A Proposal for Increasing Research Publication Efficiency within the Accounting Discipline

Abstract

Accounting scholars have argued that the publication process is inefficient, biased, and noisy to the point of being wasteful. Particularly, lengthy publication processes, low acceptance rates, poor and/or conflicting reviews, and disproportionate publication concentration across topical areas, research methodologies, and institutions have all been cited as evidence of existing process inefficiencies. In this paper, we adopt transparency as a guiding principle to propose several recommendations to increase the research publication efficiency within the accounting discipline. Specifically, we recommend that in-process knowledge (e.g., working papers) be made publicly available throughout the entire publication process, that reviewers publicly self-select into knowledge quality assessment and improvement roles, and that journal editors focus solely on their assurance role. We evaluate our recommendations using simple analytical models of knowledge creation, assessment and improvement, and assurance. Finally, we critically analyze potential outcomes of our recommendations, describe alternative and additional solutions, and invite future discourse.

Keywords: Publication Process, Review Process, Reviewers, Editors

JEL Classification: M40, M41, M12, M49, Z00