Overview of the Discipline

As formally defined by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), accounting is "the art of recording, classifying, and summarizing in a significant manner and in terms of money, transactions and events which are, in part at least, of financial character, and interpreting the results thereof."

Within accounting, scholars in the discipline of accounting research aim to find innovative observations and solutions through asking interesting questions and analyzing accounting information.

Sub-disciplines of accounting research include: tax, international tax, information economics, financial management, financial statement analysis, managerial accounting and control, auditing, strategic planning, financial reporting, accounting technology, governmental and nonprofit accounting, and more.

To learn more about accounting research, please visit: Wharton Accounting and What is Accounting Research?

Writing in the Discipline

Goals

As the objective of accounting research is to better understand how the world works, the goal of writing in this field is to define problems and find solutions. Some of this leads to critiquing others' work, particularly if you find something in conflict with an older work's conclusion. However, most research is aimed toward finding and understanding larger picture accounting issues. There are two main schools of thought in research: normative and positive. Normative analysis provides recommendations for how things should be done, where positive analysis only explains how things happen. Accounting research emphasizes positive analysis; the goal is to provide evidence that a phenomenon happens and then give positive research findings to policymakers.

Reasoning

The objective of writing in accounting is to explain, but often the only way people accept explanations is if the writing is persuasive. Writers must be very persuasive in their arguments to get the reader to believe that their theory is actually supported by the data. For example, Professor Bushee gathered data on coporate jet flights to three certain locations and stock trading increases on those three days. An explanation could be that companies send their investors on flights, which then increases trading volume. An alternative, but less likely, explanation could be that after managers predict stocks will rise, they send their employees on flights. These differing explantions and interpreations of the the same data provide an instance of the cause-effect distinction. Through reasoning, Professor Bushee must persuade readers that the first explanation is more plausible.

Often, the form of reasoning employed depends on how innovative and established the subject of the writing is. Less persuasiveness is required in more established areas as many already know what's involved in that area. However, the writer must be more persuasive when attempting to present and answer an unusual question or attempting to answer a question in an unconventional manner. In these cases, the writer must convince the reader both why the paper's setting is unique and why, given the limitations of the data, the conclusion provides a reasonable answer/solution. Note that even when exploring established areas and using established methods, there is always an aspect of persuasion; the writer must convince the reader why his/her work is a meaningful contribution.

Evidence

Writing in accounting is primarily data-based. Some use mathematical modeling, but evidence is primarily based on archival datasets. These datasets can include information such as the stock prices of various companies, financial statements, and trading volumes over the years. To obtain datasets, Wharton students can register an account with the Wharton Research Data System (WRDS) for free. WRDS is the premier business data system and sells access to many universities across the country.

Although evidence in this field is either data driven or based on mathematical models, writers may perhaps look to books or popular press to help support their theories or to generate research ideas. However, to ultimately get something published in accounting, a writer must utilize data or mathematical models.

Once writers obtain data, they can interpret and use it in many different ways. For example, Professor Bushee has collected data on corporate jet flights like those of Microsoft; from this data, he can see when Microsoft flies to major cities like New York City and San Francisco. From studying and interpreting such data, Professor Bushee has generated the theory that corporations use jets to meet with investors and that we then see movements in price and trading volume.

Authorship

Writing in accounting research is almost all collaborative. Most researchers write only their dissertation individually, with almost everything being co-authored.

When working with others, the project often involves a division of labor. For example, when writing an article with three co-authors, one might identify or generate the data, another may do the data analysis, and a third may do most of the writing. Needless to say, different groups differ in their collaborative work dynamic.

Claims

From the perspective of an academic, the kind of claim being made depends on the goal and stage of scholarship on a question. Many scholars do empirical data analysis, typically taking old data and using it to support their contentions. However, logic is often needed to supplement the data. For example, frequently when someone puts forth a theory, it will be mathematically based but hard to test. Once a certain hard-to-test theory has a good deal of supporting data, the scholarship must take a law driven, logical focus. Also, writers must be careful to ensure that their data actually demonstrates a causal relationship and that that the observations and relationships they capture actually hold true across a large sample of firms not included in their data.

Writing Tips

Writing in accounting research starts with a process known as Kinney's 3 paragraphs; three paragraphs that essentially answer the questions, what are you doing, why are you doing it, and how are you going about it?

The writer's first paragraph should answer the question: What problem or issue will be addressed? The second paragraph should answer: Why is the problem or issue important? And the third paragraph should answer: How will you address the problem and what do you expect to find?

Writers should start by writing these three paragraphs which will essentially serve as the plan or framework for their papers. The 'what' serves as the basis for the Introduction, the 'why' will be developed into the Background, the Literature Review, and the Hypothesis Development sections, and the 'how' is essentially the Research Design.

Once these three paragraphs written, writers can work off of them as an outline for their paper.

Important Criteria for Student Writing

Organization and reasoning are most important elements of a paper in accounting. Part of making a persuasive argument is writing with a clear, logically progression of ideas. The logical progression of information and argumentation in the narrative is crucial. However, things like grammar and typos can give off an air of sloppiness. If a writer has incorrect grammar, it may give the reader the impression that perhaps the author was also not careful in doing the data analysis and writing the models.

Common Errors

The most common error is an argument that isn't linear: when the writer brings in ideas that the reader cannot understand until exposed to additional information. Such papers are hard to follow as readers cannot understand all the paper's specific concepts until they are exposed to later information. For students who have trouble organizing their content and writing linearly, it would perhaps be helpful to draft some type of outline or diagram that map out the paper's progression and arguments.

Additionally, students often do not spend enough time checking for irresponsible grammatical errors.

Style

Writers should focus on ensuring clarity through proper organization and presentation of ideas. When describing and representing their ideas, writers should write in a manner that focusses the reader's attention on the paper's essential message and crucial content, not tangential examples.

Genres

Typical Student Assignments

The doctoral students are assigned papers in their first summer and second summers. In both cases students are charged with the task of producing small papers that reflect the way in which accounting scholars research and write. These assignments are essentially geared toward giving the students practice coming up with ideas and then forming arguments and communicating clearly.

Professional Writing

Writing in the field of accounting include: journal articles presenting new research, discussion pieces on others' research, pieces that summarize existing works, translations of findings for practitioners, and textbook writing. However, the real currency in this field is publishing new original research in academic journals.

Examples of Scholarly Writing

Journal of Accounting and Economics
Journal of Accounting Research
Accounting Review

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Meet the Professors

Dr. Jennifer Blouin
Prof. Blouin believes that the organization and reasoning of a student's argument are the most important aspects of a student's paper. More...

Dr. Brian Bushee
Professor Brian Bushee is the Gilbert and Shelly Harrison Associate Professor of Accounting and does research focusing on the impact of information intermediaries on corporate disclosure decisions and on the stock market pricing of information. More...