Journal Self-Citation XV: The Quest for High Quality Research in IS - Unintended Side Effects

This paper addresses the research quality produced and published by the IS academic community by providing a lens through which future in depth discussion of the issues raised can be framed. It uses a systems thinking approach to do so, and argues that the discipline may be caught in a vicious cycle of unintended consequences (side effects) that has arisen because of our focus on achieving quality. The paper provides examples of the side effects and posits that we must address these in the short run to increase the quality of both inputs (research conducted and submitted to journals) and outputs (the journals themselves).