From little seeds to a big tree: a far-reaching assessment of the integrated reporting stream

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide the first assessment of the integrated reporting (IR) stream using a broad sample of publications separated into research scopes (accounting and non-core accounting journals) and using a longitudinal perspective. This study proposes to identify its main contributors, evidencing both individual and collaborative work. Design/methodology/approach Bibliometric tools supported by a milestone approach to IR history were used to address the first two research questions on the growth of this stream per scope. Density maps on keyword co-occurrence provided insights into the third question aimed at assessing differences in the scopes’ research topics. The number of publications, citation-based metrics and network analysis based on co-authorship allowed us to answer the last question regarding the top contributors. Findings The results endorse the acknowledged interest in this stream, exposing its incredible growth, which already amounts to over 1,000 different scholars, 200 distinguished journals and 7,600 citations across 540 peer-reviewed publications. With the accounting scope leading on citation frequency and the non-core accounting having more publications, an almost picture-perfect circle in a pooled density map supports the field’s advocated interdisciplinarity with its distinctive contributions. Finally, the cluster analysis revealed that 140 publications belong exclusively to 10 research clusters that contribute to more than half of the total citation count. Originality/value This rich analysis combines visualizing techniques with in-depth bibliometrics to provide the first far-reaching collation of publications on IR to offer a complementary view on this dynamic interdisciplinary stream.

The role of integrated thinking in corporate governance during the COVID-19 crisis: perspectives from South Africa

“…The bibliometric analysis provides an overview of the relationship, volume and impact of the research (Lopes and Penela, 2022). Bibliometric tools, including keyword co-occurrence analyses, are applied to the practical and academic sources (Van Eck and Waltman, 2017).…”

“…This is indicative of articles which have connected themes (Caputo et al ., 2021). In line with other bibliometric studies (Lopes and Penela, 2022), VOSviewer software (see Van Eck and Waltman, 2017) is used to generate textual and graphic representations of the results. The connected keywords resulted in three clusters of themes developing and these points served as open codes and were recorded in a “data mind map” (adapted from: Holland, 1998).…”

A review of integrated thinking research in developed and developing economies

“…This analysis allows for the research themes and future avenues of research for integrated thinking as a concept to be identified and developed (see Section 7). In line with other bibliometric studies (Bellucci et al, 2020;Lopes and Penela, 2021), VOSviewer software (see Van Eck and Waltman, 2017) is used to generate textual and graphic representations of the results.…”

“…The bibliometric analysis provides an overview of the relationship, volume and impact of the research through various techniques, frequency analysis, citation analysis, authorship and country affiliation analysis (Lopes and Penela, 2021; Zupic and Čater, 2015). Bibliometric tools including citation, co-citation, bibliographic-coupling and keyword co-occurrence analyses are applied to the 98 academic sources (Van Eck and Waltman, 2017).…”

“…In line with other bibliometric studies (Bellucci et al. , 2020; Lopes and Penela, 2021), VOSviewer software (see Van Eck and Waltman, 2017) is used to generate textual and graphic representations of the results.…”