Accounting Horizons Revised Editorial Policy: A Renewed Focus on Practice Problems of Real Consequence

Abstract

W e are pleased to introduce ourselves as the new co-senior editors of Accounting Horizons and describe the revised editorial policy of the journal. By way of introduction, Scott is a retired KPMG audit partner who now works as a professor of practice and director of the Master of Accounting Program at North Carolina State University. At KPMG, he served in many roles, including as the managing partner of the Assurance and Advisory Services Center and in the Department of Professional Practice-Risk Management. Jeff is the EY Professor of Accounting and former director of the Brigham Young University School of Accountancy. He worked as an academic fellow and the revenue recognition project manager at the Financial Accounting Standards Board and as a technical consultant to the International Accounting Standards Board. He has also provided consulting expertise in litigation matters for the SEC and a number of large public companies. Both of us currently serve on audit committees and have served in various AAA leadership and committee roles.As you can see, our backgrounds lean heavily toward accounting practice. In fact, we believe these backgrounds have given us a unique perspective on the connections between the academy and the accounting profession. Although there are some significant recent efforts in the academy to improve these connections, we feel strongly that more can be done on the research front. Indeed, the academy can and should do more to address practice problems of real consequence, and this can only happen as we invest the time to rigorously describe these problems and then apply sound methods and theories to help resolve them

Assessing the impact of environmental accounting research: evidence from citation and journal data

“…From a sociological perspective, Kahlifa and Quattrone argue that “one needs the “knowledge of accounting knowledge” (Quattrone, 2000), a recursive process of questioning […]” (2008, p. 79). In addition, the relevance and impact of accounting research is a growing question within accounting academia (Burton et al , 2021a; Dechow et al , 2020; Showalter and Wilks, 2021). Finally, we note that citation patterns differ substantially across disciplines (Burton et al , 2021b; Leydesdorff and Shin, 2011), which calls for a more detailed analysis specifically focused on accounting.…”

Perceived Obstacles to Conducting and Publishing Practice-Relevant Academic Accounting Research

“…The editors of Accounting Horizons recently announced new policies intended to improve the practice-relevance and readability of submissions, which include requiring that submissions include a "Synopsis and Contribution to Practice" section of 150 words or less (Showalter and Wilks 2021). Although we believe this policy will help focus authors on the practical importance of their studies, Bartunek and Rynes (2010) discuss why "implications for practice" (IFP) descriptions will likely not solve the problem of the disconnect between academics and practitioners.…”

Cryptocurrencies in accounting schools?

“…However, some common ways accounting professors may introduce, explain, and debate cryptocurrencies in their classes include beginning by explaining what cryptocurrencies are and how they function, including their underlying technology, such as blockchains, and how they differ from traditional fiat currencies. Accounting professors may then explain the accounting implications of cryptocurrencies, such as the challenges in valuation, the need for proper disclosures, and the potential impact on financial statements, as well as the regulations, which should be discussed to show the current regulatory landscape for cryptocurrencies, including the varying approaches taken by different countries, and the implications for companies and investors (Ammous, 2018;Lawson et al, 2014;Showalter and Wilks, 2021).…”