Keywords

research attention, research impact, citations, research contribution

Abstract

Many question the value of accounting scholarship to society. We compared the attention the general public, policy makers, and academics give to academic accounting research relative to other business disciplines and other more general disciplines (economics, psychology, and other sciences). The results indicate that accounting research receives significantly less attention from the general public than all other disciplines and also performs relatively poorly in receiving policy makers’ attention compared to both economics and finance. Articles in other disciplines’ elite journals cite relatively little of accounting’s elite-level publications, but non-elite journal articles cite accounting research in similar numbers to other disciplines. We also compared the attention subtopic areas within accounting receive. Within accounting, tax research receives more attention from the general public and policy makers than other topic areas. Finally, we rank scholars, institutions, and journals by the attention they receive. We discuss how these findings could impact accounting education.

Original Publication Citation

Burton, F. G., S. L. Summers, T. J. Wilks, and D. A. Wood. 2021. Do we matter? The attention policy makers, academics, and the general public give to accounting research. Issues in Accounting Education, 36 (1): 1-22. DOI: 10.2308/ISSUES-2020-017

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2021

Publisher

Issues in Accounting Education

Language

English

College

Marriott School of Business

Department

Accountancy

University Standing at Time of Publication

Full Professor

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Accounting Commons

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