Anatomy of a Journal: A Reflection on the Evolution of Academic Accounting in Canada 1984-2010

Abstract

Journal-related studies have a long history in accounting. The focus of these studies spans a diverse set of topics ranging from journal quality, to publication by various groups, to study of types of research published, and to author affiliations. The purpose of our study is to examine one academic accounting journal to see how contributing author composition and editorial policies changed over time. Contemporary Accounting Research (CAR), the premier journal of the Canadian Academic Accounting Association (CAAA), is often ranked in the top 5 to 10 academic accounting journals. With a limited history beginning in 1984, CAR provides an opportunity to examine aspects of its published main articles (i.e., not discussions, book reviews, comments or editorials) and authors. Using the first 27 volumes, we examine author gender, home university at time of publication, number of authors per article, and diversity using surname origin of article authors. Using numbers, percentages and significance tests, we find female contributors, multiple co-authored articles, authors’ home universities outside North America and the appearance of diversity of contributors (measured by surname origin) all increase over the 27 volumes of CAR. Academics interested in the history of journals will find the results revealing since they speak to how authorship and participation by certain academic groups have changed over time.