Presentation of Design Science Research in Information Systems and Engineering Disciplines - Empirical Investigation of Common Structures and Differences

Abstract

Design Science Research is a research paradigm suitable for application-oriented disciplines that develop (construct) artifacts as solutions to practical problems. Design Science Research is known to be a mainstream research paradigm in engineering and other disciplines. In recent years, Design Science Research (DSR) has become an established research approach in the field of Information Systems (IS). Nevertheless, there is an ongoing debate about the methodology and guidelines for Design Science Research in Information Systems (IS-DSR). This paper proposes to gather and leverage insights from other design disciplines, such as engineering, to provide clarity and inspiration for IS-DSR and to work towards a common understanding of design science research across disciplines. This paper presents results of an initial empirical analysis of research literature from engineering disciplines. It adopts the V-model of DSR as a research lens for the analysis. It has found that disciplines differ in what they consider as most important to report in a DSR paper, and that other disciplines can provide input for the further development of IS-DSR. In addition, the paper examines whether and to what extent DSR papers share a common underlying publication scheme, analogous to the standard IMRaD scheme for empirical research.