Uncovering the Boundary-spanning Role of Information Systems Research in Trans-Disciplinary Knowledge Advancement

Intrigued by the important yet underexplored inter-disciplinary impact of IS discipline, this study investigates the inter-disciplinary role played by IS discipline in trans-disciplinary knowledge advancement. To achieve this objective, this study firstly advanced a Model of Trans-Disciplinary Knowledge Advancement that posits a process that consists of three stages of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis with two transitions, namely knowledge liquidization and crystallization, in two modes, namely boundary-reinforcing and boundary-spanning. In light of this model, this study conducted an algorithmic historiographic citation analysis on 114767 articles in four distinct research areas, including technology acceptance, IT system success, trust, and knowledge management, extracted from ISI Web of Science database. 64 central articles in main paths of liquidization and crystallization were elicited. Results from an in-depth bibliographic analysis on these central articles shed light on four distinct trans-disciplinary roles (i.e., spanner, innovator, aggregator, and reinforcer) and trans-disciplinary characteristics of IS research.