Replication & re-examination of empirical research in corporate reporting and accounting

Replication in empirical research validates findings, identifies contextual boundaries, and promotes transparency in research. Replication studies are pivotal for assessing the durability and generalizability of research, creating a more reliable foundation for future scholarly work. This is even more true in social sciences, where observed phenomena may be affected by the institutional and social settings as well as by changes in people’s beliefs over time. In this respect, replication and re-examination of prior studies should be an integral part of a social scientist’s toolkit. In the accounting field, researchers should always feel a responsibility to validate new findings in different settings/periods, since empirical results can influence corporate decisions, stakeholders’ behaviour, and regulatory standards without any precise limits of time and space. This special issue of Financial Reporting – Journal of Financial Communication seeks to address the ongoing challenges and evolving perspectives in the replication and re-examination of prior studies in accounting research.