A Systematic Mapping Study of Empirical Research Methods in Software Ecosystems

Abstract

The field of software ecosystems is rapidly maturing and significant numbers of articles are published each year to further develop our understanding of this concept and support innovation through it. The growth of the field also brings along challenges, such as findability and reusability of research results, coordination of research initiatives, and significant review pressure on members of the community. In this mapping study of empirical research methods in the field, we show that few studies do a good job of reporting their research methods and results. Using data from the study, we provide guidelines for performing empirical research in software ecosystems.