Studies of Auditing “On‑the‑Ground” in the Majority World

Call for Papers – Studies of Auditing “On‑the‑Ground” in the Majority World

Journal: Critical Perspectives on Accounting (CPA)
Publisher: Elsevier
Submission window: 1 December 2026 – 31 January 2027

This special issue invites critical, qualitative research on auditing practices and auditors’ lived experiences “on the ground” in the Majority World, understood as countries outside the traditional Anglo‑American core and emphasizing their collective demographic, economic, and geo‑political weight. The call aims to move beyond deficit‑oriented, “non‑Western” labels and to foreground locally embedded, socially constructed forms of auditing shaped by specific political economies, colonial legacies, and cultural logics.

Types of research this SI invites

Guest editors (full information)

Dr Lisa Baudot, HEC Paris, France
Dr Mouna Hazgui, HEC Montréal, Canada
Dr Rania Kamla, University of Edinburgh Business School, UK

List of suggested topic areas

• Professional identity, ethics, and socialization:

  • How auditors are socialized in the Majority World and how gender, race, age, and sexuality shape their careers.

  • How local cultural values and socio‑political conditions shape ethical judgements, independence, and professional scepticism.

• Contextualizing audit work and judgement:

  • How colonial legacies, state involvement, family ownership, and informality reshape audit practices and hierarchies.

  • How auditors navigate corruption, client pressure, and normalised informal practices.

• Sustainability and assurance:

  • How sustainability and ESG assurance practices are adapted, resisted, or re‑interpreted in Majority‑World contexts.

  • How local understandings of materiality, responsibility, and transparency differ from global frameworks.

• Technology, digitisation, and AI in audit:

  • How AI, data analytics, and digital tools are incorporated into audit in resource‑constrained, non‑standardised environments.

  • How digitisation reshapes risk assessment, professional identity, and accountability.

• Power, standards, and epistemologies:

  • How the diffusion of “global” audit standards reproduces or challenges North‑South asymmetries in knowledge and authority.

  • What alternative Majority‑World audit epistemologies and practices can contribute to global assurance debates.

• Auditable societies and new forms of audit:

  • How “audit society” dynamics operate via social media, AI, and big data in Majority‑World settings.

  • How community‑based, bottom‑up, and participatory audit practices emerge amid conflict, war, or weak institutions.

Methodological emphasis

The SI especially encourages qualitative and interpretive methods (e.g., fieldwork, ethnography, participant observation, discourse analysis, narrative interviews, case studies) that capture the day‑to‑day realities of audit work in firms, public‑sector institutions, and civil‑society contexts across the Majority World. While the focus is on external financial audit, submissions may also address internal audit, sustainability assurance, public‑sector audit, and novel forms of social and community audit.

Language and translation policy

Papers may be submitted in English or French; submissions from Arab‑context studies may be published in English or French and, if accepted, offered the possibility of translation into Arabic under the journal’s multilingual policy.

Submission information

• Submission window: 1 December 2026 – 31 January 2027

• Journal submission portal: https://submit.elsevier.com/YCPAC

• When submitting, select article type “VSI: Studies of Auditing”

• Follow the journal’s Guide for Authors: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/critical-perspectives-on-accounting/publish/guide-for-authors

A pre‑submission online workshop is offered (August 2026); those interested should send papers to the Guest Editors by 30 June 2026, but participation is not a prerequisite for SI submission.

ServiceSetu Academics — Premier Platform for Academic Opportunities & Research Collaboration

Visit official website of the publisher