Information Systems Research in Australia and New Zealand: A Survey of Research Activity from 2020 to 2022

A Survey of Research Activity from 2020 to 2022

Authors

  • Marc Adam The University of Newcastle
  • Sultana Lubna Alam Deakin University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3127/ajis.v28.5079

Keywords:

researcher demographics, research activity, conference engagement, survey

Abstract

Over the past 60 years, the information systems (IS) discipline has become an established research field in Australia and New Zealand. Throughout its history, the discipline has experienced an ongoing formation and evolution of its unique identity, with important links to both business and computing-focused research. As a sociotechnical discipline, IS research considers a wide range of phenomena that emerge when social systems interact with technical systems. Yet, there is a lack of research into how recent socioeconomic and technical developments, such as accelerated digitisation in the aftermath of Covid19, widescale university restructuring, and a revision of the government’s research classification schemes, have affected the IS discipline. Against this backdrop, the present paper seeks to establish the current state of the IS discipline in Australia and New Zealand. Based on a survey of 123 IS researchers, we confirm the sociotechnical nature of the IS discipline in this region, identify key research focus areas, provide research output benchmarks at different academic levels, and assess the level of engagement with general and specialised conferences. Our results provide important insights into the positioning of the IS discipline at the nexus of business and computing-focused research.

References

ALIA. (2019). ALIA Submission in Response to the Review of the ANZ Standard Research Classification. Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA).

Barki, H., Rivard, S., & Talbot, J. (1993). A keyword classification scheme for IS research literature: An update. MIS Quarterly, 17(2), 209–226. https://doi.org/10.2307/249802

Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa

Bunker, D. (2014). President’s Report. Australian Council of Professors and Heads of Information Systems (ACPHIS), 1–5.

Cheong, F., & Corbitt, B. (2009). A social network analysis of the co-authorship network of the Australasian conference of information systems from 1990 to 2006. ECIS 2009 Proceedings, 1–13.

Clarke, R. (2006). Key aspects of the history of the information systems discipline in Australia. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 14(1), 123–140. https://doi.org/10.3127/ajis.v14i1.12

Clarke, R. (2008). A retrospective of the information systems discipline in Australia. In G. G. Gable, S. Gregor, R. Clarke, G. Ridley, & R. W. Smyth (Eds.), The Information Systems Academic Discipline in Australia (pp. 47–107). ANU E Press.

Clarke, R. (2009). A citation analysis of Australian information systems researchers: Towards a new ERA? Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 15(2), 23–44. https://doi.org/10.3127/ajis.v15i2.465

Dang-Pham, D., & Kautz, K. (2018). A social network analysis of co-authorship at the Australasian Conference on Information Systems (ACIS) from 1990 to 2016. ACPHIS, 1–70.

Dang-Pham, D., & Kautz, K. (2017). Exploring the ACIS community through the analysis of co-authorship across institutions. ACIS 2017 Proceedings, 1–11.

Fisher, J., Shanks, G., & Lamp, J. W. (2007). A ranking list for information systems journals. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 14(2), 5–18. https://doi.org/10.3127/ajis.v14i2.469

Gable, G. G. (2006). The information systems discipline in Australian universities: A contextual framework. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 14(1), 103–122. https://doi.org/10.3127/ajis.v14i1.11

Gable, G. G. (2007). The information systems academic discipline in Australia. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 21, 23–48. https://doi.org/10.17705/1CAIS.02102

Gable, G. G. (2008). The information systems discipline in Australian universities: A contextual framework. In G. G. Gable, S. Gregor, R. Clarke, G. Ridley, & R. W. Smyth (Eds.), The Information Systems Academic Discipline in Australia (pp. 3–45). ANU E Press.

Gable, G. G., Gregor, S., Clarke, R., Ridley, G., & Smyth, R. W. (2008). The Information Systems Academic Discipline in Australia. ANU E Press. https://doi.org/10.22459/ISADA.09.2008

Gable, G. G., & Smyth, R. W. (2007). The state of the IS academic discipline in Pacific Asia: Methodological learnings. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 21, 166–194. https://doi.org/10.17705/1CAIS.02109

Gable, G. G., Smyth, R. W., & Gable, A. (2016). The role of the doctoral consortium: An information systems signature pedagogy? Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 38, 678–711. https://doi.org/10.17705/1CAIS.03833

Gable, G. G., Smyth, R. W., & Stark, K. (2008). An archival analysis of ACIS research papers. ACIS 2008 Proceedings, 1–10. https://aisel.aisnet.org/acis2008/54

Hider, P., & Coe, M. (2020). Disciplines in their organisational context: Mapping Australian faculty structures to the ASCED and ANZSRC fields of education and research. Australian Universities’ Review, 62(1), 10–17.

Hirschheim, R., & Klein, H. K. (2012). A glorious and not-so-short history of the information systems field. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 13(4), 188–235. https://doi.org/10.17705/1jais.00294

Joung, S., Yeongwha, S., & Jeong, E. (2020). Verifying the classification accuracy for Korea’s standardized classification scheme of research F&E by using LDA. Management & Information Systems Review, 39(1), 35–57. https://doi.org/10.29214/damis.2020.39.1.003

Kautz, K. (2021). Editorial for the Australasian Journal of Information Systems 2021: Volume 25. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 25, 1–8.

Lee, A. S. (2001). Editor’s comments: Research in information systems - What we haven’t learned. MIS Quarterly, 25(4), v–xv.

Lehmann, H., & Huff, S. L. (2007). The information systems academic discipline in New Zealand. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 21, 87–103. https://doi.org/10.17705/1CAIS.02105

MacGregor, R. (1993). Editorial. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.3127/ajis.v1i1.426

Niederman, F., & March, S. T. (2012). Design science and the accumulation of knowledge in the information systems discipline. ACM Transactions on Management Information Systems, 3(1), 1–15.

Orlikowski, W. J., & Baroudi, J. J. (1991). Studying information technology in organizations: Research approaches and assumptions. Information Systems Research, 2(1), 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2.1.1

Palvia, P., Leary, D., Mao, E., Midha, V., Pinjani, P., & Salam, A. F. (2004). Research methodologies in MIS: An update. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 14, 526–542. https://doi.org/10.17705/1CAIS.01424

Pervan, G., & Cecez-Kecmanovic, D. (2001). The status of information systems research in Australia: Preliminary results. ACIS 2001 Proceedings, 1–4.

Pervan, G., & Shanks, G. (2006). The 2005 survey of information systems research in Australia. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 14(1), 273–279. https://doi.org/10.3127/ajis.v14i1.22

Pervan, G., & Shanks, G. (2008). A longitudinal study of information systems research in Australia. In G. G. Gable, S. Gregor, R. Clarke, G. Ridley, & R. W. Smyth (Eds.), The Information Systems Academic Discipline in Australia (pp. 295–305). ANU E Press.

Ridley, G. (1997). The role of conferences and refereed journals in Australian information systems research. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 5(1), 69–81. https://doi.org/10.3127/ajis.v5i1.351

Ridley, G. (2000). Information Systems Research in Australia: Development and Diverseity, 1980-1996. University of Tasmania.

Ridley, G. (2006). Characterising information systems in Australia: A theoretical framework. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 14(1), 141–162. https://doi.org/10.3127/ajis.v14i1.13

Ridley, G., Gable, G. G., Smyth, R. W., Gregor, S., & Clarke, R. (2008). The information systems academic discipline in Australian universities: A meta-analysis. In G. G. Gable, S. Gregor, R. Clarke, G. Ridley, & R. W. Smyth (Eds.), The Information Systems Academic Discipline in Australia (pp. 307–339).

Ridley, G., Goulding, P., Lowry, G., & Pervan, G. (1998). The Australian information systems research community: An analysis of mainstream publication outlets. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 5(2), 69–80. https://doi.org/10.3127/ajis.v5i2.345

Ridley, G., Goulding, P., Lowry, G., & Pervan, G. (1997). Australian IS publications: A profile of institutions, authors and collaboration, 1990-1996. ACIS 1997 Proceedings, 273–287.

Ridley, G., & Keen, C. (1998). Epistemologies for information systems research: A study of change. ACIS 1998 Proceedings, 520–533.

Sarker, S., Chatterjee, S., Xiao, X., & Elbanna, A. (2019). The sociotechnical axis of cohesion for the IS discipline: Its historical legacy and its continued relevance. MIS Quarterly, 43(3), 695–719. https://doi.org/10.25300/MISQ/2019/13747

Sellitto, C. (2007). A study of publication performance in ACPHIS identified journals. ACIS 2007 Proceedings, 294–303.

Smyth, R. W., Gable, G. G., & Pervan, G. (2016). A SWOT analysis of the IS academic discipline in Australia. ACIS 2016 Proceedings, 1–12.

Stead, C., Smith, S., Busch, P., & Vatanasakdakul, S. (2020). Thirty years of ACIS proceedings: An archival analysis. ACIS 2020 Proceedings, 1–8. https://aisel.aisnet.org/acis2020/19

Tate, M., Zwanenburg, S., & Clarke, R. J. (2024). Generating stakeholder value through increasingly hybridized conferences: Insights from 30 years of ACIS conferences. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 54(1), 1–15.

Tremblay, M.-A. (1957). The key informant technique: A nonethnographic application. American Anthropologist, 59(4), 688–701.

Vancauwenbergh, S., & Poelmans, H. (2019). The creation of the Flemish research discipline list, an important step forward in harmonising research information (systems). Procedia Computer Science, 146, 265–278. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2019.01.075

Vial, G. (2019). Understanding digital transformation: A review and a research agenda. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 28(2), 118–144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsis.2019.01.003

Downloads

Published

2024-11-21

How to Cite

Adam, M., & Alam, S. L. (2024). Information Systems Research in Australia and New Zealand: A Survey of Research Activity from 2020 to 2022: A Survey of Research Activity from 2020 to 2022. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 28. https://doi.org/10.3127/ajis.v28.5079

Issue

Section

Research Articles