Systematic bias in citing practices: evidence from accounting journal additions to the FT list

We employ two changes to the research journal list produced by the Financial Times (FT) in 2010 to investigate whether citing practices in two premier accounting journals (Contemporary Accounting Research—CAR and Review of Accounting Studies—RAS) are influenced by strategic considerations. We are the first to document significant strategic citing behavior among accounting journals. Using the difference-in-difference (DiD) research design, where we account for citation practices across various groups of accounting journals, we find that while CAR and RAS papers garnered increased citations from both FT and non-FT accounting journals in the period following their addition to the FT list, self-referencing by these journals increased significantly more during the same period, compared to other benchmark journals. Our results suggest that the referencing of articles in CAR and RAS is systematically affected by strategic considerations, potentially impeding scientific progress. © Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary 2024.