The processes at work today seem very different ones. Careerist and institutionally oriented research seems much
more significant as research has become much more involved in processes of career progression and the establishment
of institutional legitimacy and prestige. In days of rankings, audits and assessments, be they individual or institutional
in nature, at times it is as if the very act of publishing in journals has become more significant than the additions to
knowledge that result from this. [. . .] Such concerns have become so ingrained in the consciousness of some
institutions that members now talk of their ‘‘hits’’ more than the content and direction of their investigations. It is
indeed very interesting to reflect on the likelihood that it would be much more difficult to establish a new journal in
the present institutional environment. The forces of conformity are most likely too great. Both institutional pressures
to establish legitimacy and personal interests in career management install a greater concern with prevailing
publication norms and existing conceptualisations and methodologies. [. . .] Albeit in the name of excellence and
achievement, a more conservative trajectory of research seems to be in the process of development across all aspects
of the accounting domain. Raw curiosity seemingly is not so valued as it used to be. (