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In response to the item about the Information Systems Journal 's rejection of a paper that used "students as surrogates for real people"

(Peep's Diary, April 7), the ISJ publishes high-quality, generally qualitative information systems research. The ISJ does not publish research in which students are inappropriately used as research subjects. It does not encourage convenient sampling just because academics have lots of students sitting in front of them who have to be given assignments. This is unlikely to lead to results that are relevant to practitioners and other researchers.

For example, surveying one's first-year undergraduate cohort as if they were experienced managers making multimillion-pound IT purchasing decisions is pointless, while researching their web-buying habits may be valid.

Philip Powell, David Avison and Guy Fitzgerald. Editors, ISJ