Objective: Analyze how research based on the Institutional Theory has been developed in accounting research. Method: For the search, the Knowledge Development Process-Constructivist was used, considering articles published between 1993 and 2018. Seven databases were used and a bibliographic portfolio was selected with 148 articles on the theme. Results: The study found: (i) 27 theoretical and 121 empirical studies; (ii) most studies adopt a qualitative design; (iii) the most used techniques were semistructured interviews and documentary analysis; (iv) the majority used the New Institutional Sociology; (v) the authors who stood out were Burns and Scapens (2000) (OIE), Williamson (2000) (NIE) and DiMaggio and Powell (1983) (NIS); (vi) the Agency Theory and the Structuration Theory were the most frequent besides the Institutional Theory; and (vii) the suggestions for future studies indicate other data collection and analysis techniques, changes in the context analyzed, exploration of heterogeneous environments, use of longitudinal designs and quantitative methods. Contributions: The study contributes by analyzing how the Institutional theory is being applied in studies from different Accounting research areas, identifying the main studies in each theoretical current, the methods use, suggestions for research and possible routes, thus serving as the theoretical base for future empirical research in this area.