I first began conducting research using textual analysis in accounting as part of my dissertation proposal in 2000. My first presentation of that early work was to the audience in attendance at the 10th Annual Research Workshop on Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies in Accounting, Auditing and Taxation in 2001, held in conjunction with the 2001 American Accounting Association (AAA) Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia. Attendees were remarkably receptive to the path I was embarking on, which provided me with great encouragement. That said, it was not long before I realized that the broader accounting academic community (at that time) had little appreciation for my type of scholarship (textual analysis in accounting that is grounded in computational linguistics often employing a design science paradigm) and, even more disheartening, did not feel that my work had a place in the accounting academy (several desk rejection letters from major accounting journals drove...
