About the Informing Science Institute

The Informing Science Institute (ISI) is a 501(c)3 charitable association under US tax laws. Make your tax-deductible contribution here .

Founded in 1998, it is a global community of academics shaping the future of informing science. Informing science is the transdisciplinary quest to discover better ways to inform.  The importance of transdisciplinarity in solving real world problems is explored by Andrew Hargadon in his 2003 book How Breakthroughs Happen.

Submitting or publishing papers in any of ISI’s peer-reviewed online academic journals is free for ISI Members. Non-members can choose to join or pay a modest article publication fee to cover some of the costs for publication. With the help of sponsoring institutions, ISI hosts the highly regarded annual IⁿSITE conference in a variety of international locations. ISI electronic publications and e-books are available for free. Hard copies of ISI books and publications are available in the ISI Shop, where all proceeds enable ISI to continue sharing knowledge online free of charge. 

Informing Science Institute Philosophy

The Informing Science Institute is a mentoring organization. One of the Informing Science Institute’s core principles is helping our fellow colleagues to become better and better: better as an author, as a reviewer, as an editor, and as an editor-in-chief. We use the peer review process of our journals to support author colleagues by providing them with constructive suggestions on ways to improve their work even if a submitted article is not accepted for publication. Our Editors-in-Chief assist reviewers and editors by being coaches and guides to the authors, reviewers, and editors.

ISI Research Topics

ISI encourages the sharing of knowledge and collaboration among the wide variety of fields, often using information technology to advance the multidisciplinary study of informing science. These areas can include Business, Communications, Communicating Meaning, Community and Society, Computer Science, Data Management, Distance Education, eCommerce, Education, eLearning, Government, Health Care, History, Information and Library Science, Journalism, Justice and Law, Mathematics, Management, Philosophical Issues, Psychology, Public Policy, Sociology, and Human Resources.

Recommended Read: A Philosophy of Informing Science

How It Works

Anyone can join the ISI Community of Scholars as a colleague for free. This enables you to submit an article for review and to request joining the International Board of Reviewers for any of our journals or conferences. We encourage all ISI colleagues to become ISI members by paying the membership fee. The membership fee enables free online access to our journals and books. ISI Members receive additional benefits such as discounts on ISI products and services and access to the ISI Member Directory.

One of the many benefits from being an ISI member is the ability to see other ISI members' profile summaries, ordered by how closely they match your own.  Use this feature to locate potential research collaborators from around the globe.  For example, one colleague from Australia discovered her top three closest matches in 1) Israel, 2) Somalia, and 3) USA.  This members-only feature makes you a better-connected colleague.

Only after a paper has been reviewed and accepted for publication do we require that the corresponding author become an ISI Member or, alternatively, pay a fee equal to the membership fee.

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