The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is the largest association of electrical engineers headquartered in New York City, NY, USA. On the website of IEEE, it is claimed that IEEE “the world’s largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity”. IEEE constitutes of over 40 societies to address various areas of electrical engineering. Moreover, some societies of IEEE address the interdisciplinary fields of electrical engineering overlapping with other disciplines such as aerospace, geoscience, material science, etc. Each society has its own journal(s), holds several events and conferences and provide a forum to share the most recent technological developments.
While most of the journals published by these societies can be accessed through paid memberships, IEEE Access journal was established in 2013 as an open access journal. IEEE Access is that it is a multidisciplinary journal covering all areas of electrical engineering and is not limited to a field or two. Therefore, the scope of this journal includes all the electrical engineering fields of interest, and emphasizes on the interdisciplinary applications. The journal not only accepts technical articles, but also admits review papers and surveys.
IEEE Access has shown a significant growth since its establishment in 2013. As of 2019, the impact factor of this journal has risen from 0 to almost 5 which is higher than numerous journals with decades of publication history. The figure below demonstrates the evolution of the journal’s impact factor over time.
In my opinion, part of the journal’s success is because of the open accessibility and the more visibility of the journal compared to traditional IEEE journals. However, as we all know, not all open access journals have made successful experiences. What characterizes IEEE Access from other open access journals is its rigorous review process. This ensures the technical novelty of the published articles which further adds to the journal’s credibility and reputation. All these reasons along with the fast review process (4-6 weeks) and the reasonable processing charge (US $1750) have made this journal a favorite choice for the authors.
Thanks for sharing this review of IEEE Access, Moein. It’s inspiring to see the rapid rise in readership the this journal has seen relative to it’s paywalled peers. In your opinion, what do you fees for access if IEEE Access includes a broad array of disciplines? Is there a real or perceived hierarchy of prestige, for instance, between IEEE Access and the other traditional journals you reference? The spike in readership you charted underscores the value such a commitment to open access can have in stoking enthusiasm and building knowledge among ever-widening communities of readers. Thanks!