An Analysis of Diversity in Electronic Commerce Research

Abstract

This study evaluates the current state of electronic commerce (EC) research by focusing on its diversity. The authors examined 846 EC articles published in six EC specialty journals, 196 in four major IS journals, and 61 in four major marketing journals over the 10 years from 1996 to 2005. The EC specialty and major IS journals show a trend toward multidisciplinary authorship. All three groups of journals display an increasing level of interest in consumer-related issues. The IS and marketing journals prefer mathematical modeling, while the EC specialty journals favor conceptual research. Most important, the major and EC specialty journals play different roles in EC research. EC articles published in the major journals, by and large, display not only more diversified research methods but a growing trend toward economics as a common paradigm. EC specialty journals exhibit great diversity in researchers' backgrounds and units of analysis, expanding and redefining the domain of EC research. The findings summarized in this paper are a roadmap toward better understanding of the dynamics of EC research and for authors seeking to identify the best journal for their EC research.