The IS Core XII: Authority, Dogma, and Positive Science in Information Systems Research

Abstract

Three related papers recently argued for the adoption of specific ‘organizing principles’ for academic research in Information Systems. These principles, centered on nomological networks of IT artifacts, are offered as prescriptions which, it is argued, resolve an ‘identity crisis’ in IS research. The present paper concludes that, rather than resolving an identity crisis, the prescriptions are likely to confound any search for identity by biasing future IS research into directions that do not move the field forward. We show how a positive science of Information Systems can retain the benefits sought without the recommended prescriptions.