# What is a variant, and what is a format?

**URL:** https://community.crossref.org/t/what-is-a-variant-and-what-is-a-format/14459
**Category:** Content Registration
**Tags:** book, relationships, content-registration
**Created:** [12 September 2025 17:52 UTC](https://community.crossref.org/t/what-is-a-variant-and-what-is-a-format/14459 "2025-09-12T17:52:45Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Showing post:** 4

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### Author: ![eatoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@eatoni](https://community.crossref.org/u/eatoni)
#### Post date: [17 September 2025 20:03 UTC](https://community.crossref.org/t/what-is-a-variant-and-what-is-a-format/14459/4 "2025-09-17T20:03:31Z")

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> [@eatoni](#):
>
> Hi MTP,

Hi MTP,

I’ve heard back from our head of metadata programs.

So, a hardback vs. paperback vs. html vs. pdf are considered different _formats_, whereas a different edition of a book could be a _version_. Further, an updated copy of a digital text that isn’t big enough to be considered a new ‘edition’ would be a _variant._ Specifically, the difference is a ‘_variant_’ has a difference between the text, but often it’s not enough to consider it to be a full ‘_version_’.

I hope this helps. Do let us know if you have more questions.

Evans - Crossref Tech Support Specialist

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