Evaluation of accounting journals by coverage of accounting topics in 2018–2019

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to evaluate the coverage of accounting topics in 2018 and 2019 by the high-ranked and cited journals of popular international publishers. To achieve this, the study provides (1) research on the proportion of accounting journals in the international publishers; (2) identification of the largest publishers by the number of accounting journals; (3) a check of the high-ranked and cited accounting journals according to the journals’ websites, the SCImago database, and Web of Science database; (4) investigation of the trend in the number of accounting publications in 2018–2019 compared with 2016–2017 by SSRN, IDEAS/RePEc, and DOAJ; (5) a detailed overview of 1749 accounting publications for 2018 and 2019 using the reference databases of such international publishers as Blackwell, Elsevier, American Accounting Association, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, and Springer; (6) a self-developed classification of the accounting topics into 14 main directions; and (7) an assessment of the extent of coverage of accounting topics by each journal. The research methods are based on a cross-sectional survey between the website of each publisher and the SCImago database, and on a bibliometric analysis of the metrics and citation impact, the number and proportion of articles in the “major” journals in accounting, and the major bibliometrics databases. SCImago, as the main bibliometrics database, was used for the first time to identify the top-ranked and cited journals. This study highlights the importance of accounting in international publications in the high-ranked and cited journals, emphasizing the actual publications obtained in 2018–2019. The results indicate that a high quartile or high international citation level does not determine the full coverage of accounting topics in a journal. It was found that assets, control, management accounting, and financial reporting were the most frequently published topics in 2018 and 2019. The blockchain technology and IFRS research in accounting were published within 2018–2019 in only 125 articles (7.14%) by 26 accounting journals among the high-ranked and cited journals with an obtained high coverage of accounting topics. This study may help scientists to select a journal for publishing or researching an appropriate accounting topic. Moreover, to increase the coverage extent of accounting topics, the analysis and classification of publication topics conducted in this work are also recommended to editorial boards of accounting journals as information regarding the least disclosed accounting topics over the last 2 years.