What sort of community is the European Conference on Information Systems?: A social network analysis 1993-2005

This paper presents a social network analysis ( SNA) of the European Conference on Information Systems ( ECIS) community based on patterns of co- authorship. ECIS contributions are separated into research papers and panels to create social networks that are then analyzed using a range of global network level and individual ego ( co- author, panellist) measures. The research community is found to have few properties of the ` small world' and to represent an agglomeration of co- authorships. The panels network has the properties of a ` small world' and displays a stronger sense of social cohesion. An analysis of individual actors ( egos) provides insight into who is central to the ECIS community. Based on the SNA, a range of possible interventions are proposed that could aid the future development of the ECIS community. The paper concludes by considering the usefulness of SNA as a method to support IS research.