A bibliometric review of a decade of Integrated Reporting research

Abstract

Understanding the current status and future directions of integrated reporting (IR) within today's voluntary reporting landscape is crucial for advancing accounting scholarship and practice. This study presents a comprehensive bibliometric review of IR research alongside content analysis to identify publication trends, research collaborations, leading authors, universities and countries, and emerging themes and subthemes within the field. The study analyses 588 journal articles extracted from the Web of Science and Scopus databases, spanning 2011 to March 2024. Publications' trend analysis shows a steady growth in IR research from 2011 to 2022, followed by a significant decline in 2023. The co-authorship analysis of authors and countries reveals strong collaborations between authors from certain countries, such as South Africa, New Zealand, Italy, and Australia, with a particularly strong network between Italian researchers. In addition, the application of content analysis identifies nine unique themes in IR research: (i) IIRC and IR Framework; (ii) IR adoption and practice; (iii) IR and integrated thinking; (iv) IR quality; (v) IR and economic benefits; (vi) IR and capital types; (vii) IR audit and assurance; (viii) IR vs. other reporting; and (ix) IR and the public sector. A detailed analysis of each cluster indicates that empirical studies largely drive the field, while classical theories such as agency, institutional, stakeholder, and legitimacy frequently underpin IR literature. Several gaps in the existing literature are highlighted, offering promising avenues for future research in the field of IR.

Keywords: Integrated reporting, Bibliometric analysis, Co-authorship analysis, Keyword analysis JEL Classification: Q01, M14, M41