From little seeds to a big tree: a far-reaching assessment of the integrated reporting stream
ISSN: 2049-372X
Article publication date: 4 August 2021
Issue publication date: 23 November 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide the first assessment of the integrated reporting (IR) stream using a broad sample of publications separated into research scopes (accounting and non-core accounting journals) and using a longitudinal perspective. This study proposes to identify its main contributors, evidencing both individual and collaborative work.
Design/methodology/approach
Bibliometric tools supported by a milestone approach to IR history were used to address the first two research questions on the growth of this stream per scope. Density maps on keyword co-occurrence provided insights into the third question aimed at assessing differences in the scopes’ research topics. The number of publications, citation-based metrics and network analysis based on co-authorship allowed us to answer the last question regarding the top contributors.
Findings
The results endorse the acknowledged interest in this stream, exposing its incredible growth, which already amounts to over 1,000 different scholars, 200 distinguished journals and 7,600 citations across 540 peer-reviewed publications. With the accounting scope leading on citation frequency and the non-core accounting having more publications, an almost picture-perfect circle in a pooled density map supports the field’s advocated interdisciplinarity with its distinctive contributions. Finally, the cluster analysis revealed that 140 publications belong exclusively to 10 research clusters that contribute to more than half of the total citation count.
Originality/value
This rich analysis combines visualizing techniques with in-depth bibliometrics to provide the first far-reaching collation of publications on IR to offer a complementary view on this dynamic interdisciplinary stream.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors are pleased to acknowledge financial support from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, grants UIDB/00315/2020 and UIDB/04521/2020.
Citation
Lopes, A.I. and Penela, D. (2022), "From little seeds to a big tree: a far-reaching assessment of the integrated reporting stream", Meditari Accountancy Research, Vol. 30 No. 6, pp. 1514-1542. https://doi.org/10.1108/MEDAR-01-2021-1174
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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