[Paper Review] Topics and Treatments in Global Software Engineering Research: A Systematic Snapshot

Bilal Raza, Stephen G. MacDonell+1 more|AUT Scholarly Commons|Dec 20, 2020

Open Source Software Innovations16 references3 citations

TL;DR

This paper presents a Systematic Snapshot Mapping (SSM) analysis of 275 global software engineering (GSE) studies from 2011–2012, revealing a dominant focus on management and infrastructure factors at the organizational level using qualitative methods. Key findings show USA–India collaborations are most studied, while regions like Central Asia, Africa, and Southeast Asia remain underrepresented, and formulative, experimental, and evaluative research remains underdeveloped in GSE.

ABSTRACT

This study presents an analysis of the most recent literature addressing global software engineering (GSE). We examine the current state of GSE research using a new Systematic Snapshot Mapping (SSM) technique. We analysed 275 papers published between January 2011 and June 2012 in peer-reviewed conferences, journals and workshops. Our results provide a coarse-grained overview of the very recent literature addressing GSE, by classifying studies into predefined categories. We also follow and extend several prior classifications to support our synthesis of the data. Our results reveal that currently GSE studies are focused on Management and Infrastructure related factors. Most of the studies are conducted at the organizational level using methods such as interviews, surveys, field studies and case studies. We use inter-country network analysis to confirm that the USA and India are major players in GSE, with USA-India collaborations being the most frequently studied, followed by USA-China. Specific groups of countries have dominated the reported GSE project locations. In contrast, regions including Central Asia, South Asia (except India), Africa and South East Asia have not been covered in these studies. While a considerable number of GSE-related studies have been published they are currently quite narrowly focused on exploratory research and explanatory theories. The critical research paradigm has been untouched, perhaps due to a lack of criteria and principles for carrying out such research in GSE. An absence of formulative research, experimentation and simulation, and a comparative focus on evaluative approaches, all suggest that existing tools, methods and approaches from related fields are being tested in the GSE context. However, these solutions may not scale to cover GSE-related issues or may overlook factors/facets specific to GSE.

Motivation & Objective

• To analyze the current state of global software engineering (GSE) research using a novel Systematic Snapshot Mapping (SSM) technique.
• To identify dominant research topics, methodologies, and geographical foci in recent GSE literature.
• To assess the balance between exploratory, explanatory, and critical research paradigms in GSE.
• To highlight underrepresented regions and the lack of formulative, experimental, and evaluative research in GSE.

Proposed method

• A Systematic Snapshot Mapping (SSM) technique was applied to classify 275 peer-reviewed GSE studies published between January 2011 and June 2012.
• Studies were categorized into predefined thematic clusters, including management, infrastructure, communication, and coordination.
• Inter-country network analysis was used to map collaboration patterns and identify dominant research partnerships.
• Qualitative methods such as interviews, surveys, field studies, and case studies were the primary data collection approaches.
• The study extended prior classifications to support synthesis and ensure consistency in thematic coding.
• A comparative analysis was conducted to evaluate the balance between exploratory, explanatory, and critical research paradigms in GSE.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 What are the dominant research topics and themes in recent global software engineering (GSE) literature?
• RQ2 Which countries and country pairs are most frequently studied in GSE research, and what patterns of collaboration emerge?
• RQ3 To what extent is formulative, experimental, and evaluative research represented in current GSE studies?
• RQ4 How are research methodologies distributed across GSE studies, and what are the implications for theory and practice?
• RQ5 What regions remain underrepresented in GSE research, and what might explain this gap?

Key findings

• Management and infrastructure factors are the most frequently studied topics in recent GSE research, indicating a strong organizational-level focus.
• USA–India collaborations are the most frequently studied international partnership, followed by USA–China collaborations.
• Central Asia, South Asia (excluding India), Africa, and Southeast Asia are largely absent from the reported GSE project locations.
• A majority of studies rely on qualitative methods such as interviews, surveys, field studies, and case studies, with limited use of experimental or simulation-based approaches.
• Formulative, experimental, and evaluative research paradigms remain underdeveloped, suggesting a lack of structured criteria for such research in GSE.
• Existing tools and methods from related fields are being tested in GSE contexts, but they may not scale or fully address GSE-specific challenges due to a lack of domain-specific adaptation.