Developing research journals and qualitative inquiry: the role of the editorial board

What is it about?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate and evaluate the roles of research journal editorial boards in fostering scholarship and nurturing new knowledge areas and research approaches, typified by the growing qualitative methodological tradition, in the accounting and management disciplines. Design/methodology/approach – Editors and their boards are considered as trustees of both journals and their stocks of knowledge. Their profiles and multiple roles are elucidated and critiqued, and their scope of influence is delineated. Findings – The paper reviewing function is revealed as complex and multifaceted, with reviewers falling into several categories of approach to their responsibilities. Supported by journal editors, editorial board members are portrayed as having both direct action and journal policy responsibilities, accepting such positions and roles for a variety of rationales. Their responsibility for fostering the emerging qualitative research tradition in accounting and management is explored and presented as a primary example of the editorial board’s role in pushing the boundaries of the discipline. Research limitations/implications – This paper offers a wider than hitherto articulated specification of the roles and contributions to disciplinary advancement potentially on offer from editors’ and editorial board members’ strategic approach to their roles. Originality/value – This paper is one of the first in the published accounting and management research journal literatures to focus on the roles and rationales relating to research journal editorial board membership as a foundation for the academy’s knowledge construction.

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