Guide for Preparing Research Paper

Authors Name, GlobalID@cmich.edu

BIS 625 Research in Information Systems

College of Business Administration, Department of Business Information Systems
Central Michigan University
Mount Pleasant, Michigan 48858
USA
Abstract
The abstract should summarize the content of the paper. Keep it below 250 words and do not
include equations or references in it. If you use abbreviations in the paper, i.e., MIS, use the full
meaning of the abbreviation in the abstract, i.e., Management Information Systems. The
manuscript should be printable on 8.5 x 11 paper. All diagrams, figures, etc. must be in black
and white only.
Keywords: Author guide, manuscript, camera-ready format, instructions for authors, paper
specifications.
1. IMPORTANT INFORMATION
To ensure that all papers give an appearance
of consistency and uniformity, you should
adhere to the following specifications. Your
Paper is limited to the maximum of 2,500
words in addition to the bibliography, figures,
diagrams, tables, appendices, etc. The text in
this document excluding the reference list is
about 900 words.
2. PREPARATION OF MANUSCRIPTS
General Appearance
The text of the paper must be English. Your
paper must neither contain corrections nor
page numbers, headers, or footers. This

document is printed in the format that should

be used in the paper.
Use 11 pt Times New Roman font or similar
serif font.

Figure 1. Illustration in one column

Specifications
The printing process may require that the
paper be photographed. Further specifications
include:
1) On the first page, the distance from the
top edge of the paper to the top of the first
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2)

3)

4)

5)

line of type (the title) should be 1

inches. The title should be in 18-point
type.
On the second and subsequent pages, the
distance from the top edge of the paper to
the top of the first line of type should be 1
inch.
The text is to be in two columns, with
approximately a
0.3-inch column
separation. The width of each column
should be about 2.85 inches.
The bottom margin should be 1.25 inches
on all pages. Insert page numbers at the
bottom right of each.
The left margin should be about 1.5
inches to allow for binding, and the right
margin should be one inch.

3. RECOMMENDED POINT SIZES

On 8.5 x 11 paper we require a font size of

11 points.
Some technical formatting
programs print mathematical formulas in italic
type, with subscripts and superscripts in a
slightly smaller font size. This is acceptable.
If the font produces a paper that is difficult to
read, we may apply a slightly larger font size
to your paper.
4. HEADINGS
Major headings are to be column centered,
numbered, in a capitalized bold font as shown
in this document.
Subheadings
Subheadings should be in bold font with
initial capitals, and left justified.

Figure 2. The same figure as in Figure 1, in two columns, more readable

Sub-subheadings: Sub-subheadings are
to be in a bold font, indented and run in at the
beginning of the paragraph.
Title: The title should be centered across
the top of the first page and should be of point
size 18, 1 inch from the top of the page.

Authors Name and Address: The

authors name and address should be centered
below the title. These lines should be in 12point size. Do neither include any titles
before the authors name, nor any degree or
certification letters after them. Separate the
Zip code from the state with one space.
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Keywords:
Select four to seven
keywords that capture the essence of the
paper. List the words in decreasing order of
importance from left to right. Only the first
keyword is capitalized, unless a word in a
proper noun.
References: List all references at the end
of the paper according to the APA citation and
references. When citing references in the text,
type the last name, and date. The citation
should appear in parentheses such as is shown
here (Ashby, 1956) and (Dumdum & Tastle,
1998). Groups of citations should appear in a
single set of parentheses separated by semicolons as this (E. Boasson & Boasson, 2006;
E. Boasson, Boasson, & Tastle, 2006; V.
Boasson, Boasson, MacPherson, & Shin,
2005). If two or more papers are cited by the
same author, separate the years with commas.
Web sites are cited as this example (Davis,
Gorgone, Couger, Feinstein, & Herbert E.
Longenecker, 1997)
Illustrations: Show the illustration in the
manuscript where it belongs. All illustrations
should be clear and fit to a column if possible
(Figure 1). If the illustration is too large to be
fully contained in one column, it is permitted
to have it cutting across both columns (Figure
2). However, in such cases there should not
be any text appearing in only a portion of one
column. Illustrations have titles as shown
above.
The title should be below the
illustration.
Tables. Show the table in the manuscript
where it belongs. The same applies to tables
as illustrations in terms of columns. Tables
have titles as illustrations. The title should be
above the table.
5. FORMULAE

All equations must be typed utilizing a

suitable processor. They should be numbered
consecutively throughout the text, at the flushright edge of the equation, enclosed in
parentheses. An example given here is the
gravity model of trade:

Fij =G

Mi M j
Dij

(1)

Where F is the trade flow, M is the economic

mass of each country, D is the distance
between countries and G is a Constant.
6. FOOTNOTES
Footnotes should be typed in single-line
spacing at the bottom of the page and column
where it is cited. Footnotes should be rare.
Note the footnote at the bottom of this page 1.
The footnote is for demonstration only.
7. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Acknowledgements should follow the text just
before the references.

8. CONCLUSIONS
The enhancements to information systems
education is identified or repeated here. DO
NOT repeat the abstract or portions of it.
9. REFERENCES
Ashby, W. R. (1956). An Introduction to
Cybernetics. London: Chapman & Hall.

1 This footnote is for display only

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Boasson, E., & Boasson, V. (2006). IT

Innovations in IT Industries: Does IT Pay
Off? Information Systems Education
Journal, 4(41), 9.
Boasson, E., Boasson, V., & Tastle, W. J.
(2006). A New Tool in IS Management:
Geographic Information Systems.
Information Systems Education Journal,
4(12), 9.
Boasson, V., Boasson, E., MacPherson, A., &
Shin, H.-H. (2005). Firm value and
geographic competitive advantage:
Evidence from the U.S. Pharmaceutical
Industry. Journal of Business, 78(6), 24652495.

Davis, G. B., Gorgone, J. T., Couger, J. D.,

Feinstein, D. L., & Herbert E. Longenecker,
J. (1997). Model Curriculum and Guidelines
for Undergraduate Degree Programs in
Information Systems. Retrieved March 15,
2010, from
http://www.cis.usouthal.edu/faculty/feinstei
n/IS97/document/is97_title.htm
Dumdum, U. R., & Tastle, W. J. (1998,
October 15 18 1998). Towards a Broader
Competency-Based IS Education: A
Proposed Improvement Package for
Analysis of Case Studies. Paper presented at
the ISECON 98 - Information Systems
Education Conference, San Antonio, Texas.

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