Should Informatics Be the Theoretical Paradigm of AIS? A Panel Discussion of AIS Researchers

I n 2008, the Research and Publications Committee of the Information Systems Section of the American Accounting Association decided to sponsor a special issue of the Journal of Information Systems (JIS) entitled ‘‘Reviews of Information Systems Research.’’ The objective of the special issue is to ‘‘publish papers that review a stream of research in information systems (IS) broadly defined.’’ The Committee intended that submissions would review and integrate the IS (information systems) and AIS (accounting information systems) literatures and suggest future research directions in both disciplines. The special issue followed a previous valiant and groundbreaking effort in IS/AIS research integration for the IS section by Professors Vicky Arnold and Steve Sutton (Arnold and Sutton 2002). As editor of this special issue, I took a somewhat different approach to the task than is normal. First, rather than a regular call for papers, I requested researchers to submit extended abstracts. The objectives of this approach were to ensure that the scope of the proposed article was concomitant with the objective of the special issue and to identify any potential overlaps in subject matter. In this process, I was able to negotiate the amalgamation of several writing teams. I also ensured that where there was commonality in subject matter, the writing teams were introduced to each other and worked to manage the writing process. Second, I had clear views on how the papers should be structured. As an author of one of the chapters in the earlier monograph for the IS section, I was impressed with the systematic approach Dr. Arnold took to ensuring a common approach in the structure of the contributions and the discipline exercised in ensuring that the goals of the monograph were achieved. It is simpler to achieve a common approach in a monograph than it is in separate papers in JIS. My ambition was, then, to strongly suggest directions to authors but not to mandate a single approach. As a consumer of many literature reviews, I realize how easy it is to maroon readers in a Sargasso Sea, not knowing how to navigate their way. Readers need clear navigational markers and a sense of direction. Third, I saw the review process as a mutual exercise among writing teams, reviewers, and myself as editor. Given the scope of this exercise, I deliberately took a more active editorial role than is normal. These objectives probably added somewhat to the time taken for publication but did, I believe, improve the quality of the papers.

Revolution of information technology has changed many aspects of accounting practices, which resulted in greater demand for accountants with sufficient information technology (IT) knowledge and skills. Importantly, these changes have provided new and exciting research opportunities for accounting information system (AIS) researchers. This paper aims to address issues relating to both AIS education and research. It also attempts to provide guidance to AIS curriculum design and direction for AIS research. In terms of AIS education, this paper reveals that accounting programmes worldwide have not sufficiently integrated IT knowledge and skills into the curriculum, thus resulting in the inability to produce graduates that meet the current needs of businesses. In terms of research, the paper starts with a discussion on issues relating to definition, scope and category of AIS research. In general, while IT revolution has offered various research opportunities, AIS research has provided very limited contribution to accounting or information system research and practice. Towards this purpose, this paper provides several suggestions to researchers. First, AIS researchers need to view AIS in a broader perspective where the impact of technology on all areas of accounting, auditing, and taxation should be considered within the realm of AIS interest. Second, AIS researchers have to specialise in at least one other accounting area such as financial reporting, managerial accounting, audit or taxation, in addition to AIS domain, to produce high-quality research results. Finally, it is hoped that discussions brought forward by this paper would initiate and encourage debate among accounting professionals and academics and, in particular AIS lecturers, in order to strengthen current AIS curriculum to produce high-quality AIS research that can have a notable impact on the accounting profession and business practice.

This paper proposes a framework for the future of behavioral accounting information systems (AIS) research. A broad definition of AIS research is adopted which provides for a breadth of contemporary research drawing heavily from both the accounting domain and the information systems domain. Further, arguments are made for why AIS research must become the primary stream of accounting research if the accounting domain's research is going to have an impact on practice and provide leadership in the accounting and auditing environment that is currently evolving. In essence, researching accounting as an information systems discipline is becoming imperative.

PurposeThe Accounting Information Systems (AIS) research field emerged around 30 years ago as a subfield of accounting but is at risk to develop further as an isolated discipline. However, given the importance of digitalization and its relevance for accounting, an amalgamation of the parent research field of accounting and the subfield of accounting information systems is pivotal for continuing relevant research that is of high quality. This study empirically investigates the distance between AIS research that is included in accounting literature and AIS research that prevails in dedicated AIS research outlets.Design/methodology/approachTo understand which topics define AIS research, all articles published in the two leading AIS journals since 2000 were analyzed. Based on this topical inventory, all AIS studies that were published in the top 16 accounting journals, also since 2000, are identified and categorized in terms of topic, subtopic and research methodology. Next, AIS studies published in the general accounting field and AIS studies published in the AIS field were compared in terms of topics and research methodology to gain insights into the distance between the two fields.FindingsThe coverage of AIS topics in accounting journals is, to no small extent, concentrated around the topics “information disclosure”, “network technologies” and “audit and control”. Other AIS topics remain underrepresented. A possible explanation might be the focus on archival studies in accounting outlets, but other elements might play a role. The findings suggest that there is only a partial overlap between the parent accounting research field and the AIS subfield, in terms of both topic and research methodology diversity. These findings suggest a considerable distance between both fields, which might hold detrimental consequences in the long run, if no corrective actions are taken.Originality/valueThis is the first in-depth investigation of the distance between the AIS research field and its parent field of accounting. This study helped develop an AIS classification scheme, which can be used in other research endeavors. This study creates awareness of the divergence between the general accounting research field and the AIS subfield. Given the latter's relevance to the accounting profession, isolation or deterioration of the AIS research must be avoided. Some actionable suggestions are provided in the paper.

AIS research opportunities utilizing Machine Learning: From a Meta-Theory of accounting literature

Purpose: The paper aims to advance the positioning of Accounting Information Systems (AIS) within the established scholarly discourse on Information Systems (IS) and examine how AIS research has explored accounting problems, highlighting past and present challenges, as well as future opportunities. Methodology/approach: Bibliometric analysis and a thematic synthesis were used. Findings: The bibliometric comparison between AIS research and the broader IS literature reveals a delayed increase in AIS publications, likely due to the time needed for IS applications to be applied in accounting. AIS constitutes only 1.34% of IS articles, covering financial reporting, management accounting, and auditing. Initially, AIS research focused on management accounting, while it later began to focus on new technologies like AI, blockchain, and ERP systems. Over time, studies shifted from general system implementation to specific applications. Among 96 AIS articles, 45 were empirical, 30 were theoretical, and 21 were literature reviews, focusing on frameworks, case studies, and user interactions with AIS. There is a noticeable division of journals accepting AIS research and a growth of AIS publications over the analyzed years, showing its distinction from general IS research. Research limitations/implications: A limitation of the study is the scope restrictions made during the literature selection based on the SSCI from the WoS database. Originality/value: Our research contributes to the literature by positioning AIS as a subset of IS research and showing its differences and limitations compared to mainstream IS research. It indicates future AIS research directions, such as further exploring new technologies in AIS, especially within tax accounting, and factors that influence AIS system success, including behavioral ones.

Accounting information systems research: Is it another QWERTY?

Accounting Information Systems automates accounting information. In prior literature, there is no consensus as to research areas to be included or excluded from AIS researches, coupled with the relatively scarce literature on AIS. The objective of this paper was to quantitatively analyze the volume and impact of AIS literature. Research documents retrieved from the Scopus database were based on defined search terms relating to Accounting Information System (AIS). A bibliometric approach was employed to quantitatively analyze the volume and impact of 727 publications in the AIS research domain, this study focussed on determining the yearly distribution, national contributions, authorship patterns, leading prolific authors, productive institutions, publication outlets, documents types, key issues, citation trends of AIS research publication from 1975-2017. Key findings in this work indicated that there was no steady growth in volume of AIS research publication, Malaysia was the only developing country that featured as one of the top 10 national contributors to AIS research with China and Indonesia being the only emerging economies, also only 159 authors contribute to the 727 publications on AIS research, double authored publications had the highest number of publication as against others, only 5 of the top 10 outlets of AIS research were core accounting outlets, asides the obvious keywords of ‘accounting information system’, ‘information system’ keywords such as Internal Controls, Auditing, Regulatory Compliance, Management Control were the most dominant. While AIS adoption is becoming the mainstream in most developed countries, more investments in ICTs deployment and education will enable developing countries to reap the benefits of these innovations. Key words: Accounting information system, AIS, bibliometrics, scientometrics, citation analysis

ABSTRACTIn this commentary, I argue for a more focused definition of accounting information systems (AIS) as a field at the intersection of accounting and information systems. I contend that the lack of a focused definition is a significant factor leading to some of the more troubling trends affecting academic research in AIS. These trends include the relative paucity of AIS research appearing in the so-called “premier” journals in accounting, the relatively small number of active academic researchers in the field, the decline in the number of doctoral students focusing specifically on AIS research, and the difficulty in distinguishing AIS research from the scholarship in the closely related field of “pure” information systems. I present evidence from an analysis of keywords and journal citations to support my contention that extant published AIS research lacks focus. I argue that a more focused definition of AIS will help the field flourish and suggest such a definition that highlights both the accounting and the information systems aspects of the field.

Institutional theory in accounting information systems research: Shedding light on digital transformation and institutional change

A conceptual foundation of design and implementation research in accounting information systems

Accounting information systems (AIS) play an important role in supporting decision-making, improving operational efficiency, and increasing organizational accountability. Along with the development of information and communication technology, AIS research continues to grow rapidly. Bibliometric analysis is an appropriate method for mapping the development of AIS research. This research uses bibliometric analysis methods with AIS scientific publication data collected from Scopus and Web of Science during the 2010-2023 period. Data was analyzed with VOSviewer to map research trends, collaboration between institutions, and dominant research topics. AIS research is experiencing rapid growth with a primary focus on systems development, technology adoption, and its impact on organizational performance. Collaboration between research institutions is still low, and there are several research topics that are minimally researched. AIS research shows a focus on technology development, adoption, and impact on organizational performance. Collaboration between institutions is still low, and there are research topics that are minimally researched.

The influence of power strategies in AIS implementation processes

Using several data-analysis techniques, this paper seeks to construct a brief history of Accounting Information Systems (AIS). In an effort to achieve some degree of comprehensiveness, this paper examines both AIS research and pedagogy. It begins by documenting and classifying topical foci of research papers in the Journal of Information Systems. It then compares the pedagogical emphases of AIS courses as identified in past research. By deploying multiple methods of analysis to identify patterns of hegemony or change in the topics of AIS scholarship and teaching, this paper highlights the use of two data-analysis techniques found to be useful in the historical research of accounting. Findings reveal signs of the assimilation of AIS scholarship into the wider world of accounting research and strong influences upon AIS pedagogy by oversight bodies and technological innovation.

The cognitive science paradigm, with its computational and information processing models of the human mind, dominates much of current accounting information systems (AIS) research. While these models aid our understanding of cognition, it is unclear how much of the mind they explain. Personality type theory (PTT) is one supplement to cognitive science. PTT is especially useful for AIS researchers because an extensively tested and validated psychometric instrument based on PTT, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), is available for use in practice and research. We provide an overview of PTT and the MBTI and discuss how AIS researchers can use PTT to complement and extend current research initiatives. We highlight opportunities for PTT-based AIS research by posing research questions, the investigation of which contributes to the AIS literature.