Editorial

It has been our tradition to produce an editorial for the first issue of each volume of AAAJ reflecting on our current thinking, the changing direction of AAAJ and, more importantly, the accounting academic world in which we participate. In our very first editorial, Guthrie and Parker (1988), we stated that AAAJ aimed to address a diversity of accounting and auditing issues in terms of ideology, practice and policy, in a form that would be accessible to both academics and practitioners. Our stated aim was to promote interdisciplinary accounting research with a strong commitment to the full range of qualitative and historical methodologies as well as critical analyses. We saw AAAJ as aiming to publish papers that analyse accounting theory, practice and policy within its social, ethical and institutional contexts. The journal’s mission was to be an international forum for the dissemination of research, presenting among other things,interpretive, critical and historical perspectives on current issues and problems, government and profession policies and public and private sector accountability.

It is instructive today to reflect upon the hurdles we faced in launching this endeavour – a small, nascent but underdeveloped community of interdisciplinary, qualitative and critical accounting scholars, suspicion about such a journal diverging in content and style from the “mainstream”traditional accounting research journals, and a pervasive view amongst accounting academics that there were too many accounting research journals competing for too few quality papers. Given the veritable tidal wave of accounting journals that have emerged since AAAJ’s inception, the veracity of the latter observation has been soundly refuted!

In 2007, AAAJ enters its 20th year of publication, having established itself as a pre-eminent leader of interdisciplinary accounting research publications internationally; the other main refereed accounting research journals that focus on interdisciplinary research include the long established Accounting, Organisations and Society, as well as Critical Perspectives on Accounting, and Accounting Forum. More recent additions to the Emerald stable of accounting and finance research journals include Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management, Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, Journal of Human Resource Costing and Accounting, Review of Accounting and Finance, Managerial Finance, Studies in Economics and Finance, and Pacific Accounting Review.

AAAJ was founded and is still edited by the current editors, and over the past 19 years it has published 94 issues, over 500 articles and a large cohort of authors. We now publish up to seven articles per issue, and average a high and rising number of full text downloads, now running at over 250,000 a year. This is testament to the now wide readership and active participation in the scholarly community we serve.

In the past two decades AAAJ has achieved its objectives of establishing itself as a leading international interdisciplinary accounting research journal and has stayed true to its original mission explained above. The research we publish remains based upon, and informed by, a wide range of scholarly traditions, including sociology, philosophy, political science,history, psychology, anthropology, and economics. We remain committed to exploring accounting in its context; a core philosophy we owe to one of our founding editorial board members, Professor Cyril Tomkins, University of Bath,UK (now retired).

2. AAAJ Editorial board and operations

Now AAAJ publishes the most papers of any interdisciplinary accounting research journal. Its issues now annually include two special theme issues for each of which guest editors are appointed up to four years in advance involving preparatory work that generally takes three to four years. In Parker and Guthrie (2006), we highlighted their success and listed over 20 special issues that have attracted high quality papers, strong competition for space,and that have achieved particularly high download statistics. Special issue themes are designed to push the boundaries of the discipline and to encourage new fields of research.

In 2007, AAAJ special issues include guest editors Carol Adams and Carlos Larrinaga addressing “Engagement: ethical, social and environmental accounting and accountability from the inside” and guest editors Sue Llewellyn and Marcus Milne, addressing “Accounting as codified discourse”. For 2008, we have commissioned a number of papers in association with the APIRA 2007 conference to celebrate the 20th anniversary of AAAJ. Also other special issues will be guest edited by Niamh Brennan and Jill Solomon addressing“Corporate governance, accountability and mechanisms of accountability”,and by Linda Kirkham and Jane Broadbent addressing “Accounting and gender issues”. A further special issue has been commissioned for 2009, being guest edited by Samantha Warren and Jane Davison, assisted by Lee Parker and addressing “Accounting and the visual”.

The AAAJ editorial board numbers over 50 academics from around the globe, ranging from long established senior scholars to the next generation of leading edge researchers. For instance, in the upcoming UK RAE, AAAJeditorial board member Professor David Otley is panel chairman for business and management; four editorial board members (8 per cent) are at five star ranked University of Manchester; a further four editorial board members are at five ranked universities; i.e. eight out of 19 (42 per cent) of AAAJ’s UK editorial board members are at five star or five ranked universities. In addition AAAJ also draws on the services of an ad hoc referee community of over 200 scholars internationally.

All papers are subject to double blind refereeing by two referees, and where deemed appropriate by the editors (for at least one-third of papers submitted),three referees are employed. Today, the journal’s paper acceptance rate is less than 20 per cent.

3. Reflections on AAAJ in 2006

3.1 AAAJ’s contributions to the scholarly community

An examination of our 2006, (Volume 19) output statistics indicate AAAJ’s growth and contribution to the corpus of international accounting research literature. In Volume 19, we published over 35 articles, several commentaries and a variety of short prose and poetry. There were nearly 1,000 pages of print to which over 60 authors contributed during 2006. Also in 2006, we had two special issues of AAAJ, (see below for more details). The literary editor continues to attract high quality poetry and prose on the world of work,organisations and accounting.

Also, within the covers of AAAJ for 2006 the following special issues and themed sections can be found: one issue edited by Brendan O’Dwyer and Jeffrey Unerman addressing NGO auditing and accountability; another edited by Sonja Gallhofer and Jim Haslam addressing online reporting; and a collection of papers from the EAA ICAEW Symposium on extended performance reporting, edited by James Guthrie.

The AAAJ editorial board has each year continued to select the annual AAAJMary Parker Follett Award for Excellence. The award recipient is chosen by the members of the Editorial Advisory Board for best meeting the editorial objectives of the journal, taking into account its originality, contribution to knowledge, clarity and presentation. Awards and high commendations have, in recent years, gone to scholars from around the globe. Also during 2006 we selected and announced the 2006 Outstanding Doctoral Research Awards in “Interdisciplinary Accounting Research” which went to Susan Greer, Macquarie University,Sydney for a thesis titled “Indigenous peoples: a history of accounting interventions in the New South Wales Aborigines Protection and Welfare Boards 1883-1969”.

Our calls for papers and other announcements published in AAAJ Volume 19 also demonstrate the encouragement we give the international community of scholars and this support will be an on-going feature of AAAJ’s mission.

3.2 The APIRA conferences

In our tenth anniversary editorial (Guthrie and Parker, 1997)we asked the question where AAAJ was heading and indicated a number of themes that we as editors would pursue in the future. One of the themes was as follows:

The promotion of national and international meetings of scholars in the creative establish of informal networks for the mutual support of like-mind scholars around the world.

In light of this objective we have been proud to be associated with the APIRA conferences held in Sydney (1985), Osaka (1998), Adelaide (2001), and Singapore(2004). This conference operates in three yearly rotations with the European Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Accounting Conference (IPA) and the New York Critical Perspectives on Accounting Conference (CPA).

We are expecting a very strong representation of academics to attend the New Zealand APIRA 2007 Conference, joining us from Australia and New Zealand, the UK, Europe, North America, the Asia Pacific region, and many other countries. There will be a lively interdisciplinary program of research papers and forums addressing the relationships between accounting, auditing and accountability and their social, institutional, economic and political environments.

APIRA is the premier interdisciplinary accounting research conference in the Asia Pacific region, and together with the IPA and New York CPA conferences,constitutes the foremost high-level interdisciplinary accounting research conference group in the world.

4. Emerald awards

In 2002 we are proud to have received the Leading Editors Award for Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal. Emerald has over 160 management related academic and professional journals and Leading Editor Awards are made in recognition of editors’ professionalism, commitment and contribution to the success of their journal. AAAJ is now subscribed to by 98 per cent of the Financial Times top 100 Graduate Business schools in the world. Last year’s Volume (No. 19) published articles have already recorded over 17,000 full text downloads.

Previously as AAAJ editors, we have also been awarded the Emerald Literati Club Research Fund Awards. The Research Fund Awards represent Emerald’s commitment to reward and recognise the valuable contribution made to Emerald journals by the scholarly research community. From this activity the authors produced three major international research papers on the issue of journal rankings, quality of academic work and the commodification of academic activities (Parker et al., 1998; Gray et al., 2002; Guthrie et al., 2004).

Continuing on from this work the editors have continued to explore issues associated with the changing nature of the Higher Education System, with both an Australian and international focus. For example, refer to further analyses and critiques of the commercialisation of the university sector, associated performance redefinition and measurement, and their teaching and research impacts presented by Parker (2002, 2005, 2007a, b). In addition, Guthrie and Neumann (2007, forthcoming) and Ryan et al. (2007, forthcoming), present the findings of a project investigating the intended and unintended consequences of the contemporary performance driven environment in the Australian Higher Education Sector (AHES) focusing on the performance mechanisms used and the performance information required. It is argued that the establishment of a performance-driven, market-oriented university system in Australia has created a context in which fiscal and economic performance indicators have become dominant in understanding the“performance” of the AHES and of individual university’s activities. Several key issues are identified as arising from contemporary Australian government policies. These are:

• the relatively short period for the government to move from full funding to partial subsidisation of universities and the implications of this for universities in the short- and long-term;

• the distortion in the balance of disciplines and mix of students;

• the quality of academic work within universities and the roles and workload of staff; and

• the reliance on tied Central Government grants to the AHES in terms of industrial relations, governance structures, quality of teaching and research priorities.

These issues touch the core of university purposes and operations and need further research and understanding to ensure the long-term success of Australian public universities. They also resonate with observed trends in universities internationally.

We anticipate our continued attention to these developing trends in university identity and role redefinition, research commodification and profession and societal impacts, both as researchers and as AAAJ editors.

5. In conclusion

We remain concerned that today, especially under the pressures of the commercialising and expanding university business school sector, accounting and management academics number amongst their ranks a significant proportion who appear to regard their principal role as inculcating and training students in received (usually professionally determined) “knowledge” while making few, if any, attempts to challenge, critique or expand upon that “knowledge”(Parker, 2006). However, arguably academe’s distinguishing feature traditionally has been the pursuit of scholarship. This idea of scholarship is much broader than simply teaching. It embraces the individual’s pursuit of learning and understanding through the whole range of scholarly activities: formal research, reading, reflection, discussion,debate, critique and writing. The value of this scholarship is then tested and confirmed through its dissemination – via workshops, conferences and, of course, publication (Parker et al., 1998).

We thank Emerald and our current AAAJ managing editor Simon Linacre who has been an integral part of the editorial team and a driving force behind many of AAAJ’s recent developments and we look forward to working with him on AAAJ’s ongoing long-term strategic focus and future development. We would also like to thank our Editorial Board members, ad hocs and Guest Editors for their untiring energy and support for the ongoing prosecution and development of AAAJ’s mission. We look forward to an active and exciting engagement with the international research community over the next decade.

List of past AAAJ editorials

• Parker, L. and Guthrie, J. (2006), “Editorial: the coming out of accounting research specialisms”, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Vol. 19, No. 1, pp. 5-16.

• Parker, L. and Guthrie, J. (2005), “Editorial: welcome to ’the rough and tumble’: managing accounting research in a corporatised university world”, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal,Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 5-13.

• Guthrie, J. and Parker, L. (2004), “Editorial: diversity and AAAJ in the interdisciplinary perspectives on accounting auditing and accountability”, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 7-16.

• Guthrie, J. and Parker, L. (2003), “AAAJ and accounting legitimacy in a post enron world”, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal,Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 7-11.

• Guthrie, J. and Parker, L. (2002), “Mobilise change by means of academic scholarship and publication”, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 7-1.

• Guthrie, J. and Parker, L. (2001), “AAAJ: without fear or favour”, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 4-9.

• Guthrie, J. and Parker, L. (2000), “AAAJ and the New Millennium:challenges and horizons”, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 6-9.

• Guthrie, J. and Parker, L. (1999), “Editorial”, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 1-5.

• Guthrie, J. and Parker, L. (1998), “Editorial”, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 1-4.

• Guthrie, J. and Parker, L. (1997), “Editorial: celebration, reflection and a future: a decade of AAAJ”, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 3-8.

• Guthrie, J. and Parker, L. (1996), “Editorial”, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 3-6.

• Guthrie, J. and Parker, L. (1995), “Editorial”, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 2-7.

• Guthrie, J. and Parker, L. (1994), “Editorial”, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 3-7.

• Guthrie, J. and Parker, L. (1993), “Editorial”, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 3-7.

• Guthrie, J. and Parker, L. (1992), “Editorial”, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 4-6.

• Guthrie, J. and Parker, L. (1991), “Editorial”, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 2-6.

• Guthrie, J. and Parker, L. (1990), “Editorial”, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Vol. 3, No.1, pp. 4-5.

• Guthrie, J. and Parker, L. (1989), “Editorial”, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 3-6.

• Guthrie, J. and Parker, L. (1988), “Editorial”, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 3-5.

James Guthrie, Lee ParkerUniversity of Sydney, Sydney, Australia School of Commerce, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia