To me, there are three major takeaways. First, predictive validity and especially external validity considerations for audit production and reporting research are central for both scholars and standards setters and worthy of study by our own Master of Accounting students.12 Second, independent researchers have an important public interest role in designing, conducting, and effectively communicating research results and implications. Third, if auditing standards are to be evidence based—and the PCAOB may be moving in this direction by creating the Center for Economic Analysis (PCAOB 2013a), then standards setters and regulators must be skeptical of research claims and may need independent scholarly help to reliably evaluate research validity in the public interest.