Call for Papers
📄 Download the full Call for Papers (PDF)
We invite researchers to undertake a deliberately extreme experiment in autonomous scholarship: using generative AI to develop innovative contributions on Information Systems topics. The guiding principle throughout is human-orchestrated, AI-performed. Humans set objectives, configure and oversee the process, ensure ethical and procedural compliance, and remain accountable; AI systems perform as much of the substantive work as is responsibly and practically possible.
Purpose
Generative AI is entering every stage of scholarship, from formulating research questions to peer review. This PDW moves beyond isolated uses of AI and asks what happens when the whole process is AI-led. The fully automated process is a diagnostic device, not an endorsement: it allows the IS community to examine what current AI systems can accomplish, where they fail, whether automated reviewers recognize quality and novelty, and how automated selection compares with subsequent judgments by human experts.
What we invite
We seek original research papers addressing important and innovative questions in Information Systems. Authors should not merely ask GenAI to summarize an established literature or polish a largely human-written manuscript; they should use GenAI throughout the entire workflow. Submissions should:
- Address a central Information Systems phenomenon or research problem.
- Pursue an innovative question or approach with the potential to advance IS knowledge.
- Push the workflow as far toward end-to-end AI execution as is responsibly possible, using GenAI as the primary executor rather than merely an assistant.
- Document the human–AI division of labor and the full research workflow transparently in a required workflow appendix.
The research topic need not concern artificial intelligence, and all forms of IS scholarship are welcome: analytical and mathematical modelling, theoretical and conceptual work, quantitative and qualitative empirical studies, mixed methods, experiments, econometric and machine-learning studies, design-science research, and systematic evidence syntheses that produce a genuinely new conceptual contribution.
Review and selection
Review mirrors the authoring model: human-orchestrated, AI-performed. Submissions undergo automated integrity screening, independent review by multiple AI agents using a common and transparent rubric, and an AI meta-review that selects up to four papers. Human experts then independently evaluate the selected papers, and the PDW examines the similarities and differences between automated and human scholarly judgment. Full details are on the Submission Guidelines page.
Key dates
- October 25, 2026 — Submission deadline (23:59 Anywhere on Earth)
- November 10, 2026 — AI reviews and selection results communicated
- Late November – early December — Human expert evaluation of selected papers
- December 14 or 15, 2026 — PDW in Lisbon (exact time to be announced with the conference schedule)
Eligibility and participation
The call is open to faculty members, doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers, research staff, and interdisciplinary teams interested in Information Systems and AI-enabled scholarship. Prior experience with sophisticated research agents is helpful but not required. At least one human author or orchestrator of each selected paper must register for ICIS 2026 and attend the PDW in person.
How to submit
Submissions are made through OpenReview. Please read the Submission Guidelines before submitting. Questions may be directed to nan.zhang@nd.edu.