Where is Information Management Research?

We report on a preliminary investigation into the current scope of research in information management, adopting a conceptual approach derived from previous work by Hj{\o}rland in information science and by Palvia in information systems. We created a data-set of 107 articles resulting from a search in Web of Science, using the search strategy of the term information management in the titles of articles, and then restricting the analysis to those journals we identified as having an information science orientation, rather than an information systems orientation. The analysis reveals the International Journal of Information Management as the most significant journal in the field, but also draws attention to the rise of interest in the field through contributions to two Brazilian journals and one Spanish journal. The thematic analysis revealed that the dominant research themes from the information science perspective were empirical user studies, studies of the structural and institutional approach, and information system usage and adoption. Further work will be undertaken to explore the relevance of the approach in the analysis of other document sets from areas such as health care, construction and engineering.

💡 Research Summary

The paper presents a preliminary, concept‑driven mapping of the current scope of information‑management research from an information‑science perspective. Using the Web of Science database, the authors retrieved 107 articles whose titles contain the exact phrase “information management.” To focus on the information‑science tradition rather than the information‑systems tradition, they filtered the set by selecting only those journals that they classified as having an information‑science orientation, a classification process grounded in the earlier work of Hjørland (information science) and Palvia (information systems). This filtering left 68 articles for detailed analysis.

The authors then performed a two‑stage thematic analysis. First, they coded each article’s abstract and keywords into a predefined taxonomy of twelve research categories (e.g., user behavior, organizational structure, policy, technology adoption). Second, they clustered the coded data based on frequency and co‑occurrence to reveal dominant research streams. Three major clusters emerged.

The first cluster, “empirical user studies,” comprises papers that employ surveys, experiments, field observations, and mixed‑methods designs to examine end‑user behavior, satisfaction, cognitive load, and related outcomes. Statistical techniques such as structural equation modeling, multilevel modeling, and qualitative interview analysis are common.

The second cluster, “structural and institutional approaches,” focuses on the influence of organizational architecture (centralized vs. decentralized), formal and informal institutions (regulations, standards, policies), and governance mechanisms on information flows. Theoretical lenses include institutional theory, network theory, and governance frameworks.

The third cluster, “information‑system usage and adoption,” applies classic and extended technology‑acceptance models (TAM, UTAUT, etc.) to investigate how new information systems or digital platforms are embraced at the individual and organizational levels. Studies in this cluster often explore resistance factors, perceived usefulness, and cultural moderators.

Journal analysis shows that the International Journal of Information Management (IJIM) is the most prolific outlet for the selected set, confirming its status as the central venue for information‑management scholarship. Notably, the authors also detect a rising contribution from two Brazilian journals (Revista de Administração de Empresas and Informação & Sociedade) and one Spanish journal (Revista de Estudios de Juventud), indicating growing regional interest in the field.

Based on these findings, the authors outline two avenues for future work. First, they propose extending the same methodological framework to document sets drawn from other domains such as health care, construction, and engineering, thereby testing the generalizability of the identified themes across disciplines. Second, they suggest integrating the three identified research streams into a unified theoretical model, which could provide a more cohesive understanding of information‑management phenomena and guide subsequent empirical investigations.

In sum, the study demonstrates that information‑management research, while dispersed across a variety of journals and topics, is coalescing around three dominant themes and is anchored by IJIM. The emergence of contributions from Latin‑American and Spanish venues signals a geographic diversification of the field. By mapping the current landscape and proposing clear next steps, the paper offers scholars a roadmap for where to focus their efforts and how to build a more integrated body of knowledge in information management.