Information Systems Research Workflow (isr-workflow)

Overview

This is the router. It does not replace any specialized skill; it tells you which isr- skill to use right now* for your Information Systems Research (ISR) manuscript.

Default assumption: unless the user says otherwise, treat the target as ISR — the INFORMS quarterly at the intersection of technology, organizations, economics, and society, and a member of the IS field's Senior Scholars' Basket of Eight. ISR's identity is deliberately sociotechnical and intradisciplinary: it is receptive to the design, management, use, valuation, and impacts of IT across multiple levels of analysis (individuals, groups, firms, networks, societies, nations), and it houses both rigorous behavioral/empirical research and analytical economic, econometric, and design-science modeling as co-equal first-class genres. The recurring editorial question is not only "is the method sound?" but "does this bridge IS silos and advance our intradisciplinary understanding of the sociotechnical?"

Editorial team context: Suprateek Sarker (University of Virginia, McIntire) is the current Editor-in-Chief; his inaugural editorial appeared in ISR 34(1):1-4 on February 27, 2023. The 2025 multimethod-research framework editorial (ISR 36(2)) formalizes guidance for combining qualitative, quantitative, analytical, and design-science methods. Re-check the current masthead and policies at pubsonline.informs.org/journal/isre before submission.

When to trigger

• "What should I do next?" with a half-built ISR manuscript
• You have an analytical model or a dataset but no clear sociotechnical, intradisciplinary story
• A reviewer/SE pushes on "contribution to IS" or "this is single-paradigm" and you are unsure which stage is the bottleneck
• You received an ISR decision letter and need to switch into response mode
• You keep bouncing between modeling/analysis, theory, and writing without a plan

Routing table

Default order

1. isr-topic-selection — lock a sociotechnical question with ISR fit (vs MISQ/JMIS/MS)
2. isr-theory-development — build the mechanism (behavioral hypotheses or analytical propositions)
3. isr-literature-positioning — bridge IS silos; state the intradisciplinary conversation you join
4. isr-methods — match the genre (behavioral empirical / analytical-economic / design-science / multimethod)
5. isr-data-analysis — identification and validity (empirical) or proof discipline (analytical)
6. isr-contribution-framing — turn results into an explicit contribution to IS (drafts the ~500-word statement)
7. isr-tables-figures — finalize exhibits; push proofs/measurement to the electronic companion
8. isr-writing-style — full-manuscript prose polish
9. isr-submission — ScholarOne preflight (anonymization, contribution statement, editor/reviewer nominations)
10. isr-review-process — set expectations for the SE-led, fit-gated process
11. isr-rebuttal — after an R&R, plan revisions then draft the response

isr-tables-figures and isr-writing-style are late-stage polish. Do not invoke them while the contribution or identification/proof is still unsettled.

Difference vs. MISQ / JMIS / Management Science stacks

• ISR: sociotechnical and intradisciplinary; behavioral and analytical/design-science as co-equal genres under one cover; INFORMS (OR/economics lineage); 32-page text / 38-page total cap; SE/AE routing with an EIC fit gate.
• MISQ: sister Basket-of-Eight journal with a stronger design-science genre identity and its own theory/method conventions — different house norms.
• JMIS: Basket-of-Eight; overlapping scope but distinct editorial conventions.
• Management Science: also INFORMS, but a broader management/OR journal (and the one that charges the $79 original-submission fee) — not IS-specific.

Stage tracker (fill and re-run the router)

ISR's genre row governs the shape of theory, analysis, and contribution. Fill it first; the top unfinished stage names the next skill. Keep the sociotechnical/intradisciplinary bridge visible in the header.

ISR MANUSCRIPT — stage tracker
question   : [one-sentence sociotechnical question; IT artifact = ...]
genre      : behavioral-empirical / analytical-economic / design-science / multimethod
bridge     : [which IS silos does this connect?]
target     : ISR (vs MISQ / JMIS / Management Science)  fit=[yes/borderline/no]

stage                          status        next skill
-----------------------------  ------------  ---------------------------
topic & fit (sociotechnical)   [done]        isr-topic-selection
mechanism / propositions       [in-progress] isr-theory-development
literature positioning         [todo]        isr-literature-positioning
   (bridge the silos)
methods / genre match          [todo]        isr-methods
identification or proof        [todo]        isr-data-analysis
contribution to IS (~500w)     [todo]        isr-contribution-framing
exhibits; proofs→companion     [todo]        isr-tables-figures   (late)
prose polish                   [todo]        isr-writing-style    (late)
ScholarOne preflight           [todo]        isr-submission
decision / R&R                 [—]           isr-review-process → isr-rebuttal

rule: single-paradigm result is not automatically ISR-fit — the bridge row
      must be non-empty before contribution framing is marked done.

Anti-patterns

• Do not skip isr-theory-development and jump to estimation/derivation — ISR rejects atheoretical phenomenon-mining.
• Do not let isr-tables-figures beautify exhibits before the model and contribution are settled.
• Do not treat a single-paradigm result as automatically ISR-fit — the journal prizes intradisciplinary, silo-bridging work.
• Do not let isr-writing-style substitute for a real contribution to IS — polish cannot rescue thin theory or a non-identified design.