SYNOPSIS: This paper presents rankings of accounting doctoral programs based on
the research productivity of each institution’s graduates in the years immediately following
their graduation. We use two time periods for analysis: the first three years after
graduation and the first six years after graduation. We extend previous doctoral program
ranking literature by expanding rankings of accounting doctoral programs with
specific rankings for topical areas accounting information systems AIS, audit, financial,
managerial, and tax and methodologies analytical, archival, and experimental.
We show that rankings for topical and methodological areas differ significantly from
rankings produced using methodologies that create a singular doctoral program ranking.
These results emphasize the importance of considering topical and methodological
areas when assessing doctoral program research strengths. These rankings should be
of value to Ph.D. program applicants, administrators of academic programs, and
industry—such as administrators of programs like the Accounting Doctoral Scholars
program, KPMG Ph.D. Project, and prospective Ph.D. students.
Keywords: accounting Ph.D. research rankings; accounting research methodology;
accounting research topical areas.
Data Availability: Requests for data may be made to the authors.