Nowadays the analysis of resources is an essential part of any research work especially with the rise of internet technologies. One of the most important roles in researching your certain field plays determining of credible and unbiased sources of information but sometimes the determining of a reliable source can be quite challenging. Observing even the simplest sources from Google or other search-sites we should not underestimate or overestimate even the single article. First of all the authors should be the professionals of their branch of science so that you can be justified by their words and you must never use the source with no definite authors. The information in the source should be relevant, up-to-date and the one you can apply to your topic of research. All journals and articles should be objective, support by facts or other researches and written by experts of their fields.
Scholarly journal
Such scientific publications as scholarly journals are published for the sake of advancement of the branch of accounting. Most of the publishers are the universities or national organizations. The content of such periodic consists of scientific articles and papers but it is also fulfilled with some special advertisements which purpose is to support your statement in a research paper.
According to Bonner, Hesford, Van der Stede and Young such five journals as “Accounting Organizations and Society, Contemporary Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting and Economics, Journal of Accounting Research and The Accounting Review are the top journals in the field”(2). They say that the field of academic accounting research is
vast. But we shall focus our attention on the Contemporary Accounting Research journal which belong to the Canadian Academic Accounting Association (CAAA). Each calendar year they publish one volume which consists of four issues dedicated to the matters and problems of accounting field. It is published by Wiley Periodicals Inc., one of the biggest organization in the world of academic publishing. Contemporary Accounting Research (CAR) accept academic works of scientists about accounting issues and their solving, the researches of tax, theoretical and practical papers from all over the world. Each smart accountant can share his perspective about goals and ways of auditing or get some new ideas about methods of economical researches and advance knowledge he or she can apply in his economical or educational career. The study of Brown and Huefner in 1994 showed that most of the business school seniors oriented in accounting choose Contemporary Accounting Research for its quality and credibility. We should mention that the article Valuation and Clean Surplus Accounting for Operating and Financial Activities by Feltham and Ohlson published in CAR was awarded by Wildman Medal, one of the highest achievement in the academic writing sphere. All the facts and thoughts above prove the importance and relevance of the Contemporary Accounting Research journal.
Trade publication
Obviously trade magazine fulfil the gap between scholarly journals and popular magazines. They difference because they are written for a narrow circle of readers in a special field but in a simple language. It serves as a transmission channel so it should offer publicity opinion on the accounting matters and insightful articles. The information cannot be blur or distorted in such types of publications or it will become just a popular magazine. A key to the successful as a research source trade magazine is its content. We should consider whether the authors of the article presented facts or other evidence in order to support their statements or do they give the conclusions of their researches. To be the authoritative publication they should cited the works of other authoritative articles of the field. The number of circulation shows us the popularity of the journal and the amount of people who believe in the published information so it can be one more cornerstone in deciding whether this or that journal is an authoritative resource for your paper.The trade magazine should provide readers with relevant information and novelties of the accounting aspect of economy. Such type of publication differs from scholarly journals in the more pragmatic and natural manner of articles. Unfortunately the word “trade” shows us that the purpose of trade publications is to make money for the company who publish it and to advertise something. It has less reliability in comparison with scholarly journals as some of them articles are written just by journalist with no special education in the field.
Accounting Today have been serving this purpose since 1987 growing its circulation up to 60,000. We can call it “a child” of SourceMedia which also publish it. The main goals of the authors of Accounting Today are to contribute successfully to the development of small and big business, to raise the interest of accounting problems and phenomena among the scientists, to inform about all the innovations of all scales both local and international. The journal helps to develop the empirical corroboration of the research work by the means of such tools as searchable archives, daily news and analysis of critical information, interviews with leaders in the accounting profession, podcasts and insightful editorial analysis. We can notice the commitment of handful finance professional authors to tip and advice those who are looking for expert opinion in the articles and papers. The publication is an appropriate material for practical and applied researches. They have tons of practises so they operate with information and its analysis quite well.
Organization/Institution
The American Accounting Association (AAA) is just the kind of organisation you want to work for. Founded in 1916 it has a great history researches and publications supported by some of the biggest minds of accounting field like Ron Dye, William H. Beaver and 12.000 of other members . The organization is famous for its honesty, equality and valuable loyalty to national standards and ethical behaviour. Each member of the institution can be just a student, business associate or belong to other communities. The The American Accounting Association Statement of Responsibilities says that “association members serve society by contributing to the development of its future leaders. Members accept the responsibilities implied by their position as teachers and mentors, including helping students and staff to develop those specific skills that will enable them to become contributing members of the profession and society, and helping them develop a foundation for life-long learning.” The support of their words by action can be seen in the number of articles about innovative issues of accounting field presented by young authors. The fact that you can attend AAA meeting and discuss all the publications affirm that the organisation is open for criticism and ready for communication. Friendly Association members family helps everyone to avoid finance problems in their researches, study or true life.
Electronic source/database
Looking for electronic source of information for your research we should consider many factors in choosing the one. The first thing we should look carefully at is the accuracy and qualification of the information presented in the database. The recommendations of other scientists are also the signals of reliability as well as the frequency of citation the electronic source in scholarly journals and other publications. The origin of the site or domain may provide you with additional information about the goals and purposes of the database so you can check with your own. We strongly recommend use of web sites with domains .edu which concern with an educational institutions, .gov- a government sites where you can find all current state laws and .org- sites of private advocates.
After a research of electronic sources and databases we discovered that Audit Analytics database can provide an accountant or an author of the research with all the necessary audit information in details about over 1,200 firms and 15,000 publicly registered companies. The knowledge of financial prospects of specific company helps the researchers to focus on the whole picture of accounting issues and its consequences. Another beneficial tool lies in the providing of market of private broker dealers and single accountants and giving them an opportunity to share their research and experience. Many powerful scholars use this database in their papers to support their statements by facts. The audit data can give you enough information for solving a number of tax management issues. Many accounting firms monitor the peer groups and financial events in order to track the prospective and business relationships with the help of Audit Analytics. These companies may be classify by size, industry or issues. With a special subscription you can track the letters, responses and reviews of specific companies. The key to the success among other databases is in the implementing of independent intelligence.
Before referring to the source you should make sure that the work is assessed by expert in the field, make a brief observation whether the author is partnered with university or official publisher. The writer of the paper should not forget to check if the source grants timely and appropriate information for the accounting field. For checking whether the resource is a peer-reviewed Buttram, MacMillan and Thompson recommend “searching Ulrich’s directory of periodicals. It contains many, but not all, peer-reviewed journals. If unsuccessful, find the website of the journal itself and look for its author, submission, and/or editorial guidelines.” They explain the term of peer review as a well-accepted indicator that a source is scholarly and reliable. After reading and reviewing the material for accuracy and objectivity, the reviewers will recommend publication, revision, or rejection.
German scientists believe that the purpose or the “scopos” of the research determine the credibility of the cited work. The point is that the purpose of your research should coincide with the one from the referenced paper. If the resources do not come under all the criteria of unbiased and credible source or it is not scholarly at all but they are still valuable and applicable for your research or can ground the argument and come to use in the analysis you can still use it as a secondary text.
References
Bonner, S., Hesford, J., Van der Stede, W., Young, M. (2006). The most influential journals in academic accounting. Accounting organization and society.
Shaub, M. (2012) Issues in Accounting Education. Book Reviews, 361-364.
Butram, C., MacMillan III, D., Thompson, L. (2012). Source Credibility: How To Select The Best Sources. UNA Center for Writing Excellence
