Journal profile · Computer Science, Theory & Methods
Communications of the ACM
ISSN 0001-0782 · eISSN 1557-7317 · Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) · UNITED STATES · Monthly · Founded 1959
Communications of the ACM: CAS Zone 3 · Computer Science (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 6.54; hybrid open access; review 6–12 weeks (community reports); community-reported acceptance: fairly easy; 259 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Communications of the ACM is published by Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and is in Zone 3 of Computer Science in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Parallel Computing and Optimization Techniques, Algorithms and Data Compression and Information Systems Education and Curriculum Development, together about 18.7% of its articles. Its main subfields are Computer Networks and Communications. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Communications of the ACM is the leading print and online publication for the computing and information technology fields. Read by computing's leading professionals worldwide, Communications is recognized as the most trusted and knowledgeable source of industry information for today’s computing professional. Following the traditions of the Communications print magazine, which each month brings its readership of over 100,000 ACM members in-depth coverage of emerging areas of computer science, new trends in information technology, and practical applications, the Communications website brings topical and informative news and material to computing professionals each business day. ACM's membership includes the IT industry's most respected leaders and decision makers. Industry leaders have for more than 50 years used the monthly Communications of the ACM magazine as a platform to present and debate various technology implications, public policies, engineering challenges, and market trends. The Communications website continues that practice.
Source: LetPub
Research area (LetPub): Computer Science, Theory & Methods
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Parallel Computing and Optimization TechniquesComputer Science7%
- Algorithms and Data CompressionComputer Science6.1%
- Information Systems Education and Curriculum DevelopmentComputer Science5.6%
- Distributed and Parallel Computing SystemsComputer Science5.5%
- Logic, programming, and type systemsComputer Science5%
- Software Engineering ResearchComputer Science5%
- Big Data and Business IntelligenceBusiness, Management and Accounting4.8%
- Advanced Database Systems and QueriesComputer Science4.6%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Computer Science Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Computer Science | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Computer Science, Software Engineering | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Computer Science, Theory & Methods | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Computer Science, Hardware & Architecture | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Computer Science Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Computer Science | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Computer Science, Hardware & Architecture | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Computer Science, Software Engineering | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Computer Science, Theory & Methods | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Computer Science Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Computer Science | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Computer Science, Hardware & Architecture | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Computer Science, Software Engineering | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Computer Science, Theory & Methods | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Editions, and major and minor categories, are shown separately and never merged into one zone; check which edition your institution uses before you submit or report.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- Impact factor
- 6.54LetPub ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 14.1LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.54LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 3.22LetPub ·
- h-index
- 189LetPub ·
- h-index
- 438OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 7,174OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 4.42OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 2.8%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 33.62%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 57LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 16,184 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 198 | 79 | 200 |
| 2025 | 259 | 156 | 863 |
| 2024 | 284 | 214 | 2,209 |
| 2023 | 281 | 266 | 2,018 |
| 2022 | 295 | 130 | 3,240 |
| 2021 | 321 | 118 | 17,088 |
Sources count differently and were observed at different times, so each source's own value is kept; "publisher" marks figures from the journal's website.
Review & acceptance
Review time and acceptance
Review time from article dates manuscript dates registered with PubMed · to
Too few articlesOnly 9 articles from the last 24 months carry both submission and acceptance dates, too few for a median
Only articles that were accepted and published are counted, not the time spent on rejected manuscripts, so this usually runs longer than a publisher's "time to first decision".
Other sources
- Average review time (community reports)
- 6–12 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- Fairly easyLetPub ·
Community reports come from authors' own submissions (confidence 0.5) and are not a promise from the journal; for publisher figures, the journal's own definitions apply.
Fees & open access
APC and open-access policy
Hybrid open accessLetPub
A subscription journal in which authors can pay to publish their article open access.
No source has fee information yet; check the journal's website.
A hybrid journal charges the APC only when the author chooses open access; publishing under the subscription model is usually free.
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Open access
- AI use Cash or Comfort? How LLMs Value Your Inconvenience
A framework quantifies the price of inconvenience an AI assistant will accept for a user. Mateusz Cedro, Timour Ichmoukhamedov, Sofie Goethals, Yifan He, and 2 more authorsMateusz CedroTimour IchmoukhamedovSofie GoethalsYifan HeJames HinnsDavid Martens Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access
Fully Open Access publication Model summary
Communications of the ACM (CACM) is now a fully Open Access publication.
Source ↗Publisher website ·
Excerpts are quoted from the journal's website; "model summary" lines are written by Workers AI and checked against the text. The journal's website is authoritative.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Monthly
- Founded
- 1959
- ISSN
- 0001-0782
- Electronic ISSN
- 1557-7317
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 69, Issue 9 (September 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Communications of the ACM
What CAS zone is Communications of the ACM in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Communications of the ACM is in Zone 3 of Computer Science, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Computer Science, Software Engineering / Computer Science, Theory & Methods / Computer Science, Hardware & Architecture. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Computer Science. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Communications of the ACM?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 6.54; CiteScore 14.1, h-index 438.
How long does peer review take at Communications of the ACM?
Authors report an average review time of 6–12 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Fairly easy”. Article statistics cover accepted papers only, publisher figures follow the journal's own definitions, and community reports come from authors' own submissions; none is a promise from the journal.
Which databases index Communications of the ACM?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Communications of the ACM is indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Is Communications of the ACM open access, and what is the APC?
Communications of the ACM is a hybrid journal. Fee information is not available yet; check the journal's website.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex; every figure is tagged with its source and the date it was observed, and conflicting values are kept per source. LetPub source page: view ↗ (archived 2026-08-26). Last updated: .