The Role of the Doctoral Dissertation in Accounting Research Careers.

Abstract This paper is based on a questionnaire survey of accounting faculty who hold a doctoral degree. The total number of responses was 341 (response rate = 58 percent). The paper describes the preferences of doctoral students in choosing their dissertation topic and methodology, factors influencing these choices, and the impact of the dissertation on the subsequent research careers of the doctorates. The findings include the following: (1) the most popular topic and methodology used in accounting dissertations were financial accounting and analysis of published data, respectively; (2) financial accounting and auditing dissertations were more successful in getting published in academic accounting journals; (3) doctorates who failed to publish from their dissertation were more likely to change their area or methodology in subsequent research; and (4) researchers who were successful in obtaining dissertation-based publications had higher subsequent research productivity.