Opening a window on the information systems field: submissions to ISR, 1987-1992

We report an analysis of the manuscripts submitted to the journal Information Systems Research (ISR) during its start-up years, in an effort to provide a foundation for assessing the performance of the journal, and to open a window on the structure and growth of the IS field. An examination of the research questions addressed by the submissions led to the formulation of a series of categories characterizing the evolving research activity of the field and the identification of a compact set of overarching themes. We present the findings with the goal of broadening the perspectives which individual members of the IS research community have of ISR and to help fuel community discourse about the nature and proper direction of the field.<>