Magazine publishers may have embraced the tablet phenomenon by preparing digital editions, apps and multimedia offerings, but learning about the reader on the other side of the screen has proved more difficult. Terms used to describe content are inconsistent, and the type of data that can be collected on users varies by device.


On Monday, the Association of Magazine Media will announce a set of voluntary guidelines developed by representatives from the magazine publishers Bonnier, Condé Nast, Forbes, Hearst, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Meredith and Time Inc.


The guidelines will cover how magazines measure their tablet editions, the vocabulary used in those definitions and time frames for when reader data will be released. The measures include the total number of a publication’s digital issues and the number of readers by issue. They will also count the number of times a reader opens a tablet issue (called a session), how much time that reader spends reading each issue and the average number of sessions per reader per issue.


The association consulted advertising agencies about the guidelines. “There is so much going on in the tablet area and there is so much different language and such a need for some consistency and clarity to help our advertising partners that we decided to form this task force,” said Nina Link, the president and chief executive of the association.


The association also offered definitions for many of the terms used in digital publishing. “Publishers were saying the same thing but using three different words,” said Betsy Frank, the chief research and insights officer at Time Inc. “That can’t be good.” Separately, Condé Nast said it would provide its own tablet measures to clients that include circulation figures for both paid subscriptions and single-copy sales, in addition to the total number of issues opened and time spent with each issue.


The Audit Bureau of Circulation, which releases magazine and newspaper circulation figures, announced last month that its board had agreed to provide more detail on how it counted digital circulation numbers.