Exploring the conceptual structure of the auditing discipline through co-word analysis: An international perspective

The purpose of this study was to explore the conceptual structure of the auditing discipline between 2000 and 2016, by synthesizing keywords cited in 2,119 articles published in 24 accounting and auditing journals, using co-word analysis and social network analysis (SNA). We aimed to highlight dominant, fading, and emerging themes in the discipline across the periods and across continents. The main outputs of this study can be summarized as follows. The consistent decline in fragmentation, and the increase in connectedness, within the SNA showed that the auditing discipline became an increasingly tight and more cohesive network. While the generic keywords auditing and auditor were used far less frequently in the final period of the study, the keywords audit quality, audit fees, internal control, financial reporting quality, and continuous auditing were increasingly cited across the study periods. Moreover, regional analyzes unveiled similarities and differences between territories.