...to a publication accepted by its academic audience as a high-quality outlet for accounting information systems research. The journal's developmental stage affected both what the editors could do and their vision of challenges and opportunities. Early editors sought resources and high-quality submissions, while later editors had more opportunity to consider direction and reach. The editorship has both positive and negative aspects, with benefits derived from being of service and having an opportunity to influence the quality and direction of an academic journal, and difficulties arising from the need to attract sufficient resources and academic attention, and the time commitment required by the tasks.

Keywords: editors; retrospective; journal development and assessment; journal quality; history of information systems research.

Data Availability: Data will be made available upon written request and justification.

I. INTRODUCTION

This paper provides, from the editors' perspectives, insights on the creation and development of the Journal of Information Systems (JIS), the research journal of the Information Systems (IS) Section of the American Accounting Association (AAA). This historical commentary is intended to be informative for those seeking to establish an academic journal, authors wanting to learn about editors' motivations and constraints, and IS Section members interested in assessing the development and contributions of JIS.

The JIS editors' comments illustrate the progress of an academic journal, from a developmental stage where it struggled to attract resources and high-quality content to its current status as a widely accepted, high-quality research outlet. Although there are numerous productivity and ranking analyses of accounting journals (Hutchison and White 2003; Samuels and Steinbart 2002; Meyer and Rigsby 2001; Scapens and Bromwich 2001; Daigle and Arnold 2000; Watts 1998; Hasselback and Reinstein 1995; Carnaghan et al. 1994; Arnold 1993; Heck and Bremser 1986; Dyckman and Zeff 1984), none reveal how editors contributed to the development of an academic journal, nor do they examine the influence of the context in which editors work.

JIS has had six editors from its inception in 1986 to the present: Joseph W. Wilkinson (1986-1989); William E. McCarthy (1989-1992); A. Faye Borthick (1992-1998); co-editors Casper E. Wiggins, Jr. and Uday S. Murthy (1998-2001); and Dan N. Stone (2001-current). (1) Each responded to questions from the authors (protocol in the Appendix) in a recorded telephone interview or in writing (Borthick 2002; McCarthy 2002; Stone 2002b; Wiggins and Murthy 2002; Wilkinson 2002). For further information, the authors relied upon productivity and demographic data (Hasselback 1985-2000; issues of JIS from 1986-2001).

This paper is organized into the following sections: editor motivations and challenges, journal purpose and intended audiences, topical areas of the journal, journal strengths and weaknesses, and editor attributes and reflections. The final section offers conclusions about the development of JIS.

II. EDITOR MOTIVATIONS AND CHALLENGES

Wilkinson, the first editor, recalls that the primary reason for the creation of JIS in 1986 by the AAA Information Systems/Management Advisory Services Section (later the IS Section) was to provide a forum and obtain recognition for accounting information systems (AIS) research. He notes the severe difficulty authors had in publishing AIS articles in accounting academic journals, and the section's desire to help young AIS researchers achieve tenure. Figure 1 provides some data by faculty rank for each year of JIS through 2001 related to the goal of providing an outlet for AIS scholarship and assisting junior faculty achieve tenure and promotion. The number of articles by assistant professors, generally, exceeds that by other faculty ranks. However, the assistant professor numbers have diminished relative to the earlier years of JIS. The need for quality outlets for AIS research still exists: Stone notes in a recent editorial (2002a, 1) that "top" accounting research journals continue to largely "ignore systems and technology research topics."

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

Wilkinson and McCarthy report their motivation for accepting the editorship was a desire to bring JIS to a point of sustainability and to influence its direction. Wilkinson characterized the initial format decision of including a mix of academic, education, and practice articles as a practical step to elicit sufficient submissions to sustain the journal. Much of this original format has persisted, although the relative focus has shifted to a more academic emphasis.

In addition to his work as editor, McCarthy influenced JIS in its early stages of development by commissioning papers and publishing three editorials addressing the direction of AIS research. Both Wilkinson and McCarthy describe the difficulties related to being editor of a young academic journal: obtaining funding, increasing circulation and acceptance, and obtaining release time to focus on editorial tasks.

Borthick, Wiggins, Murthy, and Stone's comments regarding motivations and challenges turn from establishment (sustainability) and viability (financial and time constraints) toward stewardship and broadening the appeal of JIS. Borthick believes the direction of AIS was still "not very well defined" and wanted to contribute by clarifying its role, while maintaining the high-quality standards for manuscripts established by her predecessors. Wiggins and Murthy indicate that acting as coeditors allowed them the opportunity to serve the IS Section. Stone wants to "make a difference in the future of accounting systems scholarship," and notes that he is fortunate to be at a school that supports his interests. Implicit in these comments is the sense that JIS has reached a level of prestige and impact.

These four editors were concerned not only...

NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.



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