Musings on Accounting Research by Steve

With the addition of Kathryn Kadous as an Associate Editor at Journal of Accounting Research relatively recently and the announcement last week that there were going to be six social and behavioral researchers as TAR Editors (yep somehow I (and Chris Chapman) got through the scrutiny of the AAA Publications Committee and Board) the underlying mission of this blog, to advocate for the radical center, has been achieved.

At least, I think it has.  It is amazing how fast change has occurred in the last three years:

• JAR now refers to sociological theories and field studies in their description of appropriate types of papers to submit to JAR.
• TAR now features, Chris Chapman and myself among the six social and behavioral editors (Christ, Gold, Hatfield, Hopkins are the others albeit you can make an argument to include a couple of the others (e.g. Dikolli)) of the forthcoming regime at TAR under the leadership of the most intellectually diverse Senior Editor in almost 30 years, Robert Knechel.
• Most of the major AAA section journals (Audit, Management, Behavioral etc) have social and behavioral editors or associate editors including both experimental and field based folks doing positivist and interpretistic work.
• CAR‘s set of social and behavioral editors is being renewed under the Editor (in-chief)ship of Alan Webb who starts this summer as EIC of CAR.  I will not steal his thunder by telling you who!
• AOS has renewed its leadership with adding Mark Peecher and Marcia Annisette to Keith Robson to the set of Editors-in-chief.
• and more and more and more

According to Google, the average blog lasts for a mere 100 days.  This blog and its predecessor, CAReditorsteve, have been around for a decade.  BUT in the last year I have noted that I have been repeating myself a lot.  Rather than waiting for readership declines deciding the fate of the blog, I want to go out on a high note! 2019 was one of the most followed years in the last seven!

This blog will remain on line, as many readers refer back to previous posts.  And if this change is like the Prague Spring of the late 1960’s (for millennials you gotta look this one up), “I will return!” (General McArthur reference) or “I’ll be backkkkkkk” (you all should know this one)!

THANK YOU FOR READING AND ENCOURAGING ME OVER THE LAST DECADE!!!!!! It has been FUN!

Well folks that’s a wrap for another year on the old blog!

Lots of folks to thank this year!

• My team of editors, editorial board members and reviewers at BRIA (not to mention Jake and Nate at the AAA)!
• The great set of folks who assisted with my seven week tour of New Zealand and Australia (Mike and Hedy at Massey, Wai Fong and Shana at Sydney, David at Queensland, Kerry, Wei, Ken and Mandy at UNSW!)
• My co-authors this year Yi and Nate at Queen’s, Kris at Alabama, Kerry at UNSW, and Theresa at Central Florida!
• My Dean ( now former Dean) at Smith for his sixteen years of support!
• All my current and former doctoral (and thesis based masters) students! We are now at 15 strong and likely will see a couple of more!

Looking forward to next year, there is still much to do. There will be announcements that will surprise folks, there will be a continued advance on the diversity in research front as our academic discipline continues to grow up (after all we are now close to 50 years old depending on whether you count from B&B, Hopwood or Ashton or Libby (1968, 1972, 1974 or 1975)). . . .

As usual MORE by Steve will continue to call them as he sees them and report on our discipline as it finally enters adulthood! While readers might not always agree with Steve, you know I am giving you my unfiltered fact based reactions to the strange academic world we call home!

So what are MORE’s top ten?  My view is that to be considered a top ten accounting journal you should be a top 10 in at least one list!  What sources did I look at – see the previous post (i.e. SSCI 2018, 2017; SJC 2018; Google Scholar; FT 50 List) leaving aside the 2019 ABDC list.  Then I looked at the number of “top 10 hits” each journal has leaving me with three groups (O, RG, and G) that are listed in alphabetical order within group

Group O (outstanding – on all five top ten lists)

• Accounting Organizations and Society
• (The) Accounting Review
• Journal of Accounting and Economics
• Journal of Accounting Research

Group RG (really great – on four of five top ten lists)

• Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory
• Critical Perspectives in Accounting (Sorry folks – hard to be oppressed when you are tied for top 5 – you can work on it)

Group G (great – on three of five top ten lists)

• Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal
• British Accounting Review
• Contemporary Accounting Research
• European Accounting Review
• Management Accounting Research
• Review of Accounting Studies

So that makes twelve journals in the top ten.  So in the end, MORE and the ABDC have a significant overlap with 11 journals on both lists with one on MORE (see bold above) not on the ABDC thirteen and two on the ABDC thirteen not on MORE’s top ten list!