Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A research administrator evaluating a computer science department's faculty dossier, noting that CACM Contributed Articles and Research Highlights represent selective, peer-reviewed technical publications distinct from magazine news columns.
- Is an instance
A computer science librarian advising authors that Communications of the ACM operates as a diamond open-access publication without author processing charges, where high JIF citation ratios reflect broad multidisciplinary readership across computing.
Editorial commentary
Quick answer: Communications of the ACM (CACM) achieved a Journal Impact Factor (JIF) of 12.2 for the 2024 JCR data year (Clarivate Journal Citation Reports 2025 release) and 7.1 for the 2025 JCR data year (Clarivate JCR 2026 release). It consistently ranks in the Q1 quartile across computer science subject categories, including Hardware & Architecture and Software Engineering. Unlike narrow sub-field archival journals, CACM combines magazine departments with rigorously peer-reviewed technical sections, and transitioned to a fully open-access publishing framework in March 2024.
The Journal Impact Factor of Communications of the ACM represents the ratio of citations received in a given calendar year to citable research items published by the journal during the preceding two calendar years, as computed by Clarivate Analytics in the Journal Citation Reports. Established in 1958 as the flagship publication of the Association for Computing Machinery, CACM serves as the premier broad-spectrum periodical for computer science, bridging fundamental academic theory, systems research, and industry practice.
Citation performance for CACM reflects substantial visibility across multidisciplinary computing fields. In Clarivate’s 2025 release (2024 data year), CACM recorded a JIF of 12.2, ranking first in the Computer Science, Hardware & Architecture category, alongside a 5-year Impact Factor exceeding 11.0. In Scopus metrics, its CiteScore similarly places CACM in the 98th percentile for general computer science. In March 2024, the ACM transitioned CACM into a diamond open-access model, eliminating all subscription barriers and author-facing article processing charges (APCs) to maximize global dissemination.
Understanding which editorial components undergo formal refereeing is crucial for faculty evaluation, grant reporting, and research assessment. Within CACM, content is divided into peer-reviewed research sections and magazine-style editorial departments:
- Peer-Reviewed Sections: Research Highlights (expanded, accessible adaptations of top-tier conference breakthroughs selected by SIG editorial boards), Contributed Articles (comprehensive surveys, foundational concepts, and empirical analyses), and Review Articles. These manuscripts undergo rigorous peer review evaluating technical correctness, broad cross-disciplinary relevance, and clarity.
- Editorial and Magazine Departments: News (technological journalism and policy coverage), Viewpoints (solicited essays and opinion columns), Practice (industry software engineering reflections), and Careers. These pieces undergo editorial screening rather than scholarly peer review.
Because computer science research primarily disseminates archival breakthroughs through selective conferences, evaluating CACM manuscripts requires understanding CS conference vs journal authorship credit. Furthermore, under the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) and CoARA guidelines, journal-level metrics such as the JIF must not serve as proxies for the merit, reproducibility, or impact of individual scientific articles. Rather, CACM’s impact metrics should be viewed as indicators of the journal’s wide reach across the computing community, supporting responsible research practice in software engineering and applied systems development.
Sources
- Clarivate Analytics. (2025–2026). Journal Citation Reports: Communications of the ACM. Clarivate JCR metrics reports (Read: 2026-11-07).
- Association for Computing Machinery. (2024). Communications of the ACM Opens Its Entire Archive in Landmark Open Access Move. ACM Public Announcements (Read: 2026-11-07).
- Association for Computing Machinery. (2026). CACM Author Guidelines and Editorial Scope. URL: https://cacm.acm.org/ (Read: 2026-11-07).
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
<role vocab="credit"
vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
vocab-term="Communications of the ACM (CACM) Journal Impact Factor"
vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/communications-of-the-acm" />{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "DefinedTerm",
"@id": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/communications-of-the-acm",
"name": "Communications of the ACM (CACM) Journal Impact Factor",
"identifier": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/communications-of-the-acm",
"description": "The Journal Impact Factor of Communications of the ACM (CACM) is the Clarivate-calculated ratio of annual citations to citable items published in the two preceding years, contextualized by its diamond open-access model and peer-reviewed technical tracks.",
"inDefinedTermSet": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/domain/publishing#set",
"url": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/communications-of-the-acm",
"license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"publisher": {
"@id": "https://casrai.org/#organization"
},
"author": {
"@id": "https://casrai.org/#editorial-team"
},
"datePublished": "2026-11-07T21:06:01",
"dateModified": "2026-11-07T21:06:01",
"inLanguage": "en-GB",
"isAccessibleForFree": true
}
