Une histoire de la recherche en Systèmes d'Information, à travers 30 ans de publications

The aim of this paper is to present a history of the I.S. field through thirty years of academic publications. To begin, we have identified 18 states of the art on this subject, and studied their main results. This meta-analysis allows us to offer a history of the research field in 5 periods: 1. Prior to 1980: period of development of I.S.; 2. 1980-1985: period of the theory of I.S.; 3. 1985-1990: period of positivism; 4. 1995-2000: period of diversification; 5. since 2000: period of social context; We describe then our coding scheme of 1945 articles published between 1977 and 2008, articles we have read in their entirety, and show results of statistical treatments in two steps. First we present the results on the different dimensions (static view). We show that the discipline is characterized by an issue of evaluation, by a positivist epistemology, by the surveys method, with an "ex post" vision and a level of analysis focusing on the organization. In further analysis, we show that significant differences exist depending on the selected journals. Secondly we wonder about the evolution of the discipline by cutting the sample into periods of three years (dynamic view). We show that the field is in continuous motion. While some developments are a fad, rather ephemeral (emergence of a new technology or new concept), most, however, characterized sustainable change. The main problem studied by researchers at the origins of the discipline was the development of the I.S. and it evolves today to its evaluation. The studies were originally theoretical and positivist, they finally evolve into today's interpretivism. Finally, examination of thirty years of scientific work devoted to the I.S. leads us to summarize the trends observed by the two following proposals: 1. A consensus has been built on an autonomous field of research within the management sciences. The literature review shows the legitimacy of the I.S. discipline, given the development of a cumulative research and a shared vision of its object of research; 2. This field is experiencing a new diversity with the emergence of new technologies and new issues within organizations. This result is not only observed by examination of 1945 articles reviewed here, but in most states of the art. This study, by the extent of his sample and the diversity of its analysis, has thus enriched our historical knowledge of the discipline and demonstrates its legitimacy as autonomous scientific field.