Twenty years of the European information systems academy at ECIS: emergent trends and research topics

Abstract

While the information systems (IS) community is increasingly international, it is reasonable to expect that different regions might display different research approaches, interests and publication orientations. This paper contributes to the growing number of historical accounts in the IS field by further developing the profile of European IS research that was reported on in EJIS following the first 10 years of the European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS). On the basis of an analysis of all papers published in ECIS proceedings during the 10-year period 2003–2012, the paper highlights three key characteristics of the developing European IS research profile: (1) continuation of the traditional European IS research profile as developed in the first decade; (2) convergence with aspects of the North American tradition and (3) development of a distinct approach to design science. We place these observed characteristics within broader historical and contextual features such as the changing European academic landscape, with increasing pressures to ‘publish or perish’ in order to be internationally competitive. Our contribution lies in providing a contemporaneous account of the dominant contextual factors influencing the European IS academy in recent years as well as our interpretation of the developing research profile, thus informing future understanding of European IS research and the choices facing individual IS researchers.

Keywords:

• European information systems research
• European Conference on Information Systems
• history
• research topics
• research methods

Supplementary information accompanies this article on the European Journal of Information Systems website (www.palgrave-journals.com/ejis)

That men do not learn from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history: Aldous Huxley, Collected Essays

Supplementary information accompanies this article on the European Journal of Information Systems website (www.palgrave-journals.com/ejis)

That men do not learn from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history: Aldous Huxley, Collected Essays

Acknowledgements

We are extremely grateful to Steve Stein who was of immense help in processing and cleaning the data in preparation for analysis.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mari-Klara Stein

About the Authors

Mari-Klara Stein is an assistant professor in the IT Management department at Copenhagen Business School. She holds a Ph.D. from Bentley University. Her research interests include emotional and identity-related aspects of IT use. She has published her research in major IS conferences, the Journal of Information Technology and Information & Organization.

Robert D Galliers

Robert D. Galliers is The University Distinguished Professor at Bentley University. He has had published 11 books and over 80 articles in major journals. His work has been cited approximately 7500 times according to Google Scholar. He received the AIS LEO Award in 2012 and is editor-in-chief of the Journal of Strategic Information Systems. https://faculty.bentley.edu/details.asp?uname=rgalliers

Edgar A Whitley

Edgar A. Whitley is an Associate Professor (Reader) in Information Systems in the Department of Management at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He has a B.Sc. (Econ) and a Ph.D. in Information Systems both from the LSE and Edgar is the co-editor for the Journal of Information Technology & People. http://personal.lse.ac.uk/whitley/.