RDA defines the publication date as a date associated with the publication, release, or issuing of a resource. (CCM:10.4.1) LC/PCC practice is not to record copyright dates for multipart monographs, serials, and integrating resources. Give the date of publication of the first issue followed by a hyphen when the first issue is in hand; give the date of the last issue when the serial is complete and the last issue is in hand.” (CCM: 10.4.2a)
When Not to Record Publication Date
If neither the first nor last issue is in hand, do not give a date of publication according to RDA 2.8.6.5. Do not apply RDA 2.8.6.5 in this situation because it is unknown whether there is a date on the first issue or what the date should be. When describing the serial from an issue other than the first or the last, do not input $c in the 264 field. As a result, there is no ending punctuation; do not include a comma following the publisher.