The Changing Face of Information Systems Research: A Longitudinal Study of Author Influence

This paper examines the impact of key authors on Information Systems research from 1986 to 2005 and analyzes changes in influence and research interests over this period. The author set was based on publication counts in top Information Systems journals, supplemented on a reputational basis with authors recognized for their contribution to the field. Citation analysis was used to identify the most influential authors and to examine changes in influence across four five-year time periods. The results show that certain key authors have exerted strong influence throughout the twenty-year period, but that a new set of authors has begun to emerge in the last five years. In addition we note that, in spite of apparent similarities between the Information Science and In-formation Systems fields, the gulf between these two disciplines continues to be substantial, of-fering researchers on both sides of the divide a significant opportunity for greater integration of research results across the disciplines