What happens if a book is republished under a different title but with the same ISBN?

When a book is republished with a new title, it is supposed to be issued a new ISBN. This is necessary because the ISBN serves as a unique identifier for that particular title and edition.

Duplicate ISBNs can cause issues for libraries, retailers, and consumers, such as confusion over book orders, incorrect bibliographic records, and difficulties in tracking sales data.

If a duplicate ISBN situation occurs, it is typically an error that needs to be rectified. Cataloging services like SCIS may add a note to their records indicating the duplication, and they may prompt users to choose the correct title from a list when such duplicates are detected. It is the publisher's responsibility to ensure that each title and edition of their books has a unique ISBN to prevent such issues.

In summary, reusing an ISBN for a different book title is not a standard practice and can lead to significant problems in the tracking and selling of books. When republishing a book under a different title, a new ISBN should be obtained to maintain the integrity of the book identification system.