Systematizing the lexicon of platforms in information systems: a data-driven study

Abstract While the Information Systems (IS) discipline has researched digital platforms extensively, body of knowledge appertaining to still appears fragmented and lacking conceptual consistency. Based on automated text mining unsupervised machine learning, we collect, analyze, interpret IS discipline’s comprehensive research platforms—comprising 11,049 papers spanning 44 years activity. From a cluster analysis concerning platform concepts’ semantically most similar words, identify six streams platforms, each with their own terms. interpreting identified concepts vis-à-vis extant considering temporal perspective application, present lexicon concepts, guide further in discipline. Researchers managers can build our results position work appropriately, applying specific theoretical isolation or combining multiple perspectives study phenomena at more abstract level.