IEEE Product News

June 2006 – Two new studies confirm that IEEE publications continue to be priced at less than half the price of competitive commercial publications.

The annual Periodical Price Survey published in the 15 April issue of Library Journal averaged the prices of 4,893 scholarly titles documented in three Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) databases. Based solely on price, the survey reveals that the average cost of an engineering journal in 2006 is US$1,756, and the average cost of a math and computer science journal is approximately $1,278. Using the same calculation method, the average price of an individual IEEE journal is just $593.

In addition, the 2006 edition of the annual IEEE Journal Pricing Study finds that based on a statistically average 500-page journal, the average cost of an electrical engineering/computer science journal is $747. The price of a 500-page IEEE journal is $427, which is 43 percent less than the market average. The study also finds that on average the price for a 500-page journal is $949 for competitive commercial publishers and $500 for not-for-profit journals.

"Our journal prices are about 15 percent less than our not-for-profit competition," reports William O'Connor, IEEE Director of Marketing Operations, "and 55 percent less than our commercial competition."

The 2006 research findings are consistent with results of 2005 studies, which also concluded that prices of IEEE journals, magazines, and periodicals are less than half then prices of competitor publishers. In 2005, Library Journal revealed that the average cost of an engineering journal was $1,683 and $1,262 for a math and computer science journal, and the average price of an IEEE journal was $549.