Research Conferences in Information Systems
Saturday, April 28, 2007 Permanent link to this post
One of the ways I decide what to post about is by looking at what search terms browsers are looking for while reaching my blog. This is quite easily accomplished by using traffic tracking services like sitemeter or mybloglog (I use both). Recently many visitors came to my blog looking for information about Information Systems research conferences. So - here is an attempt to provide some commonly needed information about Information Systems research conferences. This includes large conferences that look at business application of Information Technologies/Systems. This consolidated information would be useful for starting PhD students in MIS/IS/IT area. Disclaimer: This is by no means an exhaustive list and the acceptance rates mentioned are approximate.
Starting off there are two kinds of research gatherings - those that publish full papers in proceedings and those that don't. The difference is important to realize. Since you can publish a paper only once, if the paper is published in its full form in a conference proceeding then you can not publish the paper in a journal without significant revision. On the other hand, conferences that do not publish proceedings or only publish a abstract of the paper in their proceeding - then you are free to publish the same paper later in a journal. Conferences of this type are often called a workshop.
ICIS - International Conference on Information Systems (Link to ICIS 2007):
Reputation: Tier 1
Acceptance Rate: 12-15%
Proceedings: Full Paper
ICIS is the most prominent research conference in IS research area. Its a large gathering with a very international profile. I have been to last two ICIS (Vegas and Milwaukee) and both have been very positive experiences. The papers are of good quality, attendance in paper sessions is quite decent and most active researchers in IS are usually there. ICIS also hosts job interviews for IS faculty positions. ICIS 2007 is in Montreal, Canada. ICIS publishes full proceedings and is very very selective. Its acceptance rates in past years have been around 12-15% - which is very low for a conference - its quite difficult to get a paper accepted at ICIS.
AMCIS - Americas Conference on Information Systems (Link to AMCIS 2007):
Reputation: Tier 3
Acceptance Rate: ~50%
Proceedings: Full Paper, Research-in-Progress
AMCIS is a really large gathering of IS researchers - but mostly has participation from US. The high acceptance rate means that its easy to get your paper accepted here - but it also means that the average quality of paper is not very good. Attendance in paper sessions is usually low. However - I recommend going to this conference as you get to know a lot of IS researchers and some Universities hold their hiring interviews at AMCIS.
HICSS - Hawaii International Conference on Systems Sciences (Link to HICSS 2008):
Reputation: Tier 3
Acceptance Rate: ~50%
Proceedings: Full Paper
HICSS is an expensive conference to go to - Hawaii in January! Its a great vacation if you stay for a couple of days after the conference - however - the conference itself nothing too great. Good thing is that the atmosphere is quite casual (think shorts and printed shirts) and stress free; bad thing is that attendance levels are low (what else can be expected - when you are in Hawaii in Jan). Since the conference is so expensive to attend, number of submissions are lower - so a 50% acceptance is not bad. One really bright part of the conference is the Competitive Strategy, Economics and IS mini-track organized by three leading lights of IS research - Rob Kauffman, Eric Clemons and Rajiv Dewan. This track has low acceptance, really good papers and very good participation.
WISE - Workshop on Information Systems and Economics (Link to WISE 2006):
Reputation: Tier 2
Acceptance Rate: ~30% (guesstimate)
Proceedings: No Proceedings
For researchers studying Information Economics or Business Value of IT, this is THE place to be. Its a two day workshop where all the big guns get together and have a really good critical discussion. Its a short, interactive and very valuable workshop. This also happens to be my first ever research conference - so I like it even better. You only submit a five page extended abstract to WISE - so you can submit in-progress research as well - which is great. This also has one of the last deadlines (early Sept) - so you can submit your summer work here - good timing. WISE is one of the many workshops that happen just before ICIS (pre-ICIS workshops) - and it is usually very close to ICIS location - so you can combine the two visits.
Academy of Management - OCIS Division (Link to AoM-2007):
Reputation: Tier 3
Acceptance Rate: ~50%
Proceedings: Abstracts and Extended Abstracts
Academy is the biggest gathering of all - all management divisions are there. Information Systems researcher usually find place in the OCIS division. I haven't been to this conference as yet - so no first hand information - I am scheduled to go this year - so I will know more soon. The acceptance rates are reasonable/easy and it only publishes abstracts or extended abstracts - so works well for in-progress research papers.
CIST - INFORMS Conference on Information Systems and Technology (Link to CIST 2007):
Reputation: Tier 2
Acceptance Rate: ~30% (guesstimate)
Proceedings: No Proceedings
The annual INFORMS conference is a big deal (and a big gathering) for Operations researchers. As part of the INFORMS conference, IS researchers organize the two day WISE-like event called CIST. Difference is that you need to submit a full paper for CIST. The level of discussion and participation is same as WISE. A very good conference to present your research before you submit it to a journal, especially for research connected with operations. CIST also has some practitioner participation.
WITS - Workshop on Information Technology and Systems (Link to WITS 2007):
Reputation: Tier 2
Acceptance Rate: ~30% (guesstimate)
Proceedings: No Proceedings
WITS is another pre-ICIS workshop - but its focus is more technical than WISE. Design science researchers find this particularly attractive. My research usually does not fall under the WITS umbrella - I have heard good things about it though.
Alright - that finishes my top of the mind info in research conferences/workshops in Information Systems. Hope somebody finds this useful. Feel free to add to this info by posting comments.
Updates:
Starting off there are two kinds of research gatherings - those that publish full papers in proceedings and those that don't. The difference is important to realize. Since you can publish a paper only once, if the paper is published in its full form in a conference proceeding then you can not publish the paper in a journal without significant revision. On the other hand, conferences that do not publish proceedings or only publish a abstract of the paper in their proceeding - then you are free to publish the same paper later in a journal. Conferences of this type are often called a workshop.
ICIS - International Conference on Information Systems (Link to ICIS 2007):
Reputation: Tier 1
Acceptance Rate: 12-15%
Proceedings: Full Paper
ICIS is the most prominent research conference in IS research area. Its a large gathering with a very international profile. I have been to last two ICIS (Vegas and Milwaukee) and both have been very positive experiences. The papers are of good quality, attendance in paper sessions is quite decent and most active researchers in IS are usually there. ICIS also hosts job interviews for IS faculty positions. ICIS 2007 is in Montreal, Canada. ICIS publishes full proceedings and is very very selective. Its acceptance rates in past years have been around 12-15% - which is very low for a conference - its quite difficult to get a paper accepted at ICIS.
AMCIS - Americas Conference on Information Systems (Link to AMCIS 2007):
Reputation: Tier 3
Acceptance Rate: ~50%
Proceedings: Full Paper, Research-in-Progress
AMCIS is a really large gathering of IS researchers - but mostly has participation from US. The high acceptance rate means that its easy to get your paper accepted here - but it also means that the average quality of paper is not very good. Attendance in paper sessions is usually low. However - I recommend going to this conference as you get to know a lot of IS researchers and some Universities hold their hiring interviews at AMCIS.
HICSS - Hawaii International Conference on Systems Sciences (Link to HICSS 2008):
Reputation: Tier 3
Acceptance Rate: ~50%
Proceedings: Full Paper
HICSS is an expensive conference to go to - Hawaii in January! Its a great vacation if you stay for a couple of days after the conference - however - the conference itself nothing too great. Good thing is that the atmosphere is quite casual (think shorts and printed shirts) and stress free; bad thing is that attendance levels are low (what else can be expected - when you are in Hawaii in Jan). Since the conference is so expensive to attend, number of submissions are lower - so a 50% acceptance is not bad. One really bright part of the conference is the Competitive Strategy, Economics and IS mini-track organized by three leading lights of IS research - Rob Kauffman, Eric Clemons and Rajiv Dewan. This track has low acceptance, really good papers and very good participation.
WISE - Workshop on Information Systems and Economics (Link to WISE 2006):
Reputation: Tier 2
Acceptance Rate: ~30% (guesstimate)
Proceedings: No Proceedings
For researchers studying Information Economics or Business Value of IT, this is THE place to be. Its a two day workshop where all the big guns get together and have a really good critical discussion. Its a short, interactive and very valuable workshop. This also happens to be my first ever research conference - so I like it even better. You only submit a five page extended abstract to WISE - so you can submit in-progress research as well - which is great. This also has one of the last deadlines (early Sept) - so you can submit your summer work here - good timing. WISE is one of the many workshops that happen just before ICIS (pre-ICIS workshops) - and it is usually very close to ICIS location - so you can combine the two visits.
Academy of Management - OCIS Division (Link to AoM-2007):
Reputation: Tier 3
Acceptance Rate: ~50%
Proceedings: Abstracts and Extended Abstracts
Academy is the biggest gathering of all - all management divisions are there. Information Systems researcher usually find place in the OCIS division. I haven't been to this conference as yet - so no first hand information - I am scheduled to go this year - so I will know more soon. The acceptance rates are reasonable/easy and it only publishes abstracts or extended abstracts - so works well for in-progress research papers.
CIST - INFORMS Conference on Information Systems and Technology (Link to CIST 2007):
Reputation: Tier 2
Acceptance Rate: ~30% (guesstimate)
Proceedings: No Proceedings
The annual INFORMS conference is a big deal (and a big gathering) for Operations researchers. As part of the INFORMS conference, IS researchers organize the two day WISE-like event called CIST. Difference is that you need to submit a full paper for CIST. The level of discussion and participation is same as WISE. A very good conference to present your research before you submit it to a journal, especially for research connected with operations. CIST also has some practitioner participation.
WITS - Workshop on Information Technology and Systems (Link to WITS 2007):
Reputation: Tier 2
Acceptance Rate: ~30% (guesstimate)
Proceedings: No Proceedings
WITS is another pre-ICIS workshop - but its focus is more technical than WISE. Design science researchers find this particularly attractive. My research usually does not fall under the WITS umbrella - I have heard good things about it though.
Alright - that finishes my top of the mind info in research conferences/workshops in Information Systems. Hope somebody finds this useful. Feel free to add to this info by posting comments.
Updates:
- Andrea has this very informative blog about pre-ICIS workshops. Click here for Andrea's blog.
- Prof Don Harter at Syracuse has maintained a page on IS Conferences with links to past conferences. Link to Don's Conferences Page.
Labels: Conference Presentations, Information Systems, Research
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