The current editorial policy of The Accounting Review states “The scope of acceptable articles should embrace any research methodology and any accounting-related subject, as long as the articles meet the standards established for publication in the journal.” The policy concludes with the statement “The journal is also open to all rigorous research methods.” Private journals are rightly entitled to set as selective an editorial policy as they think proper. An association journal, however, should rightly be expected to maintain an open policy that does not ex ante privilege one form of research over another. In that respect, the clearly stated policy of The Accounting Review of seeking “any” and “all” is admirable. However, the continuing need to make the case for research diversity is disappointing given the longstanding recognition of the dangers of narrowness:
With regard to The Accounting Review, recent years have seen considerable efforts to enhance the...
