Contribution Framing (isr-contribution-framing)

When to trigger

• Results exist but the "so what for IS?" is thin or implicit
• You must write the ~500-word contribution statement required in every ISR cover letter
• A reviewer or Senior Editor says the contribution is incremental or single-paradigm
• The paper reads as a competent study with no clear advance to an IS conversation

ISR's mandatory contribution statement

Since June 1, 2023, ISR requires a ~500-word contribution statement in every cover letter. It must articulate the novel, rigorous, original contribution to IS — what the paper adds beyond existing literature and why it matters. Generic or missing statements are returned for revision, so this is not boilerplate; it is the first thing the EIC reads at the fit gate before a Senior Editor is assigned. Draft it to answer, concretely: What did we not know? What do we now know? Why does it matter for IS scholarship and for practice/policy/society?

Frame the contribution to ISR's mission

ISR is sociotechnical and intradisciplinary, so the strongest contributions: