A critical approach to the evaluation of the quality of accounting research in the Spanish university systand its implications
Una aproximación crítica a la evaluación de la calidad de la investigación en contabilidad en el sistema universitario español y a sus implicaciones
Abstract
This research analyses the convenience and consequences of the ANECA criteria for the assessment of the research performed by accounting academics in Spain. We focus on the level for the accreditation of catedrático de universidad, and the publication patterns and possibilities of the accounting scholars in Spain. We find that they have more difficulties for publication than their counterparts in adjacent fields of knowledge. Most of the accounting academics affiliated to Spanish institutions than have succeeded in publishing in the top international accounting journals co-authored their articles with foreign authors, mainly affiliated to USA or UK institutions, and/or focused their research on international setting and topics. The Spanish regulation for accreditation stresses this pattern. This situation may have serious consequences for the survival of the accounting discipline in Spain and for the research on topics focused on Spanish problems.
Downloads
-
Abstract678
-
PDF686
-
HTML228
References
Aarssen, L. W., Tregenza, T., Budden, A. E., Lortie, C. J., Koricheva, J., & Leimu, R. (2008). Bang for Your Buck: Rejection Rates and Impact Factors in Ecological Journals. The Open Ecology Journal, 1(1), 14-19. https://doi.org/10.2174/1874213000801010014
Adair, R. K. (1982). A physics editor comment on Peters and Ceci's peer-review study. The Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 5, 196. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.1971
Agencia Nacional de Evaluación de la Calidad y Acreditación (2017). Informe periódico de ANECA para la acreditación en los Cuerpos Docentes Universitarios . Difusión de resultados. http://www.aneca.es/Documentos-y-publicaciones/Informes-de-resultados
Agencia Nacional de Evaluación de la Calidad y Acreditación (2019a). Informe periódico de ANECA para la acreditación en los Cuerpos Docentes Universitarios . Difusión de resultados. http://www.aneca.es/Documentos-y-publicaciones/Informes-de-resultados
Agencia Nacional de Evaluación de la Calidad y Acreditación (2019b). Méritos evaluables para la acreditación nacional para el acceso a los cuerpos docentes universitarios. http://www.aneca.es/Programas-de-evaluacion/Evaluacion-de-profesorado/ACADEMIA/Criterios-Diciembre-2019
Albu, C. N., Albu, N., & Alexander, D. (2014). When global accounting standards meet the local context-Insights from an emerging economy. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 25(6), 489-510. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpa.2013.03.005
Altbach, P. (2015). The Imperial Tongue: English as the Dominating Academic Language. International Higher Education, 49, 2-4. https://doi.org/10.6017/ihe.2007.49.7986
Argilés-Bosch, J. M., & Garcia-Blandon, J. (2010). Accounting Research: a Critical View of the Present Situation and Prospects. Spanish Acounting Review- Revista de Contabilidad, 14, 9-34. https://doi.org/ 10.1016/S1138-4891(11)70026-7
Arnold, P. J. (2009). Global financial crisis: The challenge to accounting research. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 34(6-7), 803-809. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aos.2009.04.004
Arquero, J. L., Jiménez Cardoso, S. M., & Laffarga Briones, J. (2016). Utilidad percibida de la producción académica-contable. Opinión de los profesores universitarios y de los profesionales. Revista de Contabilidad-Spanish Accounting Review, 19(2), 239-251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rcsar.2015.10.004
Arquero, J. L., Jiménez Cardoso, S. M., & Laffarga Briones, J. (2017). Patrones de investigación en contabilidad de los profesores con éxito académico. Revista Española de Financiacion y Contabilidad, 46(3), 327-368. https://doi.org/10.1080/02102412.2017.1287462
Baker, C. R., & Bettner, M. S. (1997). Interpretive and critical research in accounting: A commentary on its absence from mainstream accounting research. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 8(4), 293-310. https://doi.org/10.1006/cpac.1996.0116
Ballas, A., & Theoharakis, V. (2003). Exploring Diversity in Accounting through Faculty. Contemporary Accounting Research, 20(4), 619-644. https://doi.org/10.1506/MLWH-KBTM-ET47-LYKH
Banal-Estañol, A., Macho-Stadler, I., & Pérez-Castrillo, D. (2019). Les étapes du financement de la recherche académique : de la soumission en partenariat jusqu'à l'attribution et aux publications. Revue Économique, 70(5), 625-653. https://doi.org/10.3917/reco.705.0625
Bedeian, A. G. (2003). The Manuscript Review Process: The Proper Roles of Authors, Referees, and Editors". Journal of Management Inquiry, 12(4), 331-338. https://doi.org/10.1177/1056492603259056
Bengtsson, E. (2011). Repoliticalization of accounting standard setting-The IASB, the EU and the global financial crisis. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 22(6), 567-580. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpa.2011.04.001
Buchheit, S., Collins, D., & Reitenga, A. (2002). A cross-discipline comparison of top-tier academic journal publication rates: 1997-1999. Journal of Accounting Education, 20(2), 123-130. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0748-5751(02)00003-9
Chan, K. C., Chen, C. R., & Cheng, L. T. W. (2006). A ranking of accounting research output in the European region. Accounting and Business Research, 36(1), 3-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/00014788.2006.9730003
Cole, S., Cole, J. R., & Simon, G. A. (1981). Chance and Consensus in Peer Review. Science, 214, 881-886.
Dillard, J. F., & Tinker, T. (1996). Commodifying business and accounting education: The implications of accreditation. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 7(1), 215-225. https://doi.org/10.1006/cpac.1996.0027
Dillard, J., & Vinnari, E. (2017). A case study of critique: Critical perspectives on critical accounting. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 43, 88-109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpa.2016.09.004
Escobar Pérez, B., García Meca, E., & Larrán Jorge, M. (2014). Factores que influyen sobre la producción científica en Contabilidad en España: la opinión de los profesores universitarios de Contabilidad (II parte). Revista Española de Documentación Científica, 37(2), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.3989/redc.2014.2.1087
European Academy of Management. (2014). Euram 2014 Waves and winds of strategic leadership for sustainable competitiveness. http://repository.supsi.ch/5726/1/e-book-euram2014.pdf
European Accounting Association. (2017). 40th European Accounting Association Annual Congress 2017. 10-12 May 2017 Valencia Programme & collected papers. http://eaa2017.eaacongress.org/userfiles/EAA Programme 2017.pdf
Evans, L. (2018). Language, translation and accounting: towards a critical research agenda. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 31(7), 1844-1873. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-08-2017-3055
Fogarty, T. J., & Markarian, G. (2007). An Empirical Assessment of the Rise and Fall of Accounting as an Academic Discipline. Issues in Accounting Education, 22(2), 137-161. https://doi.org/10.2308/iace.2007.22.2.137
Fogarty, T. J., & Zimmerman, A. (2019). Few are called, fewer are chosen: Elite reproduction in U.S. academic accounting. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 60, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpa.2018.09.001
Gans, J. S., & Shepherd, G. B. (1994). How Are the Mighty Fallen: Rejected Classic Articles by Leading Economists. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 8(1), 165-179. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2138157
Gendron, Y., & Rodrigue, M. (2019). On the centrality of peripheral research and the dangers of tight boundary gatekeeping. Critical Perspectives on Accounting. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpa.2019.02.003
Gildenhuys, P. (2020). Lotteries make science fairer. Journal of Responsible Innovation, 0(0), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/23299460.2020.1812485
Gillies, D. (2014). Selecting applications for funding: why random choice is better than peer review. RT. A Journal on Research Policy and Evaluation, 2(1), 64-71. https://doi.org/10.13130/2282-5398/3834
Gray, R. (2010). A re-evaluation of social, environmental and sustainability accounting: An exploration of an emerging trans-disciplinary field? Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 1(1), 11-32. https://doi.org/10.1108/20408021011059205
Humphrey, C., & Gendron, Y. (2015). What is going on? The sustainability of accounting academia. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 26, 47-66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpa.2014.09.008
Hussain, S., Liu, L. Y. J., & Miller, A. D. (2020). Accounting as a dichotomised discipline: An analysis of the source materials used in the construction of accounting articles. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 66(102086), 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpa.2019.04.007
Inglis, M., & Mejia-Ramos, J. P. (2009). The Effect of Authority on the Persuasiveness of Mathematical Arguments. Cognition and Instruction, 27(1), 25-50. https://doi.org/10.1080/07370000802584513
Jones, M. J., & Roberts, R. (2005). International publishing patterns: An investigation of leading UK and US accounting and finance journals. Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, 32(5-6), 1107-1140. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0306-686X.2005.00624.x
Kamla, R., & Komori, N. (2018). Diagnosing the translation gap: The politics of translation and the hidden contradiction in interdisciplinary accounting research. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 31(7), 1874-1903. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-08-2017-3067
Kasanen, E., & Lukka, K. (1996). Is Accounting a Global or a Local Discipline? Evidence from Major Research Journals. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 21(7), 755-773.
Larrán-Jorge, M., Escobar-Pérez, B., & García-Meca, E. (2013). El sistema de acreditación nacional: La opinión de los profesores universitarios de Contabilidad. Revista Española de Documentacion Cientifica, 36(3), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.3989/redc.2013.3.947
Le Sueur, H., Dagliati, A., Buchan, I., Whetton, A. D., Martin, G. P., Dornan, T., & Geifman, N. (2020). Pride and prejudice-What can we learn from peer review? Medical Teacher, 42(9), 1012-1018. https://doi.org/10.1080/0142159X.2020.1774527
Lee, T. A., & Williams, P. F. (1999). Accounting From the Inside: Legitimizing the Accounting Academic Elite. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 10(6), 867-895. https://doi.org/10.1006/cpac.1998.0281
Luukkonen, T. (2012). Conservatism and risk-taking in peer review: Emerging ERC practices. Research Evaluation, 21(1), 48-60. https://doi.org/10.1093/reseval/rvs001
Macdonald, S., & Kam, J. (2007). Ring a Ring o'Roses: Quality Journal and Gamesmanship in Management Studies. Journal of Management Studies, 44(4), 640-655. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2007.00704.x
Merchant, K. A., Van Der Stede, W. A., & Zheng, L. (2003). Disciplinary constraints on the advancement of knowledge: The case of organizational incentive systems. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 28(2-3), 251-286. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0361-3682(01)00051-4
Moizer, P. (2009). Publishing in accounting journals: A fair game? Accounting, Organizations and Society, 34(2), 285-304. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aos.2008.08.003
Oler, D. K., Oler, M. J., Skousen, C. J., & Talakai, J. (2016). Has concentration in the top accounting journals changed over time? Accounting Horizons, 30(1), 63-78. https://doi.org/10.2308/acch-51271
Parker, L., Guthrie, J., & Gray, R. (1998). Accounting and management research: passwords from the gatekeepers. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 11(4), 371-406. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513579810231420
Peters, D. P., & Ceci, S. J. (1982). Peer-review practices of psychological journals The fate of published articles, submitted again. The Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 5, 187-195.
Raffournier, B., & Schatt, A. (2010). Is european accounting research fairly reflected in academic journals? An investigation of possible non-mainstream and language barrier biases. In European Accounting Review (Vol. 19, Issue 1). https://doi.org/10.1080/09638180902989368
Roumbanis, L. (2019). Peer Review or Lottery? A Critical Analysis of Two Different Forms of Decision-making Mechanisms for Allocation of Research Grants. Science Technology and Human Values, 44(6), 994-1019. https://doi.org/10.1177/0162243918822744
Shijaku, E., & Ceron Hurtado, N. M. (2019). Performance feedback in academic journals: exploring the relationship between journal impact factor and manuscript rejection rates. Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.5465/AMBPP.2019.15904abstract
Sikdar, S., Tehria, P., Marsili, M., Ganguly, N., & Mukherjee, A. (2020). On the effectiveness of the scientific peer-review system: a case study of the Journal of High Energy Physics. International Journal on Digital Libraries, 21(2), 93-107. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00799-018-0247-9
Spiegel, M. (2012). Reviewing less - Progressing more. Review of Financial Studies, 25(5), 1331-1338. https://doi.org/10.1093/rfs/hhs052
Street, C., & Ward, K. W. (2019). Cognitive biasin the peer review process: Understanding a source of friction between reviewers and researchers. Data Base for Advances in Information Systems, 50(4), 52-70. https://doi.org/10.1145/3371041.3371046
Sugimoto, C. R., Larivière, V., Ni, C., & Cronin, B. (2013). Journal acceptance rates: A cross-disciplinary analysis of variability and relationships with journal measures. Journal of Informetrics, 7(4), 897-906. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joi.2013.08.007
Swanson, E. P. (2004). Publishing in the Majors: A Comparison of Accounting, Finance, Management, and Marketing. Contemporary Accounting Research, 21(1), 223-255. https://doi.org/10.1506/RCKM-13FM-GK0E-3W50
Swanson, E. P., Wolfe, C. J., & Zardkoohi, A. (2007). Concentration in Publishing at Top-Tier Business Journals: Evidence and Potential Explanations. Contemporary Accounting Research, 24(4), 1255-1289. https://doi.org/10.1506/car.24.4.9
Tomkins, C., & Groves, R. (1983). The Everyday Accountant and Researching Further Thoughts His Reality. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 8(4), 407-415. https://doi.org/10.1016/0361-3682(83)90053-3
Tsang, E. W. K., & Frey, B. S. (2007). The as-is journal review process: Let authors own their ideas. Academy of Management Learning and Education, 6(1), 128-136. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMLE.2007.24401710
Victor-Ponce, P., & Muñoz Colomina, C. I. (2016). ¿La investigación española en Contabilidad de Gestión está alejada de la práctica profesional? La opinión académica. Revista de Contabilidad-Spanish Accounting Review, 19(1), 45-54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rcsar.2015.01.002
Copyright (c) 2023 Revista de Contabilidad - Spanish Accounting Review
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The publications in this journal are subject to the following terms:
1. Ediciones de la Universidad de Murcia (EDITUM) and ASEPUC conserve the patrimonial rights (copyright) of the published manuscripts, and favour and allow their reuse under the licence of use indicated in point 2.
2. The manuscripts are published in the electronic edition of the journal under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence. It allows to copy, distribute and include the article in a collective work (for example, an anthology), as long as there is no commercial purpose, the article is not altered or modified and the original work is properly cited. This journal is free of charge for the Open Access publication. ASEPUC and EDITUM finance the productiona and publication costs of the manuscripts.
3. Conditions for self-archiving. Authors are permitted and encouraged to electronically disseminate the published version of their works, as it favors their circulation and dissemination and thus a possible increase in their citation and reach among the academic community.
