Abstract Background: Case studies are regularly published in the software engineering literature, and guidelines for conducting case studies are available. Based on a perception that the label “case study” is assigned to studies that are not case studies, an investigation has been conducted. Objective: The aim was to investigate whether or not the label “case study” is correctly used in software engineering research. Method: To address the objective, 100 recent articles found through Scopus when searching for case studies in software engineering have been investigated and classified. Results: Unfortunately, the perception of misuse of the label “case study” is correct. Close to 50% of the articles investigated were judged as not being case studies according to the definition of a case study. Conclusions: We either need to ensure correct use of the label “case study”, or we need another label for its definition. Given that “case study” is a well-established label, it is probably impossible to change the label. Thus, we introduce an alternative definition of case study emphasising its real-life context, and urge researchers to carefully follow the definition of different research methods when presenting their research.