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.

翻译：本研究报告分析了全球软件工程的最新文献。我们利用新的系统快照绘图技术审查了全球软件工程研究的现状。我们分析了2011年1月至2012年6月同行审评会议、期刊和讲习班上发表的275篇论文。我们通过将研究分为预先界定的类别,对最近关于全球软件工程的文献进行了粗略的概述。我们还遵循并扩大了先前的若干分类,以支持对数据的综合。我们的结果显示,目前全球软件工程研究的重点是与管理和基础设施有关的因素。大多数研究是在组织一级进行的,使用了访谈、调查、实地研究和案例研究等方法。我们分析了2011年1月至2012年6月在同行审评会议、期刊和讲习班上发表的275篇论文。我们的成果提供了对最近关于全球软件工程工程的文献的粗略概述,将研究分为预先界定的类别。我们还遵循并扩展了先前的若干分类,以支持我们的数据综合。我们发现,目前全球电子工程师工程研究的研究重点是管理和基础设施的关联因素,大多数与组织层面的研究都是利用诸如访谈、调查、实地研究和案例研究等方法进行的。不过,与全球电子工程研究有关的领域研究领域研究的重点可能已经超越了现有的研究标准。