Knowledge Preservation in Accounting: A Citational Study

This study explores knowledge preservation in accounting research through an examination of a sample of 428 published accounting articles and their nearly 11,000 citations. The examination shows that accounting scholars tend to cite very recent literature. The small volume of cited pre‐1960 literature (preponderantly from non‐accounting sources) and the low incidence of historical research articles in most non‐historical journals suggests that earlier accounting knowledge may become lost to future generations of accounting scholars. This conclusion implies that accounting scholars can play an important role in the preservation and dissemination of previous generations of accounting knowledge.