Is IEEE Access a Good Journal? Review & Indexing

IEEE Access is a multidisciplinary, gold fully open-access journal published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), covering original research and development across all IEEE fields of interest. For researchers in electrical engineering, computer science, and semiconductor technology, IEEE Access represents one of the largest engineering megajournals in the world, with over 114,000 published works and an h-index of 400 recorded in OpenAlex bibliometric records.

Whether IEEE Access is an appropriate publication venue depends on an author’s specific research goals, institutional expectations, and publishing timelines. Rather than relying on subjective labels, this guide evaluates the journal against documented facts from official publisher policies, indexing registries, and recognized academic publication standards.

Short Answer

IEEE Access is a legitimate, peer-reviewed, gold open-access engineering journal published by IEEE and indexed in major databases including Web of Science (SCIE), Scopus, and DOAJ; it operates on a high-volume megajournal model that evaluates manuscripts for technical correctness rather than perceived novelty or subjective significance.

How IEEE Access Peer Review Works

According to official IEEE Access editorial policy, peer review is managed through a structured, single-anonymized process where reviewers know the identities and institutional affiliations of the authors, but author identities remain anonymous to reviewers. The journal’s editorial workflow incorporates several specific operational characteristics:

Editorial Leadership: Peer review is overseen by an editorial board consisting of more than 800 Associate Editors and over 60 Senior Editors distributed geographically across technical disciplines.
Prescreening: Upon submission, all manuscripts are screened for plagiarism using automated similarity detection tools and evaluated for basic scope and technical merit before being dispatched to reviewers.
Independent Reviewers: Every article sent for peer review is evaluated by a minimum of two independent, qualified reviewers who must adhere to the IEEE Publication Services and Products Board (PSPB) Operations Manual. You can read more about reviewer criteria in our guide on serving as an IEEE reviewer.
Binary Decision Model: Unlike traditional journals that utilize multi-stage “major revisions” cycles, IEEE Access uses a binary decision model: manuscripts are either accepted as-is (with minor clarifications) or rejected. Authors of rejected papers who substantially revise their work must submit it as a new manuscript with a point-by-point response.
Review and Acceptance Time: Official benchmarks state that the average IEEE Access review time is 4 weeks from submission to an accept or reject decision notification. Total submission-to-publication time averages 4 to 6 weeks.
Acceptance Rate: The published average IEEE Access acceptance rate is approximately 20%, indicating that the majority of submitted manuscripts are rejected during initial screening or after peer evaluation.

What Is Peer Reviewed and What Is Not

Understanding which content types undergo formal peer review is essential when evaluating citations and publication records in IEEE Access:

Content Type	Peer Reviewed?	Evaluation Criteria & Editorial Workflow
Original Research Articles	Yes	Evaluated by at least 2 independent peer reviewers for technical correctness, valid experimental methodology, and sound conclusions.
Survey and Review Articles	Yes	Evaluated for comprehensive literature coverage, balanced synthesis of existing state-of-the-art methods, and long-term utility to researchers.
Special Section Editorials	No	Introductions written by Guest Editors for thematic collections; undergo editorial review by Senior Editors but do not undergo peer review.
Comments and Responses	Yes	Technical critiques of previously published IEEE Access papers; reviewed by independent reviewers and the original article’s authors.
Corrections and Errata	No	Formal corrections submitted by authors to rectify typographical or non-fatal data errors; approved directly by the Editor-in-Chief.

For broader context on how IEEE structures peer review across conferences and transactions, see our guide on is IEEE peer reviewed.

Indexing and Recognised Lists

Indexing in recognized scholarly databases is an objective indicator of publication standards and editorial consistency. As verified across indexing registries:

Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ): IEEE Access (ISSN 2169-3536) has been continuously indexed in DOAJ since 2013, confirming that it meets open-access best practices, maintains editorial quality controls, and publishes under Creative Commons licenses (CC BY or CC BY-NC-ND).
Web of Science (Clarivate): IEEE Access is indexed in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) and Current Contents / Engineering, Computing & Technology. Citation impact and metric tracking are detailed in our analysis of the IEEE Access impact factor.
Scopus (Elsevier): IEEE Access is fully indexed in Scopus across multiple engineering and computer science subject areas.
IEEE Xplore and Ei Compendex: All published articles are deposited and fully searchable in the IEEE Xplore digital library and indexed in Ei Compendex and Inspec.
Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE): As an IEEE publication, IEEE Access adheres to COPE core practices regarding research integrity, author disputes, and retractions.

Publication Fees and Page Limits

Authors considering IEEE Access should note the financial and structural requirements governing submissions:

Publication Fee (APC): IEEE Access operates as a gold open-access publication supported by article processing charges. The standard IEEE Access publication fee is $2,160 USD per article (plus applicable local taxes). Discounts are available for active IEEE members (5%) and members of sponsoring IEEE societies (up to 20%), while institutional open-access agreements may cover fees entirely.
Page Limit: There is no official IEEE Access page limit, and the journal does not assess overlength page charges. However, editorial guidelines strongly recommend keeping manuscripts under 20 pages in standard double-column format for reader accessibility. All submissions must follow standard IEEE reference format.

How to Check a Specific Article Yourself

To verify the authenticity and status of any individual paper published in IEEE Access, follow these four steps:

Locate the Official Record on IEEE Xplore: Search the paper’s title or Digital Object Identifier (DOI) directly at ieeexplore.ieee.org. Confirm that the page displays the official IEEE Access masthead, volume number, and active DOI.
Verify CrossRef Metadata: Look up the DOI in the CrossRef Public API (api.crossref.org/works/{doi}) to confirm registration under publisher prefix 10.1109 and verify that deposition timestamps match publication claims.
Review Associated Disclosures: Check the PDF for required compliance sections, including the author affiliation block, funding acknowledgments, conflict-of-interest declarations, and any required artificial intelligence (AI) tool disclosures.
Check for Errata or Notices: Examine whether IEEE Xplore displays any linked “Notice of Correction” or “Notice of Retraction” banner attached to the document header.

Controversies or Retractions

Like other major engineering megajournals that publish high annual volumes, IEEE Access has encountered academic debate and specific retraction events:

The Megajournal Selectivity Debate: A central discussion among academic evaluators concerns the journal’s publication volume. Critics argue that evaluating solely for “technical correctness” rather than high subjective novelty leads to uneven article impact compared to flagship IEEE Transactions. Conversely, proponents note that rapid publication of technically sound empirical data prevents publication bias and allows valid negative or incremental findings to enter the scientific record.
Retraction Governance: IEEE enforces formal post-publication investigation procedures under Section 8.2.4 of the PSPB Operations Manual. When post-publication peer review reveals peer-review manipulation, unauthorized authorship changes, or data fabrication, IEEE issues formal retraction notices indexed on IEEE Xplore. The presence of transparent retraction notices reflects adherence to COPE retraction guidelines rather than unmonitored publishing.

FAQ

Is IEEE Access a predatory journal?

No. IEEE Access is not a predatory journal. It is published by IEEE, an established non-profit professional association, operates rigorous single-anonymized peer review with an average 20% acceptance rate, and is indexed by Web of Science, Scopus, and DOAJ.

Is IEEE Access Q1 or Q2?

IEEE Access ranking varies across disciplines and indexing platforms. In Scopus and Web of Science subject categories, it has historically ranked in Q1 or Q2 quartiles depending on the specific subfield (such as telecommunications, electrical engineering, or computer science information systems) and annual citation distribution.

Why does IEEE Access have a fast review time?

IEEE Access achieves an average 4-week review turnaround by employing over 800 Associate Editors, implementing a binary Accept/Reject decision model that eliminates lengthy revision cycles, and using automated manuscript prescreening.

Are papers in IEEE Access freely accessible?

Yes. IEEE Access is a gold open-access journal. All articles are published under Creative Commons licenses and are freely readable, downloadable, and citable by anyone immediately upon publication on IEEE Xplore.

Sources

IEEE Access. “Rapid Peer Review.” URL: https://ieeeaccess.ieee.org/about/rapid-peer-review/ (2026-11-08).
IEEE Access. “Article Processing Charge (APC).” URL: https://ieeeaccess.ieee.org/about/article-processing-charges/ (2026-11-08).
IEEE Access. “Submission Guidelines for Authors.” URL: https://ieeeaccess.ieee.org/authors/submission-guidelines/ (2026-11-08).
Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). “IEEE Access Record (ISSN 2169-3536).” URL: https://doaj.org/api/v3/search/journals/issn%3A2169-3536 (2026-11-08).
OpenAlex. “IEEE Access Source S2485537415 Metadata.” URL: https://api.openalex.org/sources?search=IEEE+Access (2026-11-08).
CrossRef. “Journal 2169-3536 Record.” URL: https://api.crossref.org/journals/2169-3536 (2026-11-08).
IEEE Publication Services and Products Board. “PSPB Operations Manual.” URL: https://www.ieee.org/publications/rights/author-rights-responsibilities.html (2026-11-08).

Is IEEE Access a Good Journal? Evaluation and Indexing