Call for Papers - Special Issue on OSS - Journal of Database Management

Call for Papers
Journal of Database Management

Special Issue on Open Source Software

It has become clear over the years that open source software (OSS) 
represents a significant portion of the software industry. Although 
researchers in many different fields have begun examining the range of 
issues pertaining to open source artifacts, management, development, 
use, economics, communities, and even their effect on society, many 
significant research questions remain. From the perspective of database 
management and system development, there are both descriptive and 
normative issues to be investigated. What are the central tendencies 
regarding the products and processes of open source development 
projects? Under what circumstances do particular approaches, tools, 
social designs, reward structures, coordination methods, etc. offer more 
effective processes for creating more successful outcomes? There is more 
to learn about the probability of success in extending from artifacts 
with generally low end-user contact (e.g. operating systems and 
utilities) to applications (e.g. payroll or logistics) to tools (e.g. 
word processors or content management systems) to enterprise systems 
(e.g. CRM, ERP, supply chain management). Clearly there is also more to 
learn about the variety of project management techniques and approaches 
as they vary among different open source development communities.

We invite contributions that address technical and organizational issues 
related to the development, management, adoption, and use of open source 
software, including database management software. We strongly encourage 
research incorporating creative or new applications of theory (e.g. 
using existing theory from another domain to illuminate open source 
processes or products or using open source observations to test existing 
theory), methodologies (including cases, surveys, experiments, design 
science, and action research), and/or data sources. Suggested topics 
include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Methodologies and tools related to OSS
• OSS and Agile methodologies
• Application and development of OS database management systems
• Embedding OS code in larger applications
• Embedding OS databases in applications
• Building applications with OS tools
• Metrics regarding the OS artifact
• Metrics regarding OS development
• Security concerns related to OS
• Methods for working with OSS communities and application development 
workflow
• Governance of OSS development projects
• Coordination among member of OSS development projects
• Extending OSS principles across the software stack
• Conversion of proprietary products to OSS
• Technical challenges related to OSS development
• OSS development projects across national boundaries
• Requirement gathering in OSS development projects
• Testing issues related to OSS
• Project management issues related to OSS development projects
• OSS development maturity model
• Comparison of OSS products and their proprietary equivalent
• Knowledge and technology transfer within and across OSS development 
groups and communities
• Application of OSS principles beyond software design

IMPORTANT DATES

September 15, 2006 Deadline for paper submissions
November 15, 2006 Decisions and review comments are sent to authors
February 15, 2007 Revised manuscripts are sent back out for review
April 15, 2007 Final decision letters are sent to authors

May 1, 2007 Final manuscripts are due

October 2007 Publication of special issue

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE SUBMISSION

All submissions must be in English, and should represent the original 
work of the authors. Improved versions of papers previously published in 
conference proceedings are welcome, provided that no copyright 
limitations exist. Submissions must be made electronically via e-mail to 
the one of the editors (using one of the e-mail addresses below). The 
manuscript should be included as an attachment in MS Word or RTF format.

SPECIAL ISSUE EDITORS

Marie-Claude Boudreau
University of Georgia
[email protected]

Donald Wynn
University of Georgia
[email protected]

Fred Niederman
Saint Louis University
[email protected]