The linkage between conferences and journals in the information systems field: Observations and recommendations

Younger scholars often receive advice to submit work to conferences for feedback and polishing in anticipation that they will later submit it to a journal for publication. But is this a normal practice? What do the IS scholars really think or do about the linkage between conferences and journals? What are IS journals’ policies and their editors-in-chiefs’ views on that linkage? This paper explores aspects of the relationship between conference presentation and journal publication, which include motivations for participating in conferences, potential for subsequent publication, preferred journal targets, and progress of paper development following conference presentation. We obtained data that form the basis for our findings and recommendations from two main sources: 1) a panel study with two sequential surveys of IS scholars who presented papers at three consecutive International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) meetings (in St. Louis 2010, Shanghai 2011, and Orlando 2012) and 2) an email interview with the editors-in-chief of 21 major IS journals in regard to their respective journals’ policies and their personal views. The paper provides recommendations for various stakeholders including scholars, journal editors, conference organizers, leaders in the field, and anyone outside the IS field who wants to understand its norms and culture.