Distinguished Contribution to Accounting Literature Award
Sponsored by the American Accounting Association
Call for Nominations and Award Criteria
Nominations Deadline: January 31 at 11:59 pm Eastern Time
The Distinguished Contribution to Accounting Literature Award Committee is currently accepting nominations for the 2025 Distinguished Contribution to Accounting Literature Award and invites nominations of articles, monographs, or books of research of exceptional merit.
Award Intent
The Distinguished Contribution to Accounting Literature Award is intended to recognize work that introduces consequential new beliefs or new perspectives that change the direction of the literature.
- Evidence of impact intrinsic to the article may include, but is not limited to:
- The work demonstrates originality, provides a foundation for future intellectual inquiries, enriches the scholarly discourse, and demonstrates rigorous scholarship (e.g., design and analysis).
- The work meaningfully illuminates a phenomenon of interest, meaningfully influences subsequent research, and/or prompts further exploration.
- The work significantly advances understanding of its subject matter and/or introduces new perspectives, theories, or methodologies.
- The work effectively communicates complex ideas with precision, eloquence, and creativity.
- External evidence of impact may include, but is not limited to:
- Citations (year-adjusted; see Dechow et al. 2020, Accounting Horizons)
- Regulatory impact – the work has influenced regulations or shows promise to influence regulations.
- Broad knowledge dissemination – the work’s findings have been profiled in conferences, practitioner-oriented publications, media outlets, and/or textbooks, among others.
Award Selection Criteria
- Eligible works must have been published or posted as an online early publication more than five years but not more than 15 years prior to the year in which the award is bestowed. For 2025, work would have been published or posted as an online early publication in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, or 2019, and must meet the following criteria:
- Potential magnitude of contribution to accounting education, practice, and future accounting research
- Accounting education and practice are broadly defined, including doctoral students and practical implications beyond the accounting function, respectively.
- Breadth of potential interest
- Originality, and innovative content
- Clarity and organization of exposition
- Soundness and appropriateness of methodology
- The selection process shall consider the breadth of accounting research in terms of topic areas and methods.
- Although the award generally recognizes a single publication, two or more related publications stemming from the same program of study, addressing a well-defined research objective, and with an identical author group, may be considered for a joint nomination. In this case, each related publication must comply with all other eligibility requirements. Justification for considering the nominated publications as a whole must be provided in the nomination letter.
Instructions for Submitting Nominations
- Any person or group may make nominations.
- Self-nominations are encouraged.
- Members of the committee are encouraged to solicit and submit nominations.
- Current committee members who are nominated for the award will be asked to either recuse themselves from the committee or remove their nomination from consideration.
- Beginning with the 2025 submissions, nominations may include work that was not selected for the award in a prior year, as long as the eligibility requirements continue to be met.
- Eligible nominations will not automatically roll-forward to the following year, although the award committee has the option to recommend eligible nominations be rolled forward. The nominator will be informed of the nomination status at the completion of the award cycle, and updates to the nomination letter are encouraged even for nominations that are selected to be rolled forward.
- Each nomination must include:
- The DOI link and an electronic copy (preferably in PDF) of the article, monograph, or book that meets the award criteria, and
- A nomination letter - a brief supporting statement (up to 500 words) summarizing reasons for the nomination that are consistent with the award selection criteria.
- If a manuscript has been submitted previously for consideration and the work was not selected by the award committee to be rolled over, it is recommended that the nomination letter highlight what features of the nominated work have materially changed, referring directly to the award criteria.
- Submissions without nomination letters will not be considered. Incomplete nominations can be finalized within two days of the submission deadline.
- Please attach an electronic copy of the article, monograph, or book and nomination letter to an email and send to Barbara Gutierrez, Professional Staff Liaison, at awards@aaahq.org with "Distinguished Contribution to Accounting Literature Award" in the subject line of your email.
- Upon receipt of your nomination you will receive an acknowledgment message from Barbara Gutierrez, Professional Staff Liaison.
- All documents submitted in support of your nomination become the property of the American Accounting Association.
- Deadline: January 31st (11:59 pm Eastern Time)
Award Presentation
- The recipient(s) will receive an award and $2,500 at the AAA Annual Meeting. If multiple recipients, the amount is divided equally.
- The recipient(s) will be announced on the AAA website and in multi-topic mass emails.