For individuals: ComIndex systems for personal use by a single individual are available for purchase at $50.00. Order online here.

For academic departments: A department license allows installation and personal use of ComIndex on home and office computers of all full time regular department faculty members. This license is priced at $340.00 for first time purchase. Update copies are available for $180.00. Standing orders (i.e., annual updates are shipped and invoiced automatically) are available for this license.

For libraries: A library license allows installation and use of ComIndex on up to five single-user library computers for a base of $340.00. Update copies are available for $180.00. Alternatively, the base five-user ComIndex system can be installed on a library LAN system if access can be limited to five simultaneous users and access is restricted to systems located within the library building and its branch buildings. Additional copies for single-user computers located in libraries or additional library LAN accesses can be added at $50.00 each. Standing orders are available for this license.

For entire university/college populations: An institutional license grants permission for a university or college agency (e.g., library, information technology unit, or academic department) to distribute copies of ComIndex to any institutional personnel --- faculty member, student, or staff --- for personal use. The license includes permission to make and distribute copies of the documentation and software to qualified individuals and to make ComIndex publicly available in the university library. This license costs $1,000.00 but is discounted 20% to institutions that are members of the CIOS institutional affiliates program (providing access to other research and educational services over the Internet). Standing orders are available for this license. Note: Annual updates are not discounted for institutional licenses.

Other organizations and situations: Custom quotations are available for licenses covering conditions of use not included above. To request a custom quotation, email to:
support@cios.org or call 518-887-2443.

Software Update Policy:

The Communication Institute for Online Scholarship issues annual updates to ComIndex. An update is an entire system replacement and may include new interface software in addition to updated journal indexes. The ComIndex update program is available on automatic subscription (standing order) for academic departments and libraries.

Note: Except for Philosophy and Rhetoric, Free Speech Yearbook, Journalism Monographs, Semiotica, Argumentation and Advocacy (JAFA), and Journal of Business Communication (which are indexed from their first volume in the 1960s), indexes are from inauguration of journal or 1970, which ever is more recent. The index extends through the most recent volume completed by spring 2001 depending on availability of source materials.

Advances in Discourse Processes Advances in Telematics American Journalism Argumentation and Advocacy Asian Journal of Communication Australian Journal of Communication Australian Studies in Journalism Canadian Journal of Communication Communicatie Communication Communication Education Communication Law and Policy Communication Monographs Communication Quarterly Communication Reports Communication Research Communication Research Reports Communication Studies Communication Theory Communication Yearbook Convergence Critical Studies in Mass Communication Discourse Processes Discourse and Society Electronic Journal of Communication European Journal of Communication Free Speech Yearbook Gazette Harvard Int. Journal of Press Politics Health Communication Howard Journal of Communication Human Communication Research Information, Communication and Society Issues in Applied Linguistics Journal of Applied Communication Research Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media Journal of Business and Technical Communication Journal of Business Communication Journal of Communication Journal of Communication and Religion Journal of the International Listening Association Journal of Family Communication

Journal of Language and Social Psychology Journal of Mass Media Ethics Journal of Media Economics Journal of Mediated Communication Journal of Public Relations Research Journal of Social and Personal Relationships Journalism Journalism History Journalism Monographs Journalism and Communication Monographs Journalism and Mass Communication Monographs Journalism Quarterly Language and Communication Management Communication Quarterly Mass Comm Review Mass Communication and Society Media, Culture and Society Media Studies Journal Media Psychology Nordicom Review Organization Communication: Emerging Perspectives Operant Subjectivity Philosophy and Rhetoric Political Communication Progress in Communication Sciences Public Opinion Quarterly Public Relations Research and Education Public Relations Research Review Quarterly Journal of Speech Research in Language and Social Interaction Rhetoric and Public Affairs Rhetoric Review Semiotica Small Group Research Southern Speech Communication Journal Studies in Communications Western Journal of Communication Women's Studies in Communication Written Communication

How is ComIndex different from other academic indexes your library may already support?

Psychological Abstracts, PsycLit, and PsycInfo: These sources include only a fraction of the the 80+ titles covered by ComIndex. In addition, they supply only selective coverage -- not all articles in a journal are included. Articles are "specifically and individually selected based on their relevance to psychology".

Humanities Index, Philosopher's Index, and Social Science Index: These sources together cover less than 20 of the titles covered in ComIndex.

UMI "ProQuest", "Research I", and "Research II": Research II, the most comprehensive UMI product, covers less than half the titles included in ComIndex. Most titles are not indexed before 1990.

Communication Abstracts: Communication Abstracts does not index a standard set of journals. Like Psychological Abstracts, Communication Abstracts employs selective coverage (not every article in a journal issue is selected for inclusion). Only a short span of coverage of Communication Abstracts is available in electronic form. A single year's subscription to Communication Abstracts costs more than a personal copy of ComIndex and, at the library or institutional rate, a year's subscription to Communication Abstracts costs more than a library or department license for ComIndex. (Comprehensive abstracts collections for 53 journals covered within ComIndex can be searched electronically using the CIOS's Web search service.)

Current Contents: This source includes less than 30 of the titles covered in ComIndex. Bibliographic information is incomplete --- one cannot determine an article's full citation from the information provided in Current Contents. Current Contents limits its scope to recent issues of journals.

OCLC ContentsFirst: The OCLC databases cover approximately half the titles covered in ComIndex. Bibliographic information is incomplete --- one cannot determine an article's full citation from the information provided in OCLC searches. ContentsFirst limits its scope to recent issues of journals.

ERIC: ERIC cover approximately one third the titles covered in ComIndex.

ComIndex supports full Boolean search logic and provides context sensitive online help and pop-up keyword dictionaries to assist novice searchers. ComIndex tracks co-occurrence links between concepts (e.g., the term "television" often co-occurrs with the term "violence") and authors (e.g., "Smith" frequently publishes with "Jones"). This unique feature allows the user to discover interrelationships of concepts and ideas and makes transparent cooperative relationships among authors (sometimes referred to as "invisible colleges"). ComIndex's author frequency sort may also be used to explore publication rates and practices within the communication field.

Please note: ComIndex is a bibliographic index; it does not include abstracts. Institutions and individuals subscribing to CIOS web services can search abstracts for selected journals covered by ComIndex. Call the CIOS for information or contact the CIOS web site: http://www.cios.org/www/abstract.htm

About the CIOS

The Communication Institute for Online Scholarship (CIOS) is a U.S. Federal Tax Code 501(c)(3) non-profit organization supporting the use of computer and information technologies in the service of communication scholarship and education. The CIOS also maintains the communication discipline's online information and conference service at http://www.cios.org, serving communication scholars and students worldwide since 1986. Call the CIOS at 518-887-2443 (voice) or 518-887-5186 (fax).