IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing

IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing
Title	IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing
Discipline	Computer science, Telecommunications
Abbreviation	IEEE Trans. Mobile Comput.
Publisher	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Country	United States
History	2002–present
Frequency	Monthly
Issn	1536-1233

IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing is a peer-reviewed scientific journal publishing research on mobile computing, wireless networking, and mobile systems. The journal appears under the aegis of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and serves researchers connected to institutions such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, and Carnegie Mellon University. It attracts submissions from scholars affiliated with laboratories like Bell Labs, Microsoft Research, IBM Research, and industrial research centers including Google Research and Apple Inc..

History

The journal was established in 2002 during a period of rapid growth in mobile and wireless technologies following milestones such as the commercialization of GSM networks and the rollout of 3G services. Founding efforts involved collaborations among editors and societies including the IEEE Computer Society and the IEEE Communications Society, reflecting antecedent conferences like MobiCom and MobiSys. Over time its editorial board included academics from University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, ETH Zurich, Tsinghua University, and National University of Singapore, contributing to the journal’s evolution alongside events such as the expansion of IEEE INFOCOM and the rise of platforms from Nokia and Ericsson.

Scope and Topics

The journal covers mobile computing research intersecting with topics represented at conferences like ACM SIGCOMM, ACM MobiHoc, USENIX, and IEEE SECON. Specific areas include wireless protocol design linked to technologies such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and LTE; mobile systems research related to devices from Samsung Electronics and Huawei; sensor networks inspired by deployments like Sense Networks and projects at Sandia National Laboratories; and mobile security studies in contexts involving work from MITRE Corporation and SRI International. Papers often reference standards bodies including the 3GPP, IETF, and ITU and engage with experimental testbeds such as PlanetLab and GENI.

Publication and Editorial Process

Submissions undergo peer review coordinated by an editor-in-chief drawn from leading institutions such as Princeton University or University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The review workflow mirrors practices in journals like ACM Transactions on Computer Systems and IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking, typically involving associate editors and external referees from universities including Cornell University, University of Michigan, University of Toronto, and Peking University. Decisions reference ethical guidelines used by organizations such as the Committee on Publication Ethics and adhere to indexing expectations of services like Scopus and Web of Science. Special issues have been guest-edited by scholars from Imperial College London and research groups at Bell Labs Research.

Impact and Reception

The journal’s impact factor and citation metrics are reported alongside other outlets such as IEEE Transactions on Networking and ACM Transactions on Sensor Networks, informing tenure reviews at institutions like Yale University and Columbia University. Influential review articles and survey papers have been cited by industry working groups at Cisco Systems and policy analysts at National Science Foundation. Reception in the research community is evidenced by frequent cross-citation with proceedings from SIGCOMM, NSDI, HotNets, and prize-winning work affiliated with awards such as the ACM SIGCOMM Test of Time Award.

Notable Papers and Contributions

The journal has published seminal work influencing deployments and standards similar to influential papers in IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications and landmark studies associated with DARPA projects. Contributions include advancements in mobile ad hoc routing comparable to research from Xerox PARC, energy-efficient protocols inspired by Intel Research, context-aware systems paralleling efforts at Apple Inc. research labs, and privacy-preserving techniques that intersect with legal frameworks examined by Harvard Law School scholars. Several papers have been foundational for initiatives at Facebook and Twitter addressing mobile content distribution and for industrial adopters such as Qualcomm.

Indexing and Availability

The journal is indexed in databases and services including Scopus, Web of Science, IEEE Xplore, and library catalogs at institutions such as British Library, Library of Congress, National Library of China, and university systems like University of California and University of Melbourne. Access is available via institutional subscriptions held by organizations including Elsevier client libraries and consortia linked to JSTOR-like collections, while authors may archive preprints in repositories used by researchers at arXiv and institutional repositories at MIT Libraries.

Category:IEEE journals Category:Computer science journals