An historically grounded critical analysis of research articles in IS

Abstract

In order to explore scientific writing in Information Systems (IS) journals, we adopt a combination of historical and rhetorical approaches. We first investigate the history of universities, business schools, learned societies and scientific articles. This perspective allows us to capture the legacy of scientific writing standards, which emerged in the 18th and 19th centuries. Then, we focus on two leading IS journals (EJIS and MISQ). An historical analysis of both outlets is carried out, based on data related to their creation, evolution of editorial statements, and key epistemological and methodological aspects. We also focus on argumentative strategies found in a sample of 436 abstracts from both journals. Three main logical anchorages (sometimes combined) are identified, and related to three argumentative strategies: ‘deepening of knowledge’, ‘solving an enigma’ and ‘addressing a practical managerial issue’. We relate these writing norms to historical imprints of management and business studies, in particular: enigma-focused rhetorics, interest in institutionalized literature, neglect for managerially grounded rhetoric and lack of reflexivity in scientific writing. We explain this relation as a quest for academic legitimacy. Lastly, some suggestions are offered to address the discrepancies between these writing norms and more recent epistemological and theoretical stances adopted by IS researchers.

Keywords:

• argumentative strategies
• history
• academic writing
• legitimacy

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the clear and constructive reviews from the associate editor, the senior editor and all the reviewers on the earlier versions of this article. Their comments have substantially helped us improve our work. They also thank Steve Smithson and Jonathan Liebenau of the London School of Economics for their time.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

François-Xavier de Vaujany

About the authors

François-Xavier de Vaujany is Professor at Université Paris-Dauphine. His research deals with social aspects of IT and managerial techniques in organizations. He is drawing on sociological and historical theories, in particular structuration theory, social critical realism and the ‘new History’. His work has been published in several journals (Information and Organization, Management and Organizational History, International Journal of Technology and Human Interactions, Journal of Information Technology Impacts, Sociologie du Travail, Systèmes d’Information et Management) and books (in particular his last book: ‘Les grandes perspectives théoriques en Systèmes d’Information’, Hermès sciences, 2009).

Isabelle Walsh

Isabelle Walsh is Assistant Professor at Strasbourg University. She also does occasional consultancy missions in MIS, change management, intercultural management and strategy. These domains are her research themes as well as the subjects that she teaches. Her work draws on social psychology theories (more particularly the theory of human values) and sociological theories (more particularly translation theory). Her research has been published in the Journal of Strategic Information Systems and Management & Avenir.

Nathalie Mitev

Nathalie Mitev is a senior lecturer at the London School of Economics, Information Systems and Innovation Group, Department of Management, and has held previous positions at Salford University and City University Business School in the U.K. Her research focuses on the organizational aspects of information systems and technology concentrating on implementation success and failure, particularly from a social, cultural and political perspective.