 2026) brought together a wide range of stakeholders across the scholarly communications ecosystem, including libraries, publishers, and service providers. Discussions focused on key structural challenges shaping the sector, notably the sustainability of Open Access models, the growing importance of high-quality metadata and interoperability, and the need for more efficient, semi-automated workflows. These themes strongly resonate with the ISSN Network’s role in ensuring reliable identification and data exchange across the global serials landscape.

A central concern throughout the conference was research integrity and trust in scholarly communications. Several sessions highlighted the rise of fraudulent practices, including fake authorship and manipulated content, as well as increasing pressure on editorial and peer review systems. In this context, the importance of robust metadata, persistent identifiers, and cross-sector collaboration was repeatedly emphasized as essential to maintaining the reliability and traceability of the scholarly record.

Digital preservation emerged as a critical priority, particularly in the plenary session led by Alicia Wise (CLOCKSS). Drawing on examples such as the loss of U.S. government data and the challenges faced by Ukrainian libraries, she underscored the fragility of digital content and the urgent need for coordinated preservation strategies. Notably, around 25% of journals with DOIs are still not preserved, highlighting significant gaps in current systems. The ISSN International Centre directly contributes to addressing this challenge through its stewardship of the Keepers Registry, which provides a global overview of archiving arrangements for continuing resources and supports transparency in preservation coverage.

Broader discussions also addressed threats to access and knowledge dissemination, including censorship, geopolitical pressures, and the disappearance of online content. Initiatives such as the Data Rescue Project illustrate the importance of proactive efforts to safeguard vulnerable information, particularly when metadata is incomplete or absent. These developments reinforce the need for reliable identification systems and comprehensive registries to support discovery, access, and long-term preservation.

Overall, the conference highlighted the increasing interdependence of actors within the scholarly communication ecosystem and the need for coordinated, transparent, and standards-based approaches. For the ISSN Network, these discussions reaffirm the strategic importance of its mission—not only in supporting metadata quality and interoperability, but also in actively contributing to the preservation and long-term accessibility of continuing resources.