A show about nothing: why software engineering researchers need to change the conversation

In this position paper, I lament the current state of publishing and reporting in software engineering (SE) research, and argue the SE research community should seek to change the way studies are reported. Specifically, I argue, like many others before me, that scientific discourse should resemble a conversation. I point out that the current state of reporting in SE is far from a conversation, but rather many voices shouting into a void, given that much of SE research is not actually read by, either by other researchers or SE practitioners. The position paper concludes with a number of suggestions, which should have as a side effect the reduction in the number of publications, which in turn can help alleviate the currently clogged up peer review process. While the position paper paints a, perhaps, overly negative picture of the current state of research and reporting in SE, many of the pain points articulated herein are shared with members of the wider SE community, as
evidenced by Storey and Van der Hoek’s recent survey. The point of the somewhat exaggerated characterization of SE publishing is to emphasize the problems that can be observed in the SE community.