Pages: 32

No chapter abstract available.

Pages: 3

In 1967, Becker presented the notion of “behavioural accounting” as the application of methods and approaches from the behavioural sciences to investigate the interface between accounting and human behaviour (Birnberg & Shields 1989). Today, behavioural accounting research (BAR) can be defined as the systematic observation of people creating, reporting, and/or responding to accounting data. Behavioural accounting researchers evaluate behaviours, judgments, decisions, and cognitive and physiological responses to accounting information and disclosures individually and in the aggregate.

Pages: 15

The researcher may have developed potential insights into accounting, such as understanding how the accounting world operates, identifying cause-and-effect relationships, or proposing solutions to existing problems. To effectively communicate these insights and persuade research consumers, critics, and competitors of their validity, the researcher must carefully consider the evidence required to rigorously test their ideas. This chapter provides guidance on collecting and presenting this evidence in a compelling manner. By following the approach outlined in this chapter, students and early-career scholars can enhance their ability to address these questions using three structured paragraphs.

Pages: 12

This chapter examines the critical components of effective experimental design, focusing on the predictive validity model. The chapter emphasizes the importance of well-defined research questions and hypotheses grounded in theory and relevant to the accounting context. Operationalizing variables, ensuring stimulus realism, and selecting appropriate levels of independent variables are crucial for internal validity. The paper also discusses the role of statistical analysis and control of extraneous variables, highlighting the advantages of random assignment and manipulation checks. By addressing these key elements, researchers can enhance the rigour and generalizability of their experimental findings.

Pages: 155

No chapter abstract available.

Pages: 23

This chapter provides a selective overview of judgment and decision-making (JDM) research in accounting and its roots in psychology. Our focus is on understanding how judgments and decisions are made and how they may be improved. We examine the dual process model of cognitive processing to help understand judgments and decisions in the accounting setting. The dual process model distinguishes between automatic and heuristic (System 1) processes and effortful and analytic (System 2) processes that are used by individuals to make judgments and decisions. Although largely functional, we discuss how these processes may result in biased judgments and decisions. We consider a framework for improving JDM and review select research in accounting that examines interventions that can help avoid or correct judgment errors. Finally, we offer guidance for new behavioural researchers in applying the dual process model to accounting contexts, where appropriate.

Pages: 16

This chapter explores social psychology theories that have been or could be applied to behavioural accounting. Social psychology focuses on “how the thought, feeling and behaviour of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presences of others” (Allport 1985, 3) and, as such, encompasses a broad range of theories. This chapter focuses on four specific subfields within social psychology that have been applied by behavioural accounting researchers: interpersonal affect, accountability, attribution, and social comparison.

Pages: 12

This chapter presents the various ethical theories that provide the conceptual foundations of ethical behaviour in the accounting profession and identifies the normative foundations that support research into ethical judgment and behaviour of accountants. In particular, ethical theory provides a normative standard of ethical behaviour against which the standards and principles of professional accountants’ behaviour can be compared. More specifically, ethical norms, obligations, duties, and trust bestowed on professional accountants by society are explored, as well as the consistency of these factors with the normative foundations as encapsulated by consequential, deontological, and character-based ethics.

Pages: 20

This chapter provides an introduction to stakeholder theory and legitimacy theory. Stakeholder theory considers that organizations must be accountable not only to investors but also to a multiplicity of stakeholders whose expectations and interests can affect or be affected by the organizations’ actions. The focal point of legitimacy theory is that the alignment between organizations’ behaviour and social expectations represents a strategic resource: organizations search for legitimacy to maintain their social contract with the communities in which they are operating. Stakeholder theory has been approached using three slightly different lens, and we provide an overview of all three: the descriptive, normative, and instrumental approaches to stakeholder theory, along with a classification of stakeholders and a comparison with agency theory. Next, we compare legitimacy theory and to stakeholder theory, and discuss both stakeholder and legitimacy theory in the context of behavioural accounting research and provide suggestions for further research in this area.

Pages: 13

Our paper explores the possible connections between behavioural accounting research and agency theory. To begin the exploration, we describe agency theory and its origins. Given our interest in behavioural accounting, we concentrate on how the individual is influenced by accounting processes and reports rather than on how accounting leads to outcomes based on the aggregate behaviour of market participants. In our view, behavioural accounting research is linked to agency theory by explaining the role compensation, information, contracts, and monitoring play in agency theory. A sample of research is used to illustrate how behavioural accounting researchers have employed agency theory in their papers. Finally, possible research directions are indicated that may be useful for behavioural accounting researchers. The behavioural accounting literature suggests agency theory could be useful in explaining how CSR reporting may benefit managers, examining how truthfulness can be used to overcome agency problems within organizations, studying the relationship between compensation based on a balanced scorecard and required audit procedures, and considering the influence of incentives where managers face a multiple task situation in which goal difficulty and feedback cues may influence total effort as applied to the tasks.

Pages: 23

In this chapter we review experimental accounting literature that has examined the determinants and consequences of various qualitative features of corporate financial disclosures. Although the influence of the quantitative information contained in corporate disclosures largely follows valuation theory, how and why the qualitative features of these disclosures influence investors appears more nuanced. For example, recent research provides many examples of capital market consequences from the manner in which information is articulated. This research draws on a broad range of theories from social psychology, psycholinguistics, and other related fields. As such, we organize our discussion based on different characteristics of disclosures rather than by the theories used in this literature. In particular, we summarize research investigating the linguistic features of disclosures (i.e., the specific words used to deliver a message), managers’ nonverbal communication, a variety of new media (e.g., video, audio, text, social media) used to deliver disclosures, and the devices (e.g., computers, mobile phones) investors use to access disclosures. We identify potentially fruitful areas for future research throughout.

Pages: 25

This chapter presents a comprehensive review of experimental research on accounting standard setting organized around theories tested in previous studies. Much of this research tests predictions based on theories from psychology, including theories of heuristic judgment, interpersonal judgment, explanation-based judgment, causal reasoning, individual differences, and goal-directed reasoning. The remaining research makes predictions based on financial or other economic incentives or provides evidence that is descriptive in nature. Taking a theory-based approach, as we do in this chapter, highlights theories that may be particularly well-aligned with standard-setting issues, as well as theories that may warrant greater attention. As such, this approach should help researchers identify opportunities to provide meaningful insights into standard-setting issues. Overall, we expect this chapter to provide a foundation for those who plan to conduct accounting standard-setting research that is of interest to standard-setters in the United States and internationally.

Pages: 21

This chapter provides an overview of emerging research on algorithm aversion and algorithm appreciation in accounting. We discuss different types of advanced technologies and illustrate how research can provide insight into the new ways these technologies assist individuals with judgment and decision-making. We provide a background on algorithm aversion and algorithm appreciation and a brief overview of social science research on these topics. We then present a framework for conceptualizing research on these topics using person, task, and environment variables. Following this framework, we review several algorithm aversion and appreciation studies in accounting. We then discuss measurement issues that we believe are important to consider when designing studies and interpreting findings in this area. Throughout this chapter, we emphasize that individuals’ reliance on technologies is both nuanced and contextually dependent – and that no single theory can explain this reliance across a broad spectrum of contexts.

Pages: 39

No chapter abstract available.

Pages: 13

The distinctive attributes of accountants and the accounting context have resulted in accounting-specific constructs not shared by other domains. The specific challenge in behavioural accounting research (BAR) is the measurement of the psychometric properties of accounting constructs or the behaviour of non-accountants as they are influenced by accounting. The unique aspects of the accounting domain render a specific examination of psychometric accounting constructs, using accounting-specific measures, of value. In addition to presenting a catalogue of accounting-specific measures that have been developed and used in recent BAR, this chapter outlines six steps critical to the development of quality accounting-specific measures. It is hoped that the chapter will encourage the development and use of valid and reliable BAR measures in the future. Implications for future research are discussed.

Pages: 10

Reviewers and editors of accounting journals regularly assess the presence and appropriateness of manipulation and attention checks when evaluating experimental research. Many reviewers believe that the absence of these checks represents a fatal flaw in an experiment’s design, while others express preferences for specific types of checks. Accounting researchers’ publication success can hinge on perceptions of the quality of the checks in their experiments. Yet there is little guidance available to researchers for the appropriate use of manipulation and attention checks. Most experimental design texts and handbooks devote less than a paragraph to these issues, and accounting journal reviewers hold widely varying opinions regarding what checks are essential in an experiment. The purpose of this chapter is to provide researchers and reviewers with clear and concise guidance regarding when attention and manipulation checks are necessary, how they should be used, their limitations and their alternatives. In addition, the chapter discusses terminology because the terms employed in the accounting literature are often inconsistent or inappropriate.

Pages: 14

Social desirability bias occurs in behavioural research when participants provide responses that portray themselves in a socially desirable manner rather than providing responses that reflect their true opinions, beliefs, judgments, decisions, or intentions. Social desirability bias may influence the validity of behavioural research involving socially sensitive issues, such as ethical decision-making. In this chapter, we first review scales that prior research has used to measure and control for social desirability bias. Next, we review accounting- and auditing-related literature that addresses issues related to social desirability bias. We then provide guidance to researchers conducting behavioural accounting research that deals with issues related to social desirability bias. Researchers need to decide whether their study considers social desirability bias as the main variable of interest or as a control variable to validate findings regarding the main variable of interest. If social desirability bias is the main variable of interest, it will need to be measured using one or more of the scales employed in prior research. If the major concern is with the potential influence of the bias on the main findings, then researchers need to evaluate whether it is necessary to control for the bias.

Pages: 135

No chapter abstract available.

Pages: 24

In this chapter, we argue that behavioural accounting experimental researchers (BAR researchers) are particularly well-positioned to answer the call to deepen our understanding of accounting practice by conducting research that directly studies the practitioner’s experiences. As we see it, BAR researchers develop five key competencies (among others) through their education and research that can be leveraged to conduct experience-based (or experiential) research. These competencies are familiarity with a broad range of theories, close engagement with practice, selection of appropriate participants, focus on ex-ante instrument design, and careful measurement of underlying constructs. These five competencies enable BAR researchers to readily conduct positivist qualitative field studies that facilitate the systematic development of theory-based (or informed) evidence about current accounting practices. We focus on positivist field research (as opposed to interpretivist or social construction-based field research) methods and demonstrate how each of BAR researchers’ key competencies equips them to employ these methods. We conclude our chapter with a discussion of the challenges encountered by positivist field researchers in a research milieu where their senior peers are mostly from a significantly different research tradition.

Pages: 20

This chapter considers the use of judgment and decision-making (JDM) experiments in accounting. It begins with a description of the purpose and goals of JDM experiments in accounting. The bulk of the chapter discusses critical issues in designing and implementing JDM-style experiments. Our primary goal is to provide advice about designing and implementing JDM-style experiments in ways that will maximize a study’s likelihood of success and its contribution to the accounting literature. We identify five steps that will help JDM researchers identify meaningful research questions and address them in ways that allow generalization to the problem of interest and beyond. A key theme is that impactful research requires significant planning and pre-work.

Pages: 22

This chapter provides an overview of the usefulness and applicability of experimental economics to accounting research. Experimental economics represents a research method that employs a controlled laboratory setting and performance-contingent incentives to study individuals’ behaviour, interactive (group) outcomes, and market outcomes. Throughout this chapter, we demonstrate that experimental economics is a powerful tool that can be used to address a wide variety of accounting issues, encompassing auditing, financial accounting, managerial accounting, and taxes. We begin by tracing the emergence and evolution of experimental economics in the accounting literature. Then, we discuss the necessary elements in using the method, emphasizing facets that give experimental economics a comparative advantage over other research methods and offering examples of topics that lend themselves to this approach. Next, we consider theoretical paradigms used in experimental economics studies, including economics- versus psychology-based theoretical approaches. Once again, we offer examples of representative studies from the extant literature. Subsequently, we elaborate on important design choices that are considered in developing and conducting an experimental economics study. We end with concluding remarks, reiterating the importance and usefulness of experimental economics to accounting research.

Pages: 14

This chapter discusses concerns that are raised about the validity and reliability of instruments used in survey-based research. The chapter includes recommendations on the design of the survey questions and the utilization of survey-based variables in regression models. Key issues raised include the influence of question order on how people respond to a questionnaire, the importance of formulation of each individual question, and the common mistakes made in questionnaire design. Special attention is dedicated to measurement requirements with respect to the dependent variable. Due to potential statistical concerns (e.g., the omitted correlated variable problem), it is very difficult to test an empirical model using survey data if the dependent variable is based on the perception of the respondent (e.g., how well did the division do this year rated on a 7-point scale?). To reduce this problem, the researcher is encouraged to measure the dependent variable as a fact (e.g., a sales number drawn from firm archives) or a more objective respondent observation (e.g., what was the dollar value of sales last year).

Pages: 14

Interviews and observation are two prominent, important, and well-established research methods in the social sciences. In this chapter, we focus on the use of interviews and observation in behavioural accounting research, where they can be particularly effective in providing insights into all aspects of the relationship between accounting and human behaviour. Our objective is to describe the use of interviews and observation, discuss how and why they are useful, and show how they have been (and could be) applied in behavioural accounting research. Our ultimate aim is to promote improved understanding and greater use of interviews and observation in behavioural accounting research broadly conceived.

Pages: 16

The objective of this chapter is to provide an overview of the role and characteristics of case study research. In so doing, we describe different types of case studies and the specific methodological choices involved in case-based research about how to collect, analyse and report case evidence. We illustrate how case-based research offers the possibility to understand accounting in its practical setting as well as multifaceted phenomena where many variables come into play. Case studies are presented as being suitable when a theory is not well developed or when existing theories are incomplete. Case studies are effective in understanding discontinuity and disequilibrium. Moreover, case studies are particularly useful in highlighting practical questions and issues and subsequently in providing guidance for solving concrete problems. Finally, despite the prejudice that case studies are an easy means to conduct research, we underline that case-based research is a highly labour-intensive and time-consuming process requiring sharpness in identifying important details, interpersonal ability, elegance in approaching the field, as well as acumen and originality in analysing and interpreting data.

Pages: 23

The purpose of this chapter is to discuss some of the neuropsychological tools that have entered or are about to enter the accounting research field. The chapter focuses on how these technologies may assist in identifying neurophysiological correlates associated with various decision-making conditions or cognitive states of individual decision-makers. In addition to providing potentially more accurate measures for processes or states that decision-makers are cognizant of, neurophysiological assessment devices can also measure judgment and decision processes that are beyond the decision-maker’s conscious control. For example, neurophysiological data may be used to overcome unconscious biases resulting from bioregulatory processes that are expressed as emotions and feelings. Relevant accounting studies are included in this discussion, although the majority of studies are from related fields, which reflects the recent entry of accounting research in this area. The limitations of the technologies facilitating the acquisition of neurophysiological measures are also highlighted along with suggestions for future research. We conclude that for accounting research, the availability of a multimodal measurement of the judgment and decision process facilitated by these technologies has the potential to provide substantial advantages over current approaches based on input and output measures in combination with self-reported measures.

Pages: 82

No chapter abstract available.

Pages: 13

This chapter provides a broad picture of the many angles of ethical consideration involved in conducting and publishing behavioural accounting research. Topics include examining the importance and history of ethics review, discussing ethical issues involved in the publication process, and delving into a set of specific issues associated with research design ethics. The chapter is designed with two main purposes: (1) to provide an overview for those who are new to behavioural accounting research and (2) to serve as a reference for more seasoned researchers. Specifically, this chapter discusses the need for ethics review by highlighting several classic experiments that prompted policymakers and scholars to examine research practices. We also catalogue the multiple governmental and institutional sources for ethics review guidelines in the United States, with references to sources for researchers in other countries. In addition, this chapter examines potential ethical issues involved in the publication process for authors, reviewers, and editors. Finally, we identify several key issues that present ethical questions for authors, including deception, priming, debriefing, hypothesizing with results, and data collection and privacy issues. In this discussion, we review potential concerns and provide suggestions for avoiding ethical pitfalls during the design, data collection, and review process.

Pages: 16

This chapter first explores the viability of using students as participants in research. While students may not be applicable for studies that emphasize external validity, they may be preferred as participants for experimental studies where internal validity is the dominant concern and participants do not need specialized expertise. A number of issues are raised in this chapter and should be carefully considered when making the decision of whether student participants are acceptable and desirable. This chapter also explores the increasing availability and use of online participants. Since the dominant source of online participants is MTurk, the focus herein is on the extensive body of research that examines the validity and reliability issues of online participants obtained via that system. This research demonstrates that online participants have proven to be as good as or even better than student participants and general adult populations. This review is critical as a frequent concern posed to researchers using online participant pools relates to the quality, validity, and reliability of the data. Contrary to common perceptions, data obtained from online participants have proven to be of very high quality – including high validity and reliability.

Pages: 26

The replication crisis in science has highlighted the importance of conducting studies with adequate statistical power, with some journals now requiring authors to report and justify their studies’ a priori power. This shift reflects the understanding that low-powered studies are uninformative, regardless of whether results are significant, and a major factor contributing to the high rate of failed replications. This chapter comprehensively examines the concept, covering power’s importance and the factors influencing it, as well as how to estimate, calculate, and justify a study’s a priori power and the ways to increase it. It also indicates that the power of the average study in behavioural accounting research is low. Consequently, there will often be no alternative except to conduct close replications with the results combined meta-analytically to obtain reliable inferences. Finally, since power is strictly a pre-experiment probability, reporting and assessing confidence intervals for the observed effect is necessary to avoid misleading inferences at the individual study level.

Pages: 25

This chapter focuses on a little-used but high-impact accounting research method: the experiential survey or questionnaire (ESQ). The goal of the ESQ is to develop theory-based, evidence-informed data about a context in which a participant has extensive experience. The ESQ is designed to gather large-scale evidence about a process that occurs in a specific institutional context beyond what can be obtained readily using qualitative interviews. In this chapter, the strong impact of this method is documented, with over 25% of all papers published winning notable contributions to the literature awards. The underlying theoretical basis for the method is also more fully explained. “Tips” on implementing this method successfully and “traps” to avoid in carrying out the method are discussed. Finally, the full text of a prototypical ESQ used in an award-winning article is provided as an aid to researchers interested in applying the method.

Pages: 100

No chapter abstract available.

Pages: 20

This chapter provides a concise review of issues researchers should consider in the preliminary stages of data analyses. This chapter addresses three main topics: initial data handling, cleaning data, and the initial steps of data analysis. Initial data handling refers to transcribing and coding data, choices of statistical packages, and structuring the dataset. This is followed by a discussion of problems with and solutions for missing data and outliers. Finally, the chapter describes how to explore the dataset prior to conducting analyses, including a discussion of graphical exploration of the data and testing for violations of statistical assumptions. We have attempted to provide non-technical and basic guidance while also referencing more thorough statistical references where readers may be interested in more details.

Pages: 26

Contrast coding offers a statistically more powerful alternative to the usual omnibus F tests of main and interaction effects programmed by default in popular statistical packages. Contrast coding can offer an additional advantage of providing a focused test of the specific relationship being hypothesized rather than assuming and testing a one-size-fits-all relationship. We demonstrate the use of contrast coding first in research using ANOVA and extend it to applying contrast coding tools in regression tests as well. In response to critiques urging researchers to look beyond p-values, some researchers are using reliance on effect sizes as indicators of material significance. Therefore, we demonstrate how to determine effect sizes using contrast coding. We provide numerous examples to demonstrate how to apply contrast coding, how contrast coding results differ from traditional ANOVA or regression results, and when contrast coding offers advantages in analysing research results and when it may not.

Pages: 16

Moderation and mediation provide a means for accounting behavioural researchers to gain additional insight and understanding when investigating increasingly complex accounting relationships. The common goal of both moderation and mediation is to understand the effects of an additional variable on the relationship between the independent and dependent variables. However, the underlying theory, assumptions, and statistical techniques used to investigate mediation and moderation are very different. An understanding of these differences is critical for conducting high-quality and relevant accounting behavioural research. This chapter provides a general high-level introduction to moderation, mediation, and moderated mediation techniques. We focus on issues relevant to future accounting behavioural researchers who, while familiar with statistics, may not be knowledgeable about the challenges of conducting research using these techniques. Our discussion is divided into three broad sections: moderation, mediation, and moderated mediation. For each, we begin by defining the key terms and concepts. Next, we introduce and briefly discuss the different statistical techniques and approaches for testing and evaluation, highlighting both strengths and weaknesses. Because our presentation is broad, references are provided for researchers wishing to gain more in-depth information. Throughout, we also call attention to accounting behavioural research that uses the approaches discussed.

Pages: 8

Conditional process analysis is an analytical technique for experiments which integrates mediation with moderation. In so doing, experimental researchers can provide process-based evidence (using a mediator) for a phenomenon under investigation, which traditional moderation analysis (with ANOVA or contrast coding) cannot do. By including mediation with an experiment, researchers can provide better and more theoretically robust explanations for an experimental effect. This chapter summarizes behavioural accounting research, which uses conditional process analysis, discusses the use of model templates developed by Andrew Hayes, the founder of conditional process analysis, and identifies strategies for experimental researchers to become proficient in the use of this technique.

Pages: 11

Structural equations modelling (SEM) is a family of powerful yet relatively underutilized statistical techniques in the accounting literature. SEM allows a set of relations between one or more independent variables and one or more dependent variables to be examined simultaneously. In this chapter, different SEM techniques are discussed, and when each should be used is explained, with examples from accounting research. Next, the way SEM can be used for analysing survey data, experimental data, and archival data is discussed, and again, examples from accounting research are provided. Finally, “best practice” reporting guidelines are developed for use by accounting researchers.

Pages: 17

The purpose of this chapter is to examine statistical approaches of interest to behavioural researchers. These techniques represent specialized multivariate approaches that have not yet been used extensively in behavioural research, namely, (i) logit and probit models, (ii) cluster analysis, and (iii) multidimensional scaling. The numerous advantages of the techniques discussed throughout the chapter represent their potential to provide empirical evidence supporting various research objectives. However, their disadvantages constitute a source of concern that can be mitigated with a rigorous research design and an in-depth understanding of the approach. Logit and probit models are particularly useful when the researcher aims to predict an outcome or an event displaying a small number of values. Cluster analysis is appropriate when the researcher intends to identify groups of objects reflecting a common alignment of elements. Multidimensional scaling is considered in order to transform individual judgments of similarity of preferences among accounting objects into distances represented in multidimensional space.

Pages: 57

No chapter abstract available.

Pages: 22

The ultimate goal of research is external validity, the ability to generalize relations between constructs observed in a research study to individuals and settings outside the study. Threats to external validity in JDM research often stem from a failure to consider characteristics of the JDM setting that moderate relations of interest. In this chapter, we review the concept of external validity and examine its various dimensions and the most common threats to each. Next, we look more closely at how those dimensions and potential threats apply to behavioural accounting research and approaches to address them. Finally, we illustrate how external validity concerns might be incorporated into the planning and design of a tax JDM study. We argue that purposefully considering and addressing external validity can provide important insight into not only accounting JDM but also the theories on which our research is based. Further, while no study must address all potential threats to external validity, it is nonetheless essential to consider and acknowledge those threats that are most theoretically and ecologically relevant.

Pages: 22

This chapter reviews summaries and analyses articles published from 1996 to 2023 in cross-cultural behavioural accounting research. It is limited to the 85 articles published in Australian Business Dean’s Council journals ranked B and above. It begins with an extensive discussion of the main trends in cultural research. Where it is useful, we provide an update to the literature since the last edition in 2017. This chapter finds that despite criticism and new studies, the ideas of Geert Hofstede (1980 through 2021) still dominate the research studies. It notes several updated measures of cultural values and shifts in the values of some countries (Minkov 2018). The articles reviewed covered a disparate range of topics, including interpreting financial regulation, external and internal auditing, budgeting, knowledge sharing, decision biases, and the form of management control systems. In all of the articles, cultural values have some degree of explanatory power. The chapter concludes that there is still a great deal of research to be done.

Pages: 11

It is common wisdom among finance and accounting scholars that the primary challenge of risk management is to identify and assess risks (Stulz 2008). Equally clear to all is how difficult this is. Yet this difficulty has largely been overlooked in the emerging strand of accounting research on risk management. In this chapter, we review that research. Then, drawing on some seminal behaviourally and organizationally grounded studies on the development of man-made disasters, we review the less-examined behavioural challenges facing risk management at the outset. We continue from risk identification to what supposedly follows it: management control. Finally, we outline the largely normative accounting literature that addresses some of these behavioural issues and delineate avenues for future research.

Pages: 59

No chapter abstract available.

Pages: 15

A “literature review” is an original work that synthesizes and critiques research on a particular topic. As behavioural accounting research (BAR) continues to expand in breadth, depth, and complexity, literature reviews can advance scholarship by synthesizing relevant studies to improve our understanding of a topic, identify gaps in the literature, and provide directions for future research. In this chapter, we discuss specific rationales for writing a literature review in BAR, as well as the process of researching and preparing a literature review, including challenges scholars may face during that process. Specifically, we provide guidance on identifying the research question, determining appropriate search boundaries, critically assessing and drawing conclusions based on common and discrepant findings, conceptualizing an insightful structure, identifying avenues for future research, and appropriately reporting your process. The goal of this chapter is to provide scholars with a guide, as well as example literature reviews in BAR, that may assist them in writing an effective literature review in their area of interest.

Pages: 13

This chapter offers advice on preparing an independent written peer review for behavioural accounting research. The primary focus of the chapter is on human subjects’ laboratory experimental studies where the researcher manipulates one independent variable at a time to examine its effect on the particular dependent variable of interest in order to establish causal inference. The essay also includes a discussion of common concerns and threats to construct validity for qualitative survey and interview-based research studies. The discussion provides practical steps for evaluating the research contribution, theoretical development, and experimental design of a study. In addition, we provide general thoughts on appropriate etiquette and advice for preparing scholarly reviews for accounting journals.

Pages: 14

The purpose of this chapter is to provide scholars, particularly emerging scholars working on behavioural accounting research, with information and advice about the journal review process. We present an overview of the current publishing landscape for behavioural accounting researchers, summarize the journal review process, and discuss the roles of the senior editor, editor, and reviewers at a journal. In addition, we collect and analyse survey responses from established, behavioural accounting researchers to provide a collection of advice and best practices for emerging scholars to consider when navigating the journal review process. Finally, we identify additional resources for readers to access when navigating the review process.

Pages: 15

Replication is often seen as a mere repetition of a published study, which conflicts with the aim of novelty and is therefore dismissed as a way to allocate our resources. Even so, it is important to realize the necessity of the act of replication in the scientific process. In fact, there is large agreement amongst the academic community that replication is the only single way in which a collection of individual studies becomes a critical mass of robust knowledge. This chapter presents an overview of the current debate on replication studies, addressing some of the forces in the current behavioural accounting research landscape that provide incentives against conducting replication studies and exploring how replication may be particularly important in an applied field like accounting, where we aspire to both research and practice. The chapter closes by demonstrating that the object of replication can be all parts of a study from research question to statistical analyses to drawing conclusions.