Accounting research trends during the last 20 years: evidence from Italy

This paper is aimed at providing an overview about the recent Italian accounting research, in order to identify the main trends through the last 20 years. During such period national accounting research starts to open to the international context and major changes in the academia occur. The paper develops a content analysis of more than 1,000 research articles from the oldest Italian accounting journal, RIREA (Rivista Italiana di Ragioneria e di Economia Aziendale). It analyses the changes in authorships, themes, time frames and locations, extending Italian and international frameworks. The main results show a gradual increase in the internationalisation of authors and themes. Finally, concluding remarks should be useful for scholars and researchers.