Focus and Scope

The Golden Ratio of Auditing Research (GRAR) is an international, peer-reviewed, open-access journal dedicated to advancing research in auditing, assurance, accounting, governance, risk, internal control, financial reporting, and related areas of accountability and financial integrity. The journal publishes rigorous scholarly work that contributes to the understanding, development, and practice of auditing and assurance in organizations, financial markets, public institutions, and society.

GRAR welcomes original empirical, theoretical, conceptual, methodological, and literature-based research employing quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods, experimental, archival, survey, case study, historical, critical, and other appropriate research approaches. The journal encourages research that provides clear theoretical, empirical, methodological, professional, managerial, regulatory, or societal contributions and has relevance to an international scholarly and professional audience.

Scope of Research

GRAR welcomes research addressing, but not limited to, the following areas:

1. Auditing and Assurance

  • External and financial statement auditing

  • Internal auditing and internal audit effectiveness

  • Audit quality and audit performance

  • Audit fees, audit tenure, audit rotation, and auditor selection

  • Auditor independence, competence, professional judgment, and skepticism

  • Audit opinion, audit reporting, and audit report lag

  • Audit risk and risk-based auditing

  • Assurance services and emerging assurance practices

  • Audit methodology, audit sampling, and audit evidence

  • Audit education, training, and professional development

2. Accounting, Financial Reporting, and Audit Information

  • Financial accounting and financial reporting

  • Accounting information systems relevant to auditing

  • Financial reporting quality and transparency

  • Earnings management and accounting estimates

  • Disclosure, accountability, and information quality

  • Management and public-sector accounting where relevant to audit and accountability

3. Governance, Internal Control, Risk, and Compliance

  • Corporate governance and audit committees

  • Internal control systems and control effectiveness

  • Enterprise risk management and governance, risk, and compliance (GRC)

  • Regulatory compliance and institutional accountability

  • Legal liability and regulatory aspects of auditing

  • Ethics, professional conduct, and integrity in auditing and accounting

4. Fraud, Forensic Accounting, and Investigative Auditing

  • Fraud detection, prevention, and investigation

  • Forensic accounting and forensic auditing

  • Fraud risk management

  • Financial misconduct and unethical reporting

  • Whistleblowing, anti-fraud systems, and investigative procedures

5. Sustainability, ESG, and Emerging Assurance

  • Sustainability accounting and reporting

  • Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting

  • Sustainability assurance and non-financial assurance

  • Climate-related reporting and assurance

  • Integrated reporting and emerging disclosure practices

  • Audit implications of sustainability and responsible business practices

6. Public Sector and Non-Profit Auditing

  • Government and public-sector auditing

  • Public-sector accounting and accountability

  • Public financial management and audit

  • Public expenditure and budget accountability

  • Audit of government programs and public institutions

  • Non-profit and social-sector accountability

7. Technology, Data Analytics, and Emerging Issues in Auditing

  • Audit analytics and data-driven auditing

  • Artificial intelligence and machine learning in auditing

  • Big data and continuous auditing

  • Blockchain, digital assets, and audit implications

  • Digital accounting and audit information systems

  • Cybersecurity, information security, and technology-related audit risks

  • Emerging technologies and their implications for audit and assurance

8. Behavioural, Economic, Institutional, and Interdisciplinary Auditing Research

  • Behavioural auditing and auditor decision-making

  • Audit judgment and decision processes

  • Auditor-client relationships

  • Agency theory, institutional theory, and other theoretical perspectives relevant to auditing

  • Cross-country and cross-cultural auditing research

  • Economic and financial consequences of auditing

  • Sociological, organizational, and institutional perspectives on auditing

GRAR also welcomes systematic literature reviews, integrative reviews, bibliometric and science-mapping studies, meta-analysis, conceptual synthesis, and historical or critical studies when they make a substantive contribution to auditing, assurance, accounting, governance, risk, control, reporting, or related fields.

Research addressing finance, investment, financial markets, or broader business issues may be considered when the manuscript demonstrates a clear and substantive connection to auditing, assurance, financial reporting, governance, risk, internal control, accountability, or the integrity of financial information.

GRAR does not seek manuscripts that merely address general business, finance, accounting, or management topics without a meaningful connection to the journal's core focus. All submissions should demonstrate methodological rigor, theoretical or conceptual grounding, transparent research procedures, and a substantive contribution to the advancement of auditing and related scholarship.