@article {1864,
	title = {Roles and politeness behavior in community-based free/libre open source software development},
	journal = {Information \& Management},
	year = {2016},
	month = {11/2016},
	abstract = {Community-based Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) development relies on contributions from both core and peripheral members. Prior research on core{\textendash}periphery has focused on software coding-related behaviors. We study how core{\textendash}periphery roles are related to social-relational behavior in terms of politeness behavior. Data from two FLOSS projects suggest that both core and peripheral members use more positive politeness strategies than negative strategies. Further, core and peripheral members use different strategies to protect positive face in positive politeness, which we term respect and intimacy, respectively. Our results contribute to FLOSS research and politeness theory.

},
	keywords = {Core{\textendash}periphery structure, open source software development, Politeness behavior},
	issn = {03787206},
	doi = {10.1016/j.im.2016.11.006},
	url = {https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Group_maintenance\%20paper\%20to\%20share.pdf},
	author = {Kangning Wei and Kevin Crowston and Eseryel, U.Yeliz and Robert Heckman}
}
@article {1805,
	title = {Stigmergic coordination in FLOSS development teams: Integrating explicit and implicit mechanisms},
	journal = {Cognitive Systems Research},
	year = {2015},
	month = {12/2015},
	abstract = {The vast majority of literature on coordination in team-based projects has drawn on a conceptual separation between explicit (e.g. plans, feedbacks) and implicit coordination mechanisms (e.g. mental maps, shared knowledge). This analytical distinction presents some limitations in explaining how coordination is reached in organizations characterized by distributed teams, scarce face to face meetings and fuzzy and changing lines of authority, as in free/libre open source software (FLOSS) development.

Analyzing empirical illustrations from two FLOSS projects, we highlight the existence of a peculiar model, stigmergic coordination, which includes aspects of both implicit and explicit mechanisms. The work product itself (implicit) and the characteristics under which it is shared (explicit) play an under-appreciated role in helping software developers manage dependencies as they arise. We develop this argument beyond the existing literature by working with an existing coordination framework, considering the role that the codebase itself might play at each step. We also discuss the features and the practices to support stigmergic coordination in distributed teams, as well as recommendations for future research. {\textquotedblleft}Not everything that implicitly exists needs to be rendered explicit{\textquotedblright} (Sloterdijk, 2009, p. 3).},
	keywords = {Coordination mechanisms, distributed teams, FLOSS teams, Stigmergic coordination},
	issn = {13890417},
	doi = {10.1016/j.cogsys.2015.12.003},
	url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1389041715000339},
	attachments = {https://flosshub.org/sites/flosshub.org/files/COGSYS-RS-\%28HHS\%29-\%282015\%29-\%283\%29.pdf},
	author = {Bolici, Francesco and Howison, James and Kevin Crowston}
}
@article {9400325220140301,
	title = {COLLABORATION THROUGH OPEN SUPERPOSITION: A THEORY OF THE OPEN SOURCE WAY.},
	journal = {MIS Quarterly},
	volume = {38},
	number = {1},
	year = {2014},
	pages = {29 - A9},
	abstract = {This paper develops and illustrates the theory of collaboration through open superposition: the process of depositing motivationally independent layers of work on top of each other over time. The theory is developed in a study of community-based free and open source software (FLOSS) development, through a research arc of discovery (participant observation), replication (two archival case studies), and theorization. The theory explains two key findings: (1) the overwhelming majority of work is accomplished with only a single programmer working on any one task, and (2) tasks that appear too large for any one individual are more likely to be deferred until they are easier rather than being undertaken through structured team work. Moreover, the theory explains how working through open superposition can lead to the discovery of a work breakdown that results in complex, functionally interdependent, work being accomplished without crippling search costs. We identify a set of socio-technical},
	keywords = {COLLABORATION, COMPUTER programmers, COMPUTER programming, COMPUTER software, coordination, FREEWARE (Computer software), INFORMATION storage \& retrieval systems, open source software, research, socio-technical system},
	issn = {02767783},
	author = {Howison, James and Kevin Crowston}
}
@conference {1256,
	title = {Analyzing Leadership Dynamics in Distributed Group Communication},
	booktitle = {2010 43rd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS 2010)},
	year = {2010},
	note = {"Our analysis examines the communication patterns in two FLOSS development projects, Fire and Gaim"
"These data were imported into a database to allow automated analysis. The Fire data set includes about 1,800 events in the user email list, 7,800 messages in the developer venues, and 1,300 events in the combined trackers, spanning a period of 54 months. The significantly larger Gaim data set included over 41,000 events in the user forum, over 30,000 events in the developer venues, and about 20,000 events in the trackers, generated over 78 months."
"The dynamic network analysis was performed using a scientific workflow tool, Taverna Workbench"},
	pages = {1 - 10},
	publisher = {IEEE},
	organization = {IEEE},
	address = {Honolulu, Hawaii, USA},
	abstract = {We apply social network analysis (SNA) to examine the dynamics of leadership in distributed groups, specifically Free/Libre Open Source Software development projects, and its relation to group performance. Based on prior work on leadership in distributed groups, we identify leaders with those who make the highest level of contribution to the group and assess the degree of leadership by measuring centralization of communications. We compare the dynamics of leadership in two FLOSS projects, one more and one less effective. We find that in both projects, centralization was higher in developer-oriented communications venues than in user-oriented venues, suggesting higher degrees of leadership in developer venues. However, we do not find a consistent relation between centralization and effectiveness. We suggest that SNA can instead be useful for identifying interesting periods in the history of the project, e.g., periods where the leadership of the project is in transition.},
	keywords = {core, DYNAMICS, email, email archives, fire, flossmole, gaim, leadership, mailing list, project success, social network analysis, srda},
	isbn = {978-1-4244-5509-6},
	doi = {10.1109/HICSS.2010.62},
	attachments = {https://flosshub.org/sites/flosshub.org/files/07-06-02.pdf},
	author = {Kevin Crowston and Andrea Wiggins and Howison, James}
}
@article {Crowston:2008,
	title = {Bug Fixing Practices within Free/Libre Open Source Software Development Teams},
	journal = {Journal of Database Management},
	volume = {19},
	number = {2},
	year = {2008},
	note = {"Projects to be studied were selected from those hosted on SourceForge, (http://sourceforge.net/)"
"we chose projects for which data we need for our analysis are publicly available, meaning a large number of bug reports"
"we chose teams with more than 8 developers"
"Only 140 projects of SourceForge met the first two requirements in 2002 when we drew our sample"
kicq, gaim, phpmyadmin, dynapi
"First, we obtained data indica- tive of the effectiveness of each project, such as its level of activity, number of downloads and development status"
"we elected to use objective data about the bug- fixing process. Hence, the main source of data about the bug-fixing process was obtained from the archives of the bug tracking system, which is the tool used to support the bug-fixing process"},
	pages = {1{\textendash}30},
	abstract = {Free/libre open source software (FLOSS, e.g., Linux or Apache) is primarily developed by distributed teams. Developers contribute from around the world and coordinate their activity almost exclusively by means of email and bulletin boards, yet some how profit from the advantages and evade the challenges of distributed software development. In this article we investigate the structure and the coordination practices adopted by development teams during the bug-fixing process, which is considered one of main areas of FLOSS project success. In particular, based on a codification of the messages recorded in the bug tracking system of four projects, we identify the accomplished tasks, the adopted coordination mechanisms, and the role undertaken by both the FLOSS development team and the FLOSS community. We conclude with suggestions for further research.},
	keywords = {activity, bug tracker, bug tracking system, coordination, downloads, dynapi, effectiveness, FLOSS, gaim, kicq, phpmyadmin, project success, size, status},
	issn = {1063-8016},
	attachments = {https://flosshub.org/sites/flosshub.org/files/CrowstonScozziJDBM2008.pdf},
	author = {Kevin Crowston and Barbara Scozzi}
}
@article {flosswp405,
	title = {Self-organization of teams for free/libre open source software development},
	journal = {Information and Software Technology Journal},
	volume = {49},
	number = {564-575},
	year = {2007},
	note = {"First, the data from these projects that we needed for analysis had to be publicly available (ruling out projects that limit access to their email lists or trackers). Second, we chose the projects that had more than 7 members"..."projects that have attracted numerous developers beyond the initial project founders, are continuing to release software, have numerous downloads and have an active user community that provides feedback"
"3 FLOSS projects were selected for analysis, namely Gaim, eGroupWare and Compiere ERP."

all had sourceforge hosting

Data: "The primary data used for our study were interactions on the main developer communication forum, either a developer mailing list or web-based discussion forum."

Analysis: "For this project, we inductively content-analyzed developer email interactions to identify the task assignment mechanisms used in the process. We coded each instance of task assignment identified on three dimensions: who assigned the task, to whom, and how"
},
	abstract = {This paper provides empirical evidence about how free/libre open source software development teams self-organize their work. Following a case study methodology, we examined developer interaction data from three active and successful FLOSS projects using qualitative research methods, specifically inductive content analysis, to identify the task-assignment mechanisms used by the participants. We found that "self-assignment" was the most common mechanism across three FLOSS projects. This mechanism is consistent with expectations for distributed and largely volunteer teams. We conclude by discussing whether these emergent practices can be usefully transferred to mainstream practice and indicating directions for future research.},
	keywords = {case study, compiere, coordination, DESIGN, distributed teams, egroupware, email, email archives, forum, free/libre open source software development, gaim, INTERNET, mailing list, metadata, qualitative research methods, self-organizing teams, sourceforge, SYSTEMS, task assignment, WORK},
	attachments = {https://flosshub.org/sites/flosshub.org/files/task_assignment_final.pdf},
	author = {Kevin Crowston and Li, Qing and Kangning Wei and Eseryel, U. Yeliz and Howison, James}
}
@article {90,
	title = {Core and periphery in Free/Libre and Open Source software team communications},
	journal = {Proceedings of the 39th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences-Volume 06},
	year = {2006},
	abstract = {The concept of the core group of developers is important and often discussed in empirical studies of FLOSS projects. This paper examines the question, "how does one empirically distinguish the core?" Being able to identify the core members of a FLOSS development project is important because many of the processes necessary for successful projects likely involve core members differently than peripheral members, so analyses that mix the two groups will likely yield invalid results. 

We compare 3 analysis approaches to identify the core: the named list of developers, a Bradford{\textquoteright}s law analysis that takes as the core the most frequent contributors and a social network analysis of the interaction pattern that identifies the core in a core-and-periphery structure. We apply these measures to the interactions around bug fixing for 116 SourceForge projects. The 3 techniques identify different individuals as core members; examination of which individuals are identified leads to suggestions for refining the measures. All 3 measures though suggest that the core of FLOSS projects is a small fraction of the total number of contributors.},
	keywords = {bug fixing, contributions, contributors, core, developers, social network analysis, sourceforge, team},
	author = {Kevin Crowston and Kangning Wei and Li, Qing and Howison, James}
}
@conference {691,
	title = {From Individual Contribution to Group Learning},
	booktitle = {OSS2006: Open Source Systems (IFIP 2.13)},
	series = {IFIP International Federation for Information Processing},
	year = {2006},
	pages = {77 - 90},
	publisher = {Springer},
	organization = {Springer},
	abstract = {Open Source Software (OSS) groups experience many benefits and challenges with respect to the core group{\textquoteright}s effectiveness. In order to capitalize on the benefits and minimize the challenges, OSS groups must learn not only on the individual level, but also on the group level. OSS groups learn by integrating individual contributions into the group{\textquoteright}s product and processes.
This paper reports on the characteristics of the learning process in OSS groups. The study utilized an embedded single case study design that observed and analyzed group learning processes in the Apache Web server OSS project. The study used learning opportunity episodes (LOE) as the embedded unit of analysis and developed and utilized three content analytic schemes to describe the characteristics of the learning process and the factors affecting this process.
},
	keywords = {apache, case study},
	doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/0-387-34226-5_8},
	attachments = {https://flosshub.org/sites/flosshub.org/files/From\%20Individual\%20Contribution\%20to\%20Group\%20Learning.pdf},
	author = {Hala Annabi and Kevin Crowston and Robert Heckman}
}
@conference {708,
	title = {Social dynamics of free and open source team communications},
	booktitle = {OSS2006: Open Source Systems (IFIP 2.13)},
	series = {IFIP International Federation for Information Processing },
	volume = {203/2006},
	year = {2006},
	month = {06/2006},
	pages = {319 - 330},
	publisher = {Springer},
	organization = {Springer},
	abstract = {This paper furthers inquiry into the social structure of free and open source software (FLOSS) teams by undertaking social network analysis across time. Contrary to expectations, we confirmed earlier findings of a wide distribution of centralizations even when examining the networks over time. The paper also provides empirical evidence that while change at the center of FLOSS projects is relatively uncommon, participation across the project communities is highly skewed, with many participants appearing for only one period. Surprisingly, large project teams are not more likely to undergo change at their centers.
},
	keywords = {bug fixing, bug reports, bug tracker, bug tracking, bugs, communications, Dynamic social networks, FLOSS teams, Human Factors, social network analysis, software development, sourceforge},
	issn = {978-0-387-34225-2},
	doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/0-387-34226-5_32},
	attachments = {https://flosshub.org/sites/flosshub.org/files/Social\%20dynamics\%20of\%20free\%20and\%20open\%20source\%20team.pdf},
	author = {Howison, James and Inoue, Keisuke and Kevin Crowston}
}
@proceedings {89,
	title = {Coordination of Free/Libre Open Source Software development},
	year = {2005},
	note = {"The data used for the study were interactions on the main developer communication venue, either a developer mailing list or online forum"
sourceforge
},
	address = {Las Vegas, NV, USA},
	abstract = {The apparent success of free/libre open source software (FLOSS) development projects such as Linux, Apache, and many others has raised the question, what lessons from FLOSS development can be transferred to mainstream software development? In this paper, we use coordination theory to analyze coordination mechanisms in FLOSS development and compare our analysis with existing literature on coordination in proprietary software development. We examined developer interaction data from three active and successful FLOSS projects and used content analysis to identify the coordination mechanisms used by the participants. We found that there were similarities between the FLOSS groups and the reported practices of the proprietary project in the coordination mechanisms used to manage task-task dependencies. However, we found clear differences in the coordination mechanisms used to manage task-actor dependencies. While published descriptions of proprietary software development involved an elaborate system to locate the developer who owned the relevant piece of code, we found that {\textquotedblleft}self-assignment{\textquotedblright} was the most common mechanism across three FLOSS projects. This coordination mechanism is consistent with expectations for distributed and largely volunteer teams. We conclude by discussing whether these emergent practices can be usefully transferred to mainstream practice and indicating directions for future research.},
	keywords = {case study, compiere, coordination, egroupware, email, email archives, FLOSS, gaim, mailing list},
	attachments = {https://flosshub.org/sites/flosshub.org/files/CrowstonWeiLiEseryelHowison.pdf},
	author = {Kevin Crowston and Kangning Wei and Li, Qing and Eseryel, U. Yeliz and Howison, James}
}
@conference {Crowston:2004,
	title = {Coordination practices for bug fixing within FLOSS development teams},
	booktitle = {1st International Workshop on Computer Supported Activity Coordination, 6th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems},
	year = {2004},
	note = {"First, we chose projects for which data we need for our analysis are publicly available (not all projects allow public access to the bug tracking system). Second, we chose teams with more than 8 members...we tried to select more and less suc- cessful development teams. To this aim we used the definitions of success proposed by [9], who suggest that a project is successful if it is active, the resulting software is downloaded and used and the code matures"

"Kicq, Gaim and PhPmyAdmin were chosen" - effective
DynAPI was chosen as an example of a less effective project" 

"We collected data indicative of the success of each project, such as its level of activity, number of downloads and development status. We then collected data from the archives of the bug tracking system, the tool used to support the bug fixing process"},
	address = {Porto, Portugal},
	abstract = {Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) is primarily developed by distributed teams. Developers contribute from around the world and coordinate their activity almost exclusively by means of email and bulletin boards. FLOSS development teams some how profit from the advantages and evade the challenges of distributed software development. Despite the relevance of the FLOSS both for research and practice, few studies have investigated the work practices adopted by these development teams. In this paper we investigate the structure and the coordination practices adopted by development teams during the bug-fixing process, which is considered one of main areas of FLOSS project success. In particular, based on a codification of the messages recorded in the bug tracking system of four projects, we identify the accomplished tasks, the adopted coordination mechanisms, and the role undertaken by both the FLOSS development team and the FLOSS community. We conclude with suggestions for further research.},
	keywords = {activity, bug fixing, bug reports, bug tracker, coordination, downloads, dynapi, FLOSS, gaim, kicq, phpmyadmin, status},
	attachments = {https://flosshub.org/sites/flosshub.org/files/CrowstonScozzi04coordination.pdf},
	author = {Kevin Crowston and Barbara Scozzi}
}
@article {flosswp59,
	title = {Open Source Software Projects as Virtual Organizations: Competency Rallying for Software Development},
	journal = {IEE Proceedings Software},
	volume = {149},
	number = {1},
	year = {2002},
	pages = {3{\textendash}17},
	abstract = {The contribution of this paper is the identification and testing of factors important for the success of Open Source Software (OSS) projects. We present an analysis of OSS communities as virtual organizations and apply Katzy and Crowston{\textquoteright}s (2000) competency rallying (CR) theory to the case of OSS development projects. CR theory suggests that project participants must develop necessary competencies, identify and understand market opportunities, marshal competencies to meet the opportunity and manage a short-term cooperative process. Using data collected from 7477 OSS projects hosted by the SourceForge system (http://sourceforge.net/), we formulate and test a set of specific hypotheses derived from CR theory.},
	keywords = {competencies, competency rallying, coordination, project success, sourceforge, virtual organizations},
	attachments = {https://flosshub.org/sites/flosshub.org/files/crowston.pdf},
	author = {Kevin Crowston and Barbara Scozzi}
}
