Accounting Journal Rankings,Authorship Patterns and the Author Affiliation Index

We conduct an evaluation of 43 accounting journals using the author affiliation index (AAI). Our results suggest that the Australian Business Dean's Council (ABDC) ratings are consistent with the AAI‐based rankings. Nonetheless, there are a few highly (lowly) regarded accounting journals in terms of AAI receiving a relatively lower (higher) rating in the ABDC journal ranking list. The co‐authorship patterns suggest that top AAI and near‐top AAI journals actually see more co‐authorship from scholars in top programs and scholars in other programs (both ranked 21–100 and ‘others’).     

THE IMPACT OF ACCOUNTING RESEARCH ON FINANCE

This paper assesses the impact of accounting research on finance using citational methods and content analysis. The data are 715 articles published in seven finance journals. In contrast to previous research of the influence of finance research on accounting, the results show relatively little impact of accounting research on finance. The limited impact of accounting on finance is principally provided by four accounting journals and a small group of accounting authors. The impact found is often the result of bridging papers, in which either finance articles have accounting authors, or vice versa. These results suggest a substantial disregard of ostensibly pertinent capital-markets accounting research by finance scholars. The reasons for finance’s disregard of this work, whether for reasons of perceived value, quality, or for other reasons, is unclear. However, it is apparent that accounting capital-markets research is not as influential in finance as might be expected.     

EXAMINING THE PRACTICAL RELEVANCE OF PUBLIC SECTOR MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING RESEARCH

Concerns exist that practical relevance is becoming devalued as accounting scholars respond to signals about what sort of research ‘counts’. We categorize public sector management accounting papers in six leading journals according to two criteria: the practical orientation of the research objective(s), and whether the conclusions communicate issues of practical relevance. The findings reveal that most of the papers are directed towards understanding or critiquing the use of management accounting techniques, while other practically oriented research objectives are largely absent. Although half of the papers identify practical research implications, few suggest guidelines for practice. Reflections are offered on the role of leading journals in shaping how practical relevance is valued in accounting research.     

Fifty‐year overview of judgment and decision‐making research in accounting

As part of the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of AFAANZ, we consider the breadth of judgment and decision‐making (JDM) experimental research in accounting over that 50‐year period. Our review is divided by decade and between auditing, financial accounting and management accounting. In four major journals, we found 5745 papers between 1970 and 2009, which we consider impressive and strong support for the opportunity to publish in this field. Our aim is to encourage more JDM research from Australians and New Zealanders, and to allow researchers in particular specialisations to get a better understanding of the JDM research in other specialisations.     

理论·实践·创新:洞悉国际前沿 推进会计发展——2010北美华人会计教授年会述评

北美华人会计教授年会(CAPANA,以下简称年会)是海内外会计学者分享最新研究成果、探讨热点会计问题、创新会计理论的学术盛宴。第三届年会由北美华人会计教授协会主办,西南财经大学承办,本次年会收到大量海内外学者的研究论文,内容涵盖了目前北美实证会计领域的最新动向,包括了股票期权、信息披露、盈余管理以及债券投资者保护等在学界长期存在争议的一系列理论问题。本文以摘选出的八篇会议论文为基础,扼要介绍了这些蕴涵重要学术价值和深刻实践意义的最新研究成果,并结合国内外研究现状加以简短评述。最后总结了此次年会对于中国会计学界在会计理论、实务研究等方面所带来的启发与思考。     

The (uncertain) invisible college of Spanish accounting scholars

In order to test empirically the invisible college thesis in an accounting academic community and evaluate the internal mechanisms that are embedded in its reproduction, we explore in this paper the social network of Spanish accounting scholars. The social network examined arises from one event that combines formal and informal aspects of interaction between scholars: the selection of members of Ph.D. panels for the period 1994–2003. Results are consistent with the existence of an oligarchic academic community that shows a strong and positive association with measures of local influence, but that is decoupled from measures of scholarly contribution. In this regard it is difficult to sustain that high profile scholars in this community generate a disproportionate volume of new ideas, which is the basic tenet of the invisible college hypothesis. This finding is also indicative of the schizophrenia in which non-tenured Spanish accounting scholars live, between increasing demands of refereed publications by academic institutions and a hierarchical academic community sponsoring very different values.     

Twenty-one years of social and environmental accountability research: A coming of age

This study extends upon previous research into the profile and direction of social and environmental accounting research, analysing and critiquing 21 years of contemporary research in social and environmental accounting published particularly in four leading interdisciplinary accounting research journals covering the period 1988-2002 inclusive. It reflects upon selected seminal papers on the field, and presents an empirical analysis of SEA publication that updates Parker's (2005) findings. The prospect of a sharing of the territory between critical and managerialist approaches is envisaged, along with the application of multiple theoretical lenses. Social and environmental research show signs of more recent balancing between these two subject areas, while recent shifts in methodological approaches are increasingly emphasising the employment of content analysis/statistical relationships research and case/field/action/ethnograpic research. National practices/comparisons and regulations are leading topic areas occupying researchers. External disclosure, attitudinal studies and theoretical framework papers also attracted significant attention. The paper also overviews emerging research in three non-Anglo-Saxon countries and identifies leading and emerging scholars in the field. The SEA field exhibits considerable momentum, but is found to be largely driven by research and publishing infrastructure outside North American economics focussed research communities.     

Structuration theory in accounting research: Applications and applicability

Ever since Giddens’ structuration theory (ST) was introduced into the accounting literature some 25 years ago, it has strengthened its position as one of the major schools of thought used to explore accounting as organizational, social and political phenomena. The purpose of this study is to review how ST has been applied, and can be applied, in this sizeable literature. Overall, the review of some 65 published papers, suggests that not only has ST contributed to challenge the assumptions of ‘inherent and functional’ features of accounting systems per se characterizing mainstream research, but also to develop other alternative theoretical perspectives. However, our review also suggests several limitations. These include that the accounting community has not really worked as a collective to develop a structurationist understanding of accounting practices, and that most researchers remain largely uncritical to ST as a theory. We also find that accounting scholars have not yet developed a mutual understanding of how to interpret ST (i.e. there are conceptual unclarities and even inconsistencies), or how to apply ST methodologically in empirical research. Based on these limitations, and the identification of a number of ‘black spots’ in the literature, we suggest several directions for future scholarly effort.     

Opening the black box of management accounting information exchanges in buyer–supplier relationships

The purpose of this paper is to explain the reasons why collaborating firms “open their books” and share management accounting information. We investigate the effect of variables related to the tasks and relationships of single individuals of the partner firms (i.e., task interdependence and analysability, team interdependence and relationship duration) on open book accounting (OBA). Our model controls for firm-level variables (i.e., asset specificity, degree of economic dependence, contract presence, contract comprehensiveness, and firm size) known to influence management accounting information exchanges. By using social network analysis (SNA), the data collected from a fashion firm and its entire set of suppliers shows that the quantity of management accounting information is positively related to task interdependence while having an inverted U-shape relation with the duration of the relationship. In addition, it provides evidence of a positive association with task analysability, whereas we find no relation with team interdependence. The analysis also confirms the importance of firm-level factors in explaining the exchanges of management accounting information. Our conclusions have important implications for the design of OBA in inter-organisational relationships.     

Productivity in Top‐10 Academic Accounting Journals by Researchers at Canadian Universities at the Start of the 21st Century

We assess the research publication productivity of Canadian‐based accounting researchers in highly ranked accounting journals for the 2001–13 period. Our research provides important benchmarks for use by individual researchers and universities for matters such as promotion and tenure decisions. For example, each Canadian‐based faculty member had approximately 0.50 of a weighted article for the 13‐year period, and 45 percent of all accounting faculty members published at least once in a top‐10 accounting journal. We also provide an overview of the type of research being published by Canadian‐based researchers in each of the top‐10 journals (financial accounting, managerial, audit, tax or other) and we assess how productivity at top‐10 journals has changed over time. In supplemental analysis, we compare and contrast the productivity of the 15 male and 15 female academics that publish most in top‐10 accounting journals to assess the breadth of outlets being used beyond top‐10 outlets (including FT 45 journals, accounting journals ranked “A”, “B”, and “non‐A/B”; non‐accounting peer‐reviewed journals, non‐peer‐reviewed outlets). The supplemental analysis also helps to shed light on the finding from this paper, and prior research, that women are less likely to be represented on lists of those with most publications in highly ranked accounting journals, by comparing the two groups of researchers across a variety of institutional and other factors.     

Of stars and galaxies – Co-authorship network and research

We examine the association between network centrality and research using the accounting research community setting. We establish co-authorship network using papers published in the five top accounting journals from 1980 to 2016. We find that the co-authorship network in accounting is a “small world” with some most connected authors playing a key role in connecting others. We use machine learning to label published papers with multiple topics and find patterns in topics over time. More importantly, we find that co-authorship network centrality is positively associated with future research productivity and topic innovation and that the impact of centrality on productivity is higher with more senior authors. Further, centrality of an author’s co-authors also has an incrementally positive impact. We conclude that network centrality positively influences research output.     

Diversification of External Accountants Serving Small and Medium‐sized Enterprises: Evidence from Belgium

The purpose of this study is: (1) to discover which services are offered by external accountants serving small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs); (2) to study the factors that are associated with the degree of diversification of the services offered by these accountants; and (3) to investigate if there are differences between self‐employed accountants and accounting firms on the previous two points. This study has some interesting conclusions: (1) the heterogeneity of internal staff is not significantly associated with the degree of diversification; (2) a homogeneous internal staff with an accounting background is particularly important for accounting firms that diversify their services in the accounting and tax area; (3) collaboration with other service providers is an important factor associated with more diversification of the services; (4) marketing is only important for self‐employed accountants; (5) accounting firms offer fewer non‐accounting‐related services if they serve more micro clients (fewer than 10 employees), whereas self‐employed accountants offer more accounting and tax services if they serve more micro clients (fewer than 10 employees); and (6) accounting firms that diversify in accounting and tax services mainly serve more micro clients (fewer than 10 employees), whereas accounting firms that diversify in non‐accounting areas serve more larger clients (more than 10 employees).     

Celebrating 20 Years of Publication of Accounting Education: an international journal: 1992–2011

This paper describes the background to the establishment of Accounting Education: an international journal, as well as an outline of its distinctive characteristics, including the international focus of the journal both in relation to the composition of its Editorial Boards and its authorship since its launch in 1992. A thematic analysis of papers for the second decade of the journal is incorporated, together with insights as to the future directions in accounting education. As the 20-year milestone of the journal was reached Professor Richard M. S. Wilson completed his term of office as founding Editor, and a new Editor took over. The paper recognises Professor Wilson's efforts in establishing an international journal devoted to publishing accounting education research relevant to practitioners, academics, trainers, students, researchers and professional bodies.     

GOVERNMENTAL ACCOUNTING IN NORWAY: A DISCUSSION WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Accrual accounting is now being introduced in governmental organizations internationally. Some scholars have, however, questioned this development, implying that other accounting theories, like cameral accounting, should also be considered for use in these organizations. Since Norway is a country, which has not introduced accrual accounting in the governmental sector, the purpose of this paper is to study the evolution of governmental accounting in this country. Based on the Norwegian experiences, the paper aims to present some conclusions for the further international development of governmental accounting.     

An assessment of patterns of co-authorship for academic accountants within premier journals: Evidence from 1979-2004

This study examines several important aspects of co-authorship by accounting researchers in premier journals for the years 1979-2004. Logistic regression analysis reveals that collaboration is growing significantly. This increasing trend of co-authorship is substantially greater in premier non-accounting journals than premier accounting journals. The extent of co-authorship within taxation research is notably less than financial, managerial, or auditing research. On the other hand, non-specialized articles have significantly higher co-authorship ratios. Meanwhile, trends of co-authorship are not statistically different between U.S. academic researchers and their international academic cohorts. However, co-authorship rates for non-academic researchers are significantly less than academic researchers which may indicate that the ‘publish or perish’ phenomena for academic researchers is a more significant factor of increased co-authorship rates than other universal factors, e.g., decreased cost of sophisticated communication technology. Also, we find no evidence of university tier level or doctoral granting status effects on the co-authorship ratios of researchers.     

A simple template for pitching research

In this article, I propose a simple new research tool – a template designed for pitching research. The two‐page pitching template begins with four ‘preliminaries’: working title, research question, key papers and motivation. Following this is the core of the template based on a ‘3‐2‐1 countdown’, namely THREE elements – idea, data and tools; TWO questions – What's new? and So what?; and ONE bottom line – contribution. The template ends with ‘other’ considerations. Finance and accounting examples are given to illustrate application of the template.     

Sources of influence on award winning research: A note

While great advances have been made because of accounting research, limited understanding exists about the process of producing top-research in accounting and getting it published. This study contributes to a better understanding of the process of producing top quality research in accounting by examining the importance and characteristics of a high value-added literature review. To that end, in this study we examine the literature reviews contained in articles recognized for the Notable Contributions to the Accounting Literature Award of the AAA for the twenty-five year period, 1983 to 2007. Results find that top quality research has a cutting edge timeliness that is characterized by greater reliance on more recently published reference sources and by incorporating a substantial number of working papers. This study also identifies the most influential articles, journals and individuals to Notable Contribution authors, including both accounting and interdisciplinary sources.     

Accounting and Accountability in Fiji: A Review and Synthesis

This paper reviews accounting and accountability research in Fiji. The review is based on 47 papers published since 1978 in accounting refereed journals, professional journals, edited book chapters and theses and other refereed journals outside accounting. In addition to categorisation of the reviewed papers according to accounting topics, theories and methods of data collection, some themes to which the papers could be related are discussed. Financial reporting/accountability research is the most popular research in Fiji followed by new public management research, with sustainability accounting research the third most popular. The paper's findings suggest some directions for future accounting research in Fiji and where the data can possibly be sourced for such research. We conclude that more research is needed in the Fijian context that focuses on accounting and the state, performance auditing, indigenous accounting, SMEs and accountability.     

Making Sense of Social Practice: Theoretical Pluralism in Public Sector Accounting Research

Abstract: This paper explores the use of theory in public sector accounting research. The aim of this paper is to offer a critical review of the various approaches adopted and a way forward for researchers in this area. The paper also explores the debate between theoretical purity and theoretical pluralism. It presents an analysis of the different theoretical approaches used over the last sixteen years in public sector accounting research. While around a third of the papers did not adopt an explicit theoretical framework, nearly half of the papers did. The two most popular theoretical approaches were neo‐institutional and economic theory. Theoretical insights have been drawn from organisational and political theory while sociological approaches from Habermas, Foucault, Latour, Giddens and Bourdieu are all evident. In conclusion many of the papers blend theoretical insights from different authors in an attempt to better make sense of the complexity of public sector activity and support an argument for theoretical pluralism.