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JournalISSN: 0950-5849

Information & Software Technology 

Elsevier BV
About: Information & Software Technology is an academic journal published by Elsevier BV. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Software development & Computer science. It has an ISSN identifier of 0950-5849. Over the lifetime, 3619 publications have been published receiving 128257 citations. The journal is also known as: information artifact & info.


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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The series of cost estimation SLRs demonstrate the potential value of EBSE for synthesising evidence and making it available to practitioners and European researchers appear to be the leading exponents of systematic literature reviews.
Abstract: Background: In 2004 the concept of evidence-based software engineering (EBSE) was introduced at the ICSE04 conference. Aims: This study assesses the impact of systematic literature reviews (SLRs) which are the recommended EBSE method for aggregating evidence. Method: We used the standard systematic literature review method employing a manual search of 10 journals and 4 conference proceedings. Results: Of 20 relevant studies, eight addressed research trends rather than technique evaluation. Seven SLRs addressed cost estimation. The quality of SLRs was fair with only three scoring less than 2 out of 4. Conclusions: Currently, the topic areas covered by SLRs are limited. European researchers, particularly those at the Simula Laboratory appear to be the leading exponents of systematic literature reviews. The series of cost estimation SLRs demonstrate the potential value of EBSE for synthesising evidence and making it available to practitioners.

2,843 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Tore Dybå1, Torgeir Dingsøyr1
TL;DR: A systematic review of empirical studies of agile software development up to and including 2005 was conducted and provides a map of findings, according to topic, that can be compared for relevance to their own settings and situations.
Abstract: Agile software development represents a major departure from traditional, plan-based approaches to software engineering. A systematic review of empirical studies of agile software development up to and including 2005 was conducted. The search strategy identified 1996 studies, of which 36 were identified as empirical studies. The studies were grouped into four themes: introduction and adoption, human and social factors, perceptions on agile methods, and comparative studies. The review investigates what is currently known about the benefits and limitations of, and the strength of evidence for, agile methods. Implications for research and practice are presented. The main implication for research is a need for more and better empirical studies of agile software development within a common research agenda. For the industrial readership, the review provides a map of findings, according to topic, that can be compared for relevance to their own settings and situations.

2,399 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: There was a need to provide an update of how to conduct systematic mapping studies and how the guidelines should be updated based on the lessons learned from the existing systematic maps and SLR guidelines.
Abstract: Context Systematic mapping studies are used to structure a research area, while systematic reviews are focused on gathering and synthesizing evidence. The most recent guidelines for systematic mapping are from 2008. Since that time, many suggestions have been made of how to improve systematic literature reviews (SLRs). There is a need to evaluate how researchers conduct the process of systematic mapping and identify how the guidelines should be updated based on the lessons learned from the existing systematic maps and SLR guidelines. Objective To identify how the systematic mapping process is conducted (including search, study selection, analysis and presentation of data, etc.); to identify improvement potentials in conducting the systematic mapping process and updating the guidelines accordingly. Method We conducted a systematic mapping study of systematic maps, considering some practices of systematic review guidelines as well (in particular in relation to defining the search and to conduct a quality assessment). Results In a large number of studies multiple guidelines are used and combined, which leads to different ways in conducting mapping studies. The reason for combining guidelines was that they differed in the recommendations given. Conclusion The most frequently followed guidelines are not sufficient alone. Hence, there was a need to provide an update of how to conduct systematic mapping studies. New guidelines have been proposed consolidating existing findings.

1,598 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: SLRs appear to have gone past the stage of being used solely by innovators but cannot yet be considered a main stream software engineering research methodology, such as often failing to assess primary study quality.
Abstract: Context: In a previous study, we reported on a systematic literature review (SLR), based on a manual search of 13 journals and conferences undertaken in the period 1st January 2004 to 30th June 2007. Objective: The aim of this on-going research is to provide an annotated catalogue of SLRs available to software engineering researchers and practitioners. This study updates our previous study using a broad automated search. Method: We performed a broad automated search to find SLRs published in the time period 1st January 2004 to 30th June 2008. We contrast the number, quality and source of these SLRs with SLRs found in the original study. Results: Our broad search found an additional 35 SLRs corresponding to 33 unique studies. Of these papers, 17 appeared relevant to the undergraduate educational curriculum and 12 appeared of possible interest to practitioners. The number of SLRs being published is increasing. The quality of papers in conferences and workshops has improved as more researchers use SLR guidelines. Conclusion: SLRs appear to have gone past the stage of being used solely by innovators but cannot yet be considered a main stream software engineering research methodology. They are addressing a wide range of topics but still have limitations, such as often failing to assess primary study quality.

836 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is argued that software engineering is ideal for the application of metaheuristic search techniques, such as genetic algorithms, simulated annealing and tabu search, which could provide solutions to the difficult problems of balancing competing competing constraints.
Abstract: This paper claims that a new field of software engineering research and practice is emerging: search-based software engineering. The paper argues that software engineering is ideal for the application of metaheuristic search techniques, such as genetic algorithms, simulated annealing and tabu search. Such search-based techniques could provide solutions to the difficult problems of balancing competing (and some times inconsistent) constraints and may suggest ways of finding acceptable solutions in situations where perfect solutions are either theoretically impossible or practically infeasible. In order to develop the field of search-based software engineering, a reformulation of classic software engineering problems as search problems is required. The paper briefly sets out key ingredients for successful reformulation and evaluation criteria for search-based software engineering.

761 citations

Performance
Metrics
No. of papers from the Journal in previous years
YearPapers
2023117
2022245
2021159
2020119
2019138
2018130