Is Audit-quality Research Discipline Saturated or Still Researchable? A Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

The objectives of this study are to illustrate the evolution of the audit-quality research discipline over the past forty years, determine whether this research discipline is expandable and, if so, what potential future research avenues need further examination, and understand the current knowledge structure of the audit-quality research discipline. To achieve these objectives, we employed bibliometric techniques (keyword-frequency and co-word analyses) to review a dataset of 1,831 articles extracted from the Scopus database between 1981 and 2021. A newly introduced keyword frequency tool (K-indicator) was used to measure the evolutionary stages of the audit-quality research discipline. We then employed co-word analysis visualizations to present the cognitive structure of the audit-quality field. The K-indicator revealed that audit quality had become a mature discipline with established concepts, keywords, and conclusions. Also, it indicated that despite extensive audit-quality research, there is room for further research. The co-word analysis showed that audit quality had reached a tight and coherent status from 1981 to the end of 2021. Co-word visualizations indicated that the audit-quality structure revolves around four main themes: auditor characteristics, client-related factors, audit-firm characteristics, and audit regulations. Therefore, the audit-quality research discipline concentrated on some specific elements and ignored others. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no similar study was conducted to determine whether the audit-quality notion is still researchable. Therefore, the results of this study would add much value to audit researchers, practitioners, and regulators.