For graduate students and scholars in engineering and computer science, IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) is synonymous with top-tier publications. At the same time, SCI (Science Citation Index) is the globally recognized standard for academic evaluation.

This naturally leads to a common question: Is an IEEE journal the same as an SCI journal?

The answer is: Not exactly, but there is a massive overlap. The vast majority of IEEE's core academic journals (Transactions and Journals) are indexed by SCI (now primarily SCIE), but the two are not 100% identical.

To understand this, you must first understand two key concepts.

1. Two Different Players: Publisher vs. Indexer

IEEE and SCI (SCIE) are two completely separate organizations with different roles:

• IEEE (The Publisher): IEEE is an academic and professional association. It publishes nearly one-third of the world's top literature in electrical engineering, computer science, and electronics. It is a content producer.
• SCI (The Indexer): SCI, and more broadly its modern version SCIE (Science Citation Index Expanded), is a database. It is owned by a company called Clarivate. Clarivate does not produce content; it selects the world's highest-quality journals based on a strict set of evaluation criteria (academic quality, impact, peer review, publishing standards) and indexes them in its database.

In short: IEEE is a "publishing house," while SCIE is the "authoritative list of top journals."

2. Why Are Most IEEE Journals in SCIE?

Because IEEE's publishing standards are exceptionally high.

IEEE's core academic publications, such as its various "Transactions" and "Journals," represent the pinnacle of research in their respective fields.

• They have rigorous peer-review processes.
• The papers they publish have extremely high academic impact and citation rates.

These qualities perfectly match SCIE's selection criteria (i.e., finding the world's most impactful journals). As a result, the vast majority of IEEE's core journals are "selected" and indexed by SCIE because of their high quality.

3. Which IEEE Publications Are Not SCIE?

This is why the answer is not 100%. Not everything IEEE publishes is an SCIE-indexed journal.

1. Brand New Journals: IEEE constantly launches new journals to cover emerging fields. A new journal is not automatically indexed by SCIE. It needs to be published for 2-3 years, build a reputation and citation history, and then apply to Clarivate for evaluation. Only after passing this review is it added to SCIE.
2. IEEE Magazines: IEEE also publishes many "Magazines" (e.g., IEEE Spectrum). These publications focus on industry trends, technical reviews, tutorials, and news, rather than original academic research. Their peer-review standards and academic focus are different from "Journals," and therefore most Magazines are not indexed by SCIE (even though they are very influential in the industry).
3. Conference Proceedings: IEEE publishes a massive number of conference papers (indexed in IEEE Xplore). While many of these conferences are top-tier (like A-level conferences), they are conference proceedings, not journals. SCIE's primary focus is indexing journals; it rarely indexes conference proceedings. (Note: EI and Scopus do index a huge number of IEEE conferences).

4. The 100% Accurate Way to Check: The Master Journal List

So, how can you be 100% certain if a specific IEEE journal is indexed by SCIE?

The only official answer comes from the owner of SCIE: Clarivate.

You must check the Master Journal List (MJL). This is the official database of all journals currently indexed by Clarivate.

How to Check:

1. Go to the official Clarivate Master Journal List website: mjl.clarivate.com
2. In the search box, enter the full journal title or (even better) the ISSN of the journal you want to check.
3. Click "Search."
4. Find the journal in the results. If its "Coverage" section explicitly states "Science Citation Index Expanded," then it is an SCIE journal.

Conclusion: Never assume that every publication with "IEEE" in its title is automatically SCIE-indexed. Before submitting your paper, always verify your target journal's status using the official Clarivate Master Journal List. However, you can be confident that the vast majority of well-known, established IEEE Transactions are, in fact, indexed by SCIE.