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This post-publication review highlights the strengths and shortcomings of Mazaheri, Lagzian, and Hemmat (2020) and the key considerations for future systematic reviews in information systems.

Information systems, as an emerging discipline which is dynamic and interdisciplinary, is constantly undergoing rapid changes; therefore, one of the most critical issues is to study the topics and methodological trends in this field. This study aimed to thoroughly investigate the topics and methodologies used in information system throughout a twelve-year period (2007-2018). In the present study, all the articles published in the top eight information system journals were investigated based on their topics and methodologies using a literature analysis approach, and the most common topics and methodologies in such studies were then detected. The main topics addressed in this filed were electronic commerce/business, information system research, and IS usage/adoption, and the survey was the dominant research methodology in this regard. Furthermore, an increase in the use of the mathematical models indicates that more accurate quantitative research methods have made this field more mature. The research findings also show that the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, social media, bitcoin and block chain, digital transformation, sharing economy, digital platform, methodology of machine learning, data mining, and text mining are the main research topics and methods which should be further studied.

Information systems, as an emerging discipline which is dynamic and interdisciplinary, is constantly undergoing rapid changes; therefore, one of the most critical issues is to study the topics and methodological trends in this field. This study aimed to thoroughly investigate the topics and methodologies used in information system throughout a twelve-year period (2007-2018). In the present study, all the articles published in the top eight information system journals were investigated based on their topics and methodologies using a literature analysis approach, and the most common topics and methodologies in such studies were then detected. The main topics addressed in this filed were electronic commerce/business, information system research, and IS usage/adoption, and the survey was the dominant research methodology in this regard. Furthermore, an increase in the use of the mathematical models indicates that more accurate quantitative research methods have made this field more mature. The research findings also show that the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, social media, bitcoin and block chain, digital transformation, sharing economy, digital platform, methodology of machine learning, data mining, and text mining are the main research topics and methods which should be further studied.

Computerised graphical representations of human users and computer agents, known as avatars and embodied agents, have been extensively explored and investigated in Information Systems (IS) research and practice. Such digital representations can be employed in either 2D or 3D. In order to facilitate research on user and agent representations and their applications in IS, we conduct a systematic literature review and establish the current state of research on humans’ perceptions and behaviours when interacting with avatars and embodied agents. Our findings are based on an analysis of 90 articles published in top outlets in the IS field. This review identifies 1) different types of avatar and embodied agent-mediated interactions with users, 2) current application domains of such representations, 3) their dimensionality, 4) affected psychological constructs, and 5) practical considerations for the design of such digital representations. Finally, we discuss limitations of current research and, based on these, directions for future work.

Understanding knowledge work and supporting it with information systems (ISs) are challenging tasks. Knowledge work has changed substantially recently and studies on how knowledge work is currently performed are scarce. Ethnography is the most suitable qualitative research method for studying knowledge work, yet too time-consuming, costly and unfocused for the fast changing IS domain. Moreover, results from qualitative studies need to be transformed into artefacts useful for IS requirements engineering and design. This paper proposes a procedure for collaborative ethnography to study knowledge work practices and inform IS requirements gathering and design illustrated with the case of a collaborative ethnographic study of seven organisations in four European countries performed in a large-scale international IS research and development project. The paper also critically discusses the procedure’s applicability and limitations.

Information Systems researchers have embraced a number of qualitative research approaches and methodologies, including interviews, observations, and even action research. One approach gaining visibility in IS research is the focus group method. Focus groups have the potential to provide great insights into phenomena of interest to IS researchers as they allow researchers to get deeper into the topic of interest by providing more background information about the circumstances of the subject’s answers or opinions. This paper offers a discussion of the focus group research approach and a review of focus group research in the information systems literature, and recommendations for the use of focus groups in IS theorizing. The discussion highlights the idea that focus group research is particularly useful for exploratory research on topics where concepts normally emerge through interactions among individuals or where concepts are initially unclear to participants, and as part of a multi-method research program for theory development. We provide examples of focus groups used in theory development and discuss limitations of the approach.

This paper, examining Information Systems in New South Wales universities, highlights the significance of New South Wales as the most populous state in Australia. Rather than offering a comprehensive coverage of all Information Systems courses in the state, the paper gives a broad overview of Information Systems in the state’s universities while seeking to highlight the distinctive characteristics of some of the universities, deemed to have particular significance in the state. The view portrayed is of an environment threatening the continuing existence of Information Systems in some of the state’s universities. Again, the state of Information Systems research in the state’s universities is characterised by diversity and limited collaboration.

As part of a study to investigate the state of Information Systems research in Australia, a survey of the heads of all IS discipline groups in Australian universities was conducted in mid 2005. The study revealed a wide range of topics researched (with rapid growth in Electronic Commerce and Knowledge Management), a range of foci, a balance between positivist and interpretivist research, survey was the most frequently used research method, and most research was directed at informing IS professionals. A SWOT analysis identified the growing importance of industry relevance and collaboration.

The use of e-commerce in small medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has become an important topic in information systems research. At present, there is a large number of well-documented benefits derived from e-commerce for small-medium enterprises (SMEs) both in theoretical and practical literature. Despite the enormous attention given to encourage SMEs to adopt e-commerce both by academics as well as governments, little research has been carried out in identifying strategies of e-commerce adoption for SMEs in developing countries, especially Indonesia. It is, therefore, the aim of this paper to understand the factors and combinations of factors that SMEs need to be considered before embracing e-commerce into their business by providing a closer look at actual experience of Indonesian SMEs. Case study research was carried out to analyse and explain the underlying factors that are likely to determine the varying extent of e-commerce adoption in SMEs, especially the service sector. The findings of the case studies have further extended into the development of proposed practical framework to illustrate how e-commerce adoption should be carried out from a strategic perspective.

There has been considerable debate in the information systems (IS) literature as to which research methodology is most appropriate to address IS related problems. This paper contributes to that debate by contrasting the post-modernist approach with that of the critical realist. A major strand within the postmodernist perspective is concerned with the various aspects of knowing – that is, it is primarily epistemological in focus. In contrast, traditional realist approaches are more ontological in focus in their acceptance and concern for a reality external to perception. Realist and postmodernist approaches are generally presented as in opposition to each other, yet as this paper will argue, a suitably aware contemporary realist approach to research can accommodate many of the proposals of the post-modernist. Critical realism is presented as such a contemporary realist philosophy in that it takes account of both ontological and epistemological viewpoints. It is argued that such a philosophy has the potential to provide a basis for developing a robust methodological approach to IS research.

This paper reports on an investigation of the nature of and interactions among the Information Systems academic research community in Australia. The 382 refereed papers from the two mainstream IS refereed publication outlets in Australia were analysed for the period 1990-1996 to determine the contributions of individual universities, departments and authors to the pattern of collaboration, and to examine the nature of the contributors. The study revealed that several institutions, departments and authors dominated the publication outlets and that the majority of the collaboration that occurred took place within university departments. Collaboration between and among different disciplines and nations, and between practitioners and academics was limited. It was found that although the Australian academic IS research community had only recently emerged, it was growing strongly.

The premise of this paper is the need for the IS discipline in Australia to identify its nature and traditions before promulgating both to gain greater access to political power and resources. The survey results reported help characterise Australian IS research by assessing the significance of conference publications and determining which international and national conferences and refereed journals are perceived by leading IS researchers to be the most appropriate and of the highest quality as publication outlets. Comparison is made between the results of this study and North American rankings. Results from the study support the claim that refereed conference publications are significant to IS researchers and help legitimise this style of publication.

This paper reports on an investigation of mechanisms that assist Information Systems post-graduate research students to focus their projects. An evaluation is presented of the experiences of Information Systems research students in focussing their research projects based on a survey conducted of students who participated in two of the first three Information Systems doctoral consortia to be held in Australia. The survey sought to determine whether a doctoral consortium or 'systematic expert review' is the most valuable mechanism for focussing a research proposal. Systematic expert review was considered by the students to be more effective than the doctoral consortium process for the purpose of focussing their research project proposals.