Scale library · Technology & information systems

IS success scale: DeLone & McLean (1992, 2003)

DeLone and McLean (1992) proposed a model of information systems success; the 2003 update comprises system quality, information quality, service quality, use, user satisfaction and net benefits. The two original papers are model papers and publish no fixed item set, so the items here come from Cidral, Aparicio and Oliveira (2020), an e-learning success study that reports all its questions. The model suits theses evaluating learning management systems, accounting software, ERP, e-government portals or electronic health records.

Cite the original, not the blog.

Model or scale: D&M IS Success
Constructs: 4
Items: 16

Original English items

Items marked (R) are reverse-coded: recode them before computing reliability or scale scores. Replace bracketed placeholders such as [system] with the name of the system, brand or organization you study.

System Quality (SysQ, 4 items)

Code	Item wording	Reverse-coded
SysQ1	The [e-learning system] is easy to navigate.	No
SysQ2	The [e-learning system] allows me to easily find the information I am looking for.	No
SysQ3	The [e-learning system] is well structured.	No
SysQ4	The [e-learning system] is easy to use.	No

Information Quality (IQ, 4 items)

Code	Item wording	Reverse-coded
IQ1	The information provided by the [e-learning system] is useful.	No
IQ2	The information provided by the [e-learning system] understandable.	No
IQ3	The information provided by the [e-learning system] is interesting.	No
IQ4	The information provided by the [e-learning system] is reliable.	No

Service Quality (SerQ, 4 items)

Code	Item wording	Reverse-coded
SerQ1	The responsible service personnel are always highly willing to help whenever I need support with the [e-learning system].	No
SerQ2	The responsible service personnel provide personal attention when I experience problems with the [e-learning system].	No
SerQ3	The responsible service personnel provide services related to the [e-learning system] at the promised time.	No
SerQ4	The responsible service personnel have sufficient knowledge to answer my questions in respect of the [e-learning system].	No

User Satisfaction (US, 4 items)

Code	Item wording	Reverse-coded
US1	How adequately does the [e-learning system] support your area of study?	No
US2	How efficient is the [e-learning system]?	No
US3	How effective is the [e-learning system]?	No
US4	Are you satisfied with the [e-learning system] on the whole?	No

Response scale

7-point Likert scale (1 = Strongly disagree … 7 = Strongly agree), following Cidral, Aparicio and Oliveira (2020). Note that US1–US3 are worded as degree questions; if you keep them as questions, use a degree scale (1 = Very low … 7 = Very high).

Licence and permission

The items are published in an open-access article (Heliyon, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence). Cite Cidral, Aparicio and Oliveira (2020) and DeLone and McLean (1992, 2003); no permission is needed for non-commercial academic use.

Sources (APA 7)

DeLone, W. H., & McLean, E. R. (1992). Information systems success: The quest for the dependent variable. Information Systems Research, 3(1), 60–95. https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.3.1.60
DeLone, W. H., & McLean, E. R. (2003). The DeLone and McLean model of information systems success: A ten-year update. Journal of Management Information Systems, 19(4), 9–30. https://doi.org/10.1080/07421222.2003.11045748
Cidral, W., Aparicio, M., & Oliveira, T. (2020). Students' long-term orientation role in e-learning success: A Brazilian study. Heliyon, 6(12), e05735. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e05735

Vietnamese translation

A Vietnamese translation of every item, with sample-size advice and studies that used the scale, is on the Vietnamese page for this scale.

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