A PROFILE OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS RESEARCH, RESEARCHERS & SOURCES & CHANNELS OF RESEARCH

Abstract

This preliminary study analysed three secondary databases, namely: Information systems Publications, Information Systems-PhDs, and Information Systems staff, to determine a profile of Information Systems research, researchers, and Sources & Channels of research. The areas of research interest in the Information Systems Staff database and the titles of articles in the Information Systems Publications database were codified using the Barki-Rivard-Talbot(BRT) keyword classification system. Similarly, the field "major area" in the Information Systems Staff database was codified using a classification system created by the author. Each of the three databases was analysed independently, and in various possible combinations. Information systems research has come a long way since 1968. During the period from the late 1960s to late 1980s, the number of publications in this field has grown from an average of 11 articles per annum to 23 in the late 1970s and 71 in the late 1980s. The majority of Information Systems articles published are concentrated in four areas: Information Systems Management, Information Systems, Information Systems Development, and Reference Disciplines. Presently, more than 35 Information Systems journals serve the Information Systems community, the most popular is MIS Quarterly which accounts for almost 30% of articles published to date. Other journals that have gained wide acceptance as channels for the publication of Information Systems research are the Journal of Management Information Systems, Communications of the ACM, and Management Science. Two relatively newer Information Systems publications that have served the Information Systems community since the late 1980s are the Journal of Information Systems and Information systems Research. Research on Information Systems by PhD candidates dates back to 1959. The Information Systems doctoral programme however was only formally first offered by the University of Minnesota in 1968. Presently, over 200 universities offer doctoral programmes in Information Systems. Since 1968, more than 1,500 PhDs have been graduated in Information Systems across the United States. As the first institution to offer the Information Systems doctoral programme in 1968, the University of Minnesota Information systems faculty has achieved a high profile and positive regard in the Information Systems community in terms of staff strength, graduates, as well as quality and number of research publications. At present, there are 1,970 Information systems researchers recorded in the 1992 North America Directory of Information Systems Faculty. Approximately 76% of these are PhD holders and 9% are Master's degree holders. The major area of concentration in their doctoral work, of 40% of the PhD holders was Computer Science / Information Systems. The other 60% have PhDs in other disciplines. on average, the Information Systems researchers are involved in teaching 4 different types of courses and they concentrate in 3 areas of research. The most popular areas of research (from most to least) are: Decision Support Systems, IS Development and Operations, Expert Systems, Artificial Intelligence, Information Systems Design, Information Systems Management and DBMS. The productivity of Information Systems researchers is not proportionally related to the size of Information Systems faculty. The University of Minnesota, with 26 Information Systems faculty, of which 23 are PhDs, has graduated 69 Information Systems PhDs. on the other hand, Purdue University, with a faculty of 17, of which 6 have PhDs, has graduated 66 Information Systems PhDs. Following are listed several of the more prolific authors and their universities: Lucas New York University, Konsynski - Harvard University, Benbasat - University of British Columbia, Rockart - MIT, Zmud - Florida State University, Ives -southern Methodist University, Wetherbe and Dickson - University of Minnesota. These universities also contribute the most Information Systems articles published. It is evident that the top authors prefer certain journals over others for publishing their findings. For example, Lucas published more in Communications of the ACM; Konsynski in Journal of MIS; Reckart in Sloan Management Review; Dickson Zmud, Ives and Wetherbe in MIS Quarterly; and in Management Science. Another interesting observation is that the number of Information Systems PhD graduates joining Information systems faculty is quite small, less than 30 each year even during the peak years of 1986, 1987 and 1988, suggesting that many Information Systems PhDs either leave North America or join the private sector. The majority of Phd graduates who do join faculty prefer publishing in MIS Quarterly. In view of the observed steady growth in numbers and quality of journals, publications, PhDs and doctoral programs, Information Systems can be considered a relatively well-developed and established discipline in its own right.