ISSN required for conference proceedings?

I am trying to strip down the example XML for proceedings series metadata to the metadata I actually have. The programs for the conferences I want to register don’t have an ISSN (or ISBN). If I remove the tag from the <proceedings_series_metadata> section, the validator fails:

File: TestConference.xml

[Error] :34:33: cvc-complex-type.2.4.a: Invalid content was found starting with element ‘noisbn’. One of ‘{“Link ToJATS”:abstract, “LinkToSchema”:issn}’ is expected.

I don’t’ understand the abstract expectation, since they aren’t present in that section anyway. I also have 73 years worth of conferences with no associated ISSN. Is there any way to get around this?

A little more digging and I’ve answered my own question:
Apparently a “proceedings series” is a serial publication, like a journal, and not an annual series of conferences.

Hello,

Generally speaking, those errors that begin “cvc-complex-type.2.4.a: Invalid content was found starting with element…” mean that either some metadata element is missing or that the elements are out of order. But the details can vary a lot - confusingly, it’s not always exactly the element that’s named in the error message that’s the problem. So, if you’re having persistent trouble with errors like that, please email support@crossref.org and attach a copy of the xml file, so we can have a look at it directly.

ISSNs are required if you’re registering a conference proceedings that published within a conference series. Because, exactly like you said, a conference series is a serial publication the same way that a journal is a serial publication. A conference series is almost always derived from an annual series of conference. So, if you do host an annual series of conferences, and publish a proceedings for each one, it’s beneficial to register them as a series and apply for an ISSN for it.

But, you can register individual conference proceedings on their own, without including any series-level metadata. In that case, no ISSN is required.

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