Purpose This paper aims to present a bibliometric analysis of publications from the Scopus database on fraud detection studies. Design/methodology/approach The current research used Microsoft Excel to conduct the frequency analysis, VOSviewer for data visualisation and Harzing’s Publish or Perish for citation metrics and analysis. Findings In alignment with these research results, the publications on fraud detection studies have been consistently increasing since 2005. India was rated first as the most active country in fraud detection research. Tongji University from China was the most active institution that published significant publications related to fraud detection research. A total of 160 scholars from 89 various countries and 160 different institutions published several fraud detections studies with multi-authors’ participation in different languages. Originality/value To the best of the authors knowledge, this study is the first study to review fraud detections publications in the Scopus science database.

Purpose – The paper aims to investigate Task Performance Fraud Risk Assessment (TPFRA) and Knowledge Requirement (KR) of the forensic accountant and auditor on Fraud-Related Problem Representation (FRPR) in the Nigerian public sector. Design/methodology/approach – The study used cross-sectional design and 400 survey questionnaires. The respondents are real professional people (auditors and forensic accountants in the Nigerian public sector) as true representatives to enhance the generalization of the outcomes. A total of 36 indicator items was measured on five-point Likert scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Partial Least Square – Structural Equation Modelling 2.0 3M and IBM SPSS Statistics 20.0 were used as the primary statistical analysis tool for the study. Findings – The results of the present study confirm the positive relationship between KR on TPFRA, positive relationship of KR on FRPR and positive relationship of FRPR and TPFRA. Specifically, the results revealed that FRPR positively mediates the relationship between TPFRA and KR (forensic accountant and auditor) in the areas of fraud prevention, detection and response. Research limitations/implications – The first limitation deals with fraud and corrupt practices in a developing country, Nigeria. Examining the mediating influence of FRPR on KR and TPFRA in the public sector could be considered as sensitive and raise the issue of bias. The second limitation is the adoption of cross-sectional design in which data are collected at one point in time. Researchers are encouraged to use a longitudinal design to explore interactions between KR, FRPR and TPFRA. Practical implications – This empirical study has revealed the value of KR (forensic accountant and auditor) as a significant capability requirement in the workplace. In addition, it shows the importance of FRPR as an important mental state in decision-making or judgment and also the significance of FRPR as an important mediating variable on KR and TPFRA. Originality/value – No nation is immune to fraud, and loss due to fraud in the public sector is enormous and costly; the result of this research will improve the KR of auditors and forensic accountants in the areas of fraud detection, prevention and response. It will also contribute to the regulatory, legal and institutional frameworks in accounting and auditing systems in Nigeria and portend an increase in demand for forensic accountants.

This paper discusses task performance fraud risk assessment and forensic accountant and auditor knowledge and mindset in the Nigerian public sector. The aim of the study is to examine the fraud risk assessment in the Nigerian public sector through the efficient utilisation of forensic accountant and auditor knowledge and mindset.The effect will enhance the corporate governance and accountability practices among public sector accountants and auditors in Nigeria.

The study examines the moderation effect of the personality factor of conscientiousness on the relationship between skills (forensic accountant and auditor) and fraud risk assessment task performance in the Jordanian public sector. The forensic accountant skills denote enhanced level of capability purposely required to collect evidence in respect of fraud prevention, detection, deterrence as well as response. Whereas, the auditing standards require auditors to make available realistic guarantees in terms of sufficiency and reliability that the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatements arising from fraud or error. Despite efforts by the government in reducing cases of fraud through a measure of reforms such as the establishment and strengthening of accountability organs and promoting global best practices for corporate organisations, fraud and financial crimes in the public sector of Jordan are still increasing. Hence, this paper develops a conceptual framework to investigate the moderating effect of conscientiousness on skills requirements and fraud risk assessment performance. The study will assist the forensic accountants and auditors working as regulators in the public sector environment concerning fraud prevention, detection, and response. It also creates awareness among accounting information users in the public sector. The paper contributes to the literature on personality factors of conscientiousness, auditing and forensic accounting, enhanced capability skills requirement, and competence (fraud risk assessment performance) by forensic accountants and auditors about fraud prevention, detection, and response in the Jordanian public sector.

The objective of this study is to examine the impact of the audit committee, firm size, profitability, and leverage on income smoothing in manufacturing companies listed in Indonesia stock exchange for the period of 2013-2015. Regression statistics are employed to analyse the secondary source of data collected from the annual report of the companies. Measurement of income smoothing is proxied by discretionary accruals. The results of the study reveal that the firm size has a direct positive influence on income smoothing in the listed manufacturing companies in Indonesia. In essence, the more significant a firm size, the more actively performed income smoothing practices. In contrast, profitability indicates an adverse effect on income smoothing in the listed manufacturing companies. The adverse effect indicates that the higher the profit generated, the lesser the income smoothing practices performed. Similarly, leverage posits an adverse effect on income smoothing in the manufacturing sector. This indicates the smaller the risk of companies debt, the more exceptional the practice of income smoothing occurs. The audit committee size similarly shows a negative influence on income smoothing in the listed manufacturing companies. This finding indicates the larger audit committee size, the smaller practice of income smoothing. This occurs because the audit committee oversight function on financial reporting is more efficiently performed. The result of this research shows the contribution to theory, practice, and method, especially in developing countries.

This research examines the effects of the independent audit committee on the relationship between managerial ownership and independent board member on audit quality in the Indonesian listed banks. Primarily, the study examines the direct relationship of managerial ownership, independent board member and independent audit committee on the audit quality of listed banks in the Indonesian Stock Exchange. Also, the current study explores the mediating effect, indirect effect, of the independent audit committee on the relationship between managerial ownership, independent board member, and audit quality in the listed banks in Indonesia. The results show that the independent board member has a significant impact on the independent audit committee and the audit quality. The study reveals that managerial ownership does not influence audit quality. The adoption of the independent audit committee with a long tenure of years can be potentially risky and less creative. As a result, their oversight functions may be in jeopardy, impaired or reduced performances. The research findings reveal no significant indirect effects of the independent audit committee on the relationship between managerial ownership, independent board member and audit quality in the banks listed in IDX. Independent board members need to renew the appointment of the independent audit committee members to improve the quality of the oversight functions undertaken by the audit committee, and hence, enhance audit quality.

Information disclosure carried out by management as an appointed agent is increasing in importance and hence, a source of concerns to users.  It is widely believed that information received by the stakeholders should be appropriate and sufficient for useful decision making, especially in the era of the Fourth industrial revolution. An appropriate and sufficient disclosure in the Annual report indicates a reflection of the effective implementation of the company's operational, strategic, financial and compliance objectives that have been carried out by the management. This study employed secondary data obtained from the annual report for the banks listed in the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). The data for internal control disclosure was observed through a content analysis approach by calculating the internal control system index obtained in the annual report. This study has shown that companies with high earnings quality report more openly convey the application of internal controls system disclosure. This study demonstrated that company with the high characteristics of the audit committee would significantly increase disclosure of internal controls system than a company without audit committee.  Supervision, as one of the internal controls established by the management, enhances the performances of the audit committee in ensuring compliance through full disclosure of the financial statements. Thus, restoring users’ trust and confidence in making informed and useful decisions on information emanating from the management.

Tertiary institutions in Nigeria are bedevilled with many financial irregularities and deficiencies that make the existence and the task performance (TP) of the internal auditors in the institutions questionable. This study, therefore, empirically examines the influence of independence (IND) and management support (MS) on the TP of internal auditors in the South-West tertiary institutions in Nigeria. The study formulates and tests two hypotheses in respect of the relationship between IND and TP in one hand, and MS and TP on the other hand. This study employs a quantitative approach, cross-sectional design, and survey questionnaire in obtaining data from 350 internal auditors in the internal audit departments/units of the universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education in South-West Nigeria. The study records a response rate of sixty percent (60%). Data are analysed using Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (IBM SPSS) version 22.0, and Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), version 2.0. The results of the PLS-SEM algorithm and bootstrapping reveal positive significant relationships between IND and TP, and the MS and TP, hence, the two hypotheses are supported. This study is significant and has practical and theoretical implications. It has a policy implication on the government or private proprietors who are owners of tertiary institutions; management and Council who control the institutions, internal auditors who are operators of internal auditing; regulatory authorities that perform oversight function on the institutions, and professional accounting and auditing bodies. The study adds to the body of literature and extends internal audit research to tertiary institutions.