Editorial

Welcome to the third issue of Accounting History for 2023. This August issue includes six full articles, which denote the strong link between accounting history and interdisciplinary research in accounting and/or provide examples of method innovations in the field. This issue also contains the announcement of the 12 Accounting History International Conference in 2024, and the calls for papers for two upcoming Special Issues: ‘Accounting for Death: An Historical Perspective’ and ‘Historical Accounting for Enterprise and Society in Africa’. Please note the change of submission date for the ‘Accounting for Death’ Special Issue from 15 September to 15 December 2023. We would encourage you to examine these opportunities and to contact the Special Issue Guest Editors where you need further clarification. Authors drawn from Canada, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Portugal, the UK and the US have written for this issue, with articles covering a time span from the nineteenth century to the twentyfirst century. Most of the contributions refer to the period between nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with the first and last articles being a reflection on the current relevance of historiography and bibliometric analysis of accounting history publications, respectively. The issue presents a circular structure: it starts by exploring the innovation that historiography brings to the study of accounting, and it expands to the demonstration of some innovative methods applied to accounting history research and to issues of interdisciplinary accounting. The latter articles refer to role of accounting and key professionals in singular high-profile events, the accounting contribution to slavery and women’s emancipation, the use and evolution of language in professional journal’s editorials and the contributions of non-Anglophone authors to the accounting history field. The first contribution, about innovation in accounting historiography, by Carolyn Cordery, Delfina Gomes, Giulia Leoni, Karen McBride and Christopher Napier, is the result of the in-depth reflection of this group of scholars, which was heavily affected by Covid-19 restrictions. This group was meant to meet, discuss and disseminate their thoughts through physical interactions, including the presence of an accounting history audience, in 2021. That opportunity was halted by Covid-19 restrictions, and they successfully moved this debate to digital platforms. That resulted, for instance, in a panel session at the Accounting History Virtual Seminar on 9 September 2021. This premise about the origins of the article enhances (rather than hinders) their propositions and it allows the reader to relate closely to their experiences and processes of thought. The authors argue that historiography has an evolving nature. As such, it continues to develop an understanding of the present practices, education and research while foreseeing future issues and providing potential answers. Their analysis encompasses the expansion of the perspectives, methodologies and theoretical approaches of accounting history since the early 1990s. The authors advocate for the ability of scholars to embrace an innovative study of the past, based on new theories, sources, methodologies and writings. Editorial