Mapping the Landscape of Creative Accounting Research Using Bibliometric and Network Analysis in R

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Accounting, Faculty of Management Sciences, Velayat University, Iranshahr, Iran.

2 Department of Accounting, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran.

3 Department of Accounting, National University of Skills (NUS), Tehran, Iran.

10.22103/jak.2026.26403.4257

Abstract

Objective: Creative accounting has been recognized as a significant domain in accounting research, exerting substantial influence on accounting policies and practices. The emergence of new technologies, regulatory changes, and the growing demand for transparency have recently attracted increasing scholarly attention to this field. The primary objective of this study is to identify the most frequent and influential topics in creative accounting and to determine the most influential articles, journals, authors, and countries, as well as to map collaboration networks among researchers, research institutions, and nations.
 
Method: This study analyzes 184 scientific articles extracted from the Scopus database over the period 1986–2025 using the bibliometrix package in the R programming environment.
 
Results: The results reveal an increasing trend in scientific output related to creative accounting. Concepts such as earnings management, financial reporting, corporate governance, transparency, income smoothing, fraud, and financial regulations are among the most frequently occurring keywords and play a crucial role in shaping the conceptual structure of this research domain. These topics also indicate substantial potential for further development in future studies.
 
Conclusion: The main contribution of this research is to provide a comprehensive mapping of the scientific literature and to examine intellectual developments within the field of creative accounting. The findings assist researchers in identifying emerging research trends and opportunities for effective future collaboration. The study highlights well-developed topics in the field while simultaneously introducing emerging themes that still require further investigation.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 26 July 2026

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  • Receive Date: 27 November 2025
  • Revise Date: 07 June 2026
  • Accept Date: 01 July 2026

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