This paper examines the nature and purpose of the AIS research literature, doing so in a focused setting that enables a more nuanced analysis than is possible when reviewing the field as a whole. Specifically, I examine the population of the AIS literature on cloud computing, a technology chosen because it was the subject of the recently held 2018 Journal of Information Systems annual conference. I treat the conference as a natural experiment because the choice of papers for that conference is the best indication of the current state of thinking about not just cloud computing in AIS, but of the kind of research considered desirable in the field. The published and conference papers are analyzed using the frameworks of Alles, Kogan and Vasarhelyi (2008) and O'Leary (2008) who provide a guide for how AIS researchers can write papers that give them a comparative advantage relative to other, competing researchers, and to do the right research at the right time in the right way. Based on this analysis, I conclude that the AIS cloud computing literature largely fails to establish a clear role for itself relative to either the field of accounting or of cloud computing. That is largely the result of the AIS community being unwilling to distinguish between cloud computing as an end in itself as a research subject and the cloud as a means towards an end as a medium of data exchange. Adopting a broad perspective on the domain of AIS research yields a larger set of research topics but increases the riskiness of producing research that fails to add value to the broader literature. This is a lesson that extends beyond cloud computing to the AIS research literature as a whole.

本文研究了AIS研究文献的性质和目的，并在有针对性的背景下进行了研究，与进行整体研究时相比，它可以进行更加细致的分析。具体来说，我研究了有关云计算的AIS文献，该文献之所以被选中是因为它是最近举办的2018年《信息系统杂志》的主题年度会议。我将这次会议视为自然实验，因为选择该会议的论文是对AIS当前的思考状态（不仅是AIS中的云计算）的思考的最好指示，而且是该领域中人们认为值得研究的一种现状。使用Alles，Kogan和Vasarhelyi（2008）和O'Leary（2008）的框架对已发表和会议论文进行了分析，这些框架为AIS研究人员如何撰写论文提供了指南，这些论文相对于其他竞争研究人员而言具有相对优势，并在正确的时间以正确的方式进行正确的研究。基于此分析，我得出结论，相对于会计或云计算领域，AIS云计算文献在很大程度上未能为其自身确立明确的作用。这在很大程度上是由于AIS社区不愿区分以云计算本身为研究主题的终端和以云手段作为最终目的的数据交换媒介之间的区别。在AIS研究领域中采用广泛的观点会产生更多的研究主题，但会增加进行研究的风险，而这无法为更广泛的文献增加价值。这是一门从云计算延伸到整个AIS研究文献的课程。在AIS研究领域中采用广泛的观点会产生更多的研究主题，但会增加进行研究的风险，而这无法为更广泛的文献增加价值。这是一门从云计算延伸到整个AIS研究文献的课程。在AIS研究领域中采用广泛的观点会产生更多的研究主题，但会增加进行研究的风险，而这无法为更广泛的文献增加价值。这是一门从云计算延伸到整个AIS研究文献的课程。