KENNESAW, Ga. | Mar 24, 2020

School of Accountancy faculty’s output ranked second in Georgia

Kennesaw State University is among the top universities in the world for accounting research, according to just-released rankings from Brigham Young University. The 2019 report, which ranks universities based on their research output in 12 top accounting journals, lists Kennesaw State as the 61st most-published university in the world during the last six years, and the second most-published in Georgia.

“Our faculty in the SOA and across the College are dedicated to producing relevant, actionable research for the business community,” said Robin Cheramie, dean of the Michael J. Coles College of Business, which houses the School of Accountancy (SOA). “It’s extremely satisfying to see the numbers backing up something that is so central to the Coles College’s mission.”

BYU issues rankings for each university based on 1) research published during the last six years, 2) research published during the last 12 years, and 3) research published since 1990.

For accounting research published during the last six years:

• Kennesaw State ranked 61st in the world out of more than 800 institutions.
  
  
• Seven SOA faculty – Dana Hermanson, Divesh Sharma, Vineeta Sharma, John Abernathy, Flora Dong, Velina Popova, and Hong Qu – as well as James Tompkins with the Department of Economics, Finance and Quantitative Analysis, are among the top 1,000 accounting researchers, with Hermanson ranking in at no. 29.

For accounting research published since 1990:

• Kennesaw State ranked 58th in the world.
  
  
• When broken out by research content, Kennesaw State is ranked
  • 6th in the world for accounting education research
  • 18th for auditing research
  • 24th for overall breadth of research
    
    
• Dana Hermanson is the 18th most-published accounting researcher in the world.

“I am motivated to try to answer questions that can be helpful to practicing accountants, board members and students,” said Hermanson. “The College and SOA have provided an incredibly supportive environment for me to pursue my research over the past 27 years.”

“These rankings speak to the consistent history of relevant academic research being conducted by the School of Accountancy faculty,” said SOA Director Steve Smalt. “KSU ranks above many R1 institutions in Georgia and across the Southeast. Considering KSU awarded its first four-year degree in 1980, being ranked 58th for a period starting just 10 years later is remarkable.”

The Kennesaw State SOA has been able to achieve this level of research success because of the Coles College of Business’ unique track system, which allows faculty to pursue as much, or as little, research as fits their professional goals. This creates an environment where the faculty who are most interested in conducting research are free to do so.

“It’s a system and culture that has allowed KSU over the years to attract a cadre of accounting researchers who perform high-quality scholarly research without the proverbial ‘publish or perish’ mentality that exists elsewhere in the academy,” Smalt said.

See the full BYU accounting research rankings here.

– Patrick Harbin