Editorial Notes
2015: Through the Rear and Front View Mirrors
As we look forward to 2016, it is instructive to reflect on the achievements of the journal in 2015. In 2015 as in the past, ISR continued and reinforced its mission to publish the “best” research in the IS discipline that addresses topics of relevance for academic, practice, and policy audiences, and does so with rigor. The journal published a total of 46 papers in Volume 26, including research commentaries, regular articles, and research notes. The number of papers ISR is able to accommodate continues to grow, with the support of INFORMS and generous contributions by the Information Systems Society (ISS). In 2015, the journal published 874 pages, representing a substantial increase over the 609 pages from just six years ago in 2009. ISR now has a lead time from acceptance to publication of less than 9 months! So please submit your work in information systems to ISR; it will be visible and widely disseminated in a short period of time.
As information technology continues to be an inexorable force of change, ISR remains at the vanguard in publishing research that addresses various aspects of the changes wrought by IT. In addition to the regular submissions, two special issues focused on different aspects of IT-enabled change are currently in the final stages: one on “Collaboration and Value Creation in Online Communities,” and a second on “Ubiquitous IT and Digital Vulnerabilities.” Two issues of the journal in 2016 will be devoted to papers on these topics. Shortly, I expect to announce a new special issue call on digital infrastructures. If you are working in this area, I encourage you to submit your research to this special issue!
In 2015 ISR pioneered the addition of a new section “Research Spotlights.” This section presents non-technical briefs of the papers published in the issue and is intended for broader dissemination to audiences who may not be experts in the field. The spotlights specifically cull out managerial implications of the research. Please use these spotlights to showcase and promote the research of our discipline to others in your professional networks, including colleagues in other departments, practicing executives, and policy makers.
Editorial Transitions
ISR’s editorial board provides invaluable service to the community! We must recognize that editors contribute significant time and effort in working with authors to move their research to the next level of excellence and impact. Each year we acknowledge the contributions of editors who are rotating off the board and welcome new appointees who have distinguished themselves as scholars and mentors. In addition to the research accomplishments of colleagues, editorial appointments are made with a variety of considerations in mind, including the journal’s mission, its international scope, and adequate representation across the multitude of topics, genres, epistemological stances, and methodologies that characterize scholarship in the IS field.
Four Senior Editors are rotating off the board after completing their terms: Anandhi Bharadwaj (Emory University), Chris Forman (Georgia Institute of Technology), Natalia Levina (New York University), and Il-Horn Hann (University of Maryland). An additional three Senior Editors have agreed to stay on the board until June 2016: Gedas Adomavicius (University of Minnesota), Amrit Tiwana (University of Georgia), and Fred Davis (Texas Tech University). Thank you for all your valuable service and contributions to ISR!
I would also like to acknowledge the hard work of our retiring Associate Editors: Alessandro Acquisti (Carnegie Mellon University), Hillol Bala (Indiana University), Jonathon Cummings (Duke University), Susan Scott (London School of Economics), Giri Tayi (University of Albany), and Sean Xu (Tsinghua University).
I am pleased to announce the appointment of six new Senior Editors, Alessandro Acquisti (Carnegie Mellon University), Jonathon Cummings (Duke University), Kartik Hosanagar (University of Pennsylvania), Paul Pavlou (Temple University), Giri Tayi (University of Albany) and Emma Vaast (McGill University). Six new Associate Editors join the ISR team: Mohammad Rahman (Purdue University), Jesse Bockstedt (University of Arizona), Gal Ostreicher-Singer (Tel Aviv University), Marius Niculescu (Georgia Institute of Technology), Sanjukta Smith (University of Buffalo), and Jianqing Chen (University of Texas at Dallas). Collectively, the new Senior Editors and Associate Editors possess a wealth of domain and methodological expertise across all the research areas that IS scholars work in. Welcome aboard!
Rewarding Excellence
Each year ISR acknowledges the exceptional performance and contributions of authors, reviewers, and editorial board members through awards presented at the ISR reception held at INFORMS. These include the Best Published Paper award, Best Reviewer award, and the Best Associate Editor awards. Congratulations to all the winners for 2014!
Reviewers of the Year 2014
Ling Xue, University of Memphis
Marius Niculescu, Georgia Institute of Technology
Beibei Li, Carnegie Mellon University
Jui Ramaprasad, McGill University
Associate Editors of the Year 2014
Yulin Fang, City University of Hong Kong
Wonseok Oh, KAIST College of Business
Michael Zhang, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Best Paper Awards for 2014
Winner
Paul M. Leonardi, “Social Media, Knowledge Sharing, and Innovation: Toward a Theory of Communication Visibility,” Information Systems Research 25(4):796–816.
Runner-up
Nishtha Langer, Sandra A. Slaughter, Tridas Mukhopadhyay, “Project Managers’ Practical Intelligence and Project Performance in Software Offshore Outsourcing: A Field Study,” Information Systems Research 25(2):364–384.
Editorial Policy Changes for 2016
ISR seeks to publish research that, in addition to addressing important scholarly problems in the IS discipline with rigor, is also innovative and has the potential to be high impact. A number of editorial policy changes will go into effect starting January, 2016. First, the maximum number of pages for research notes has been reduced to 20 pages, with a maximum of 5 pages of additional tables and figures. This move, echoing a general trend towards shorter papers that is being promoted in many major journals, will allow ISR to expand the number of papers that can be published while maintaining high standards for quality. Further, the label “Research Note” will be removed from the title of the paper. Authors are encouraged to visit the journal’s website for more details. Finally, underscoring the importance of replication of research results, authors will be required to submit a data disclosure policy with their papers.
It Takes a Village (and Often, an Army)
A top peer-reviewed journal is an archive of a discipline’s scientific endeavors that lives beyond the research life of any single member of the community. Equally, the journal reflects the standards and quality that the discipline values and wants to promote. To do so effectively is not the exclusive purview of the Editor-in-Chief or indeed, of the Editorial Board. Rather, it is the collective effort of the entire community of scholars, and its shared values and aspirations. I bring this up to highlight the importance of everyone in the discipline agreeing to “play by the rules” and paying attention to two critical behaviors: one, conforming to the journal’s policy on publication ethics (please review this on ISR’s website) and two, agreeing to participate in the peer-review process in a timely and constructive manner. I urge you to be a member of the “village” of scholars, while serving on the “army” of scholars that executes the mission of journal production with purpose and resolve!
