Paper #297

Title:

A portrait of the Spanish accounting community

Authors:

Oriol Amat, Catherine Gowthorpe, Soledad Moya and Ester Oliveras

Date:

June 1998

Abstract:

This study presents a portrait of the Spanish academic accounting community in 1995, based upon a questionnaire circulated to Spanish accounting academics in 1995 and upon an analysis of authorship and citations in the main Spanish accounting journals. The approach to these analyses is grounded in similar studies which have been carried out in the United States, Spain and elsewhere. but the combination of techniques used in this study is particularly broad in range. The results of the study are used to describe a range of characteristics of Spanish accounting academics, for example, publications records and length of academic experience. The analysis of publications produces a ranking by institutional affiliation of the most significant contributors to current debates on accounting. Citation analysis is used to identify the range and extent of international influences upon the Spanish academic accounting community, and to provide an additional ranking by institutional affiliation of the most frequently cited sources A significant finding was that the nature and extent of international influence had changed very little over the ten year period since Spain entered the European Union and started to implement European Directives. Perceptions of journal quality were elicited by questionnaire. Forty five journals, Spanish and international are included in a list ranked for perceived importance as outlets for publication. and as sources of support for teaching and research. The results of this exercise show that Spanish journals were ranked low relative to journals published in the United Kingdom and United States. Finally the study examines the extent of purpose upon Spanish accounting academies to publish, by presenting results of a question about criteria for promotion, and also by examining and increasing tendency to publish co-authored work.

Keywords:

Accounting, academic community

JEL codes:

M41

Area of Research:

Finance and Accounting

Published in:

Revista española de financiación y contabilidad, XXVII, 96, (1998), pp. 821-850

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