A Review of Ethical Issue Considerations in the Information Systems Research Literature

This monograph summarizes the treatment of ethical considerations that have been made by information systems researchers as reported in papers published in the Association of Information Systems Senior Scholars Basket of Journals. These eight journals, the first of which was published in 1977, contain 145 papers that are summarized in sixteen categories. When examined in this fashion, we find that information systems research over the years that incorporates an ethical perspective has transitioned from a focus on codes of ethics and general notions of behavior to more sophisticated models of piracy, privacy, and security. There has been a steady focus on theory development over the last ten years, as well as constant scrutiny on the obligations of information system researchers to both the subjects of studies and the consumers of the research results. The monograph begins with a brief introduction and review of major ethical theories. This is followed by the category summaries, which are listed in alphabetical order to enable a reader to jump to a specific topic. The last sections of the monograph address future research opportunities and the conclusions we draw. These sections include topics from the papers published as well as our own suggestions for research that examines ethical concerns in the increasingly networked world in which we live.