Where Are You Going Big Data?

Big data applications combined with analytical tools foster prediction techniques that impact societal, economic, and political changes. After almost one decade of studies, this paper proposes to carry out a literature review on big data analytics (BDA), recognizing major debates in the topic, presenting its evolution over the past years, and identifying its research tendencies. We delimit our research to the eight top journals on information systems. Out of the 135 candidates in the initial pool, we selected 41 papers that met the selection criteria. Our finding suggests that BDA is apparently reaching a plateau, which might be confirmed by the following years of publications. Additionally, other perspectives on BDA might include a new wave of studies; and finally we conclude that new paths can be explored beyond productivity gain, but from a social perspective.