A Review of Published Works on Auditing History

Abstract

Purpose – This research aims to investigate auditing studies, which have an essential place in accounting history, and to reveal its scientific map. Design/methodology/approach – This research investigates audit history studies published in “The Accounting Historians Journal”, “Accounting History Review”, and “Accounting History” journals, which are expert publications of accounting history studies. The research comprises 145 articles published between 1977 and 2021 in three journals. It presents the general view of the audit history studies by examining the audit research in the three leading journals in the history of accounting in terms of volumetric trend, keyword, authorship, subject, research periods, location, and method over the years. Findings – In all three journals, auditing research have shortly after they started to be published. From the 1970s until today, written and published research in English has been reached on the history of audits, 41 in The Accounting Historians Journal, 44 in Accounting History Review, and 60 in Accounting History. The findings obtained from the studies and the examined articles' general characteristics were determined. Discussion – As a result, it is concluded that audit studies do not take up much space in accounting history journals, and the articles are rich in subject variety and keyword diversity; it has been interpreted that the studies should be expanded in terms of place and time frame, and the place and importance of auditing history in accounting should be investigated further.