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

Publisher: Elsevier

Submission Window: 1 December 2026 – 31 January 2027

Introduction

This Special Issue aims to attract papers that advance discussions of auditors' experiences and auditing practices "on the ground" in the Majority World. Unlike the term "non-Western contexts" — which defines many countries by what they are not — this call adopts the term "Majority World" to highlight these countries' collective significance in terms of population, geography, economics, and health, and to move away from deficit-oriented labels rooted in colonial hierarchies.

To date, qualitative auditing scholarship has been overwhelmingly concentrated in Anglo-American contexts — particularly in Canada, the UK, and the US. While a minor but essential sub-stream of auditing research focuses on Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and South America, more research is urgently needed to unpack how audit professionals navigate the particularities of their environments. Without such inquiry, our understanding of auditing remains both geographically narrow and empirically and theoretically incomplete.

Scope & Significance

This Special Issue seeks knowledge around the practice and function of auditing in both traditional terms — audit work by individuals trained in external financial audits — and less common, more fluid, and new forms of auditing manifesting in the Majority World. The editors encourage perspectives that challenge conventional assumptions about what constitutes auditing, who performs audits, and for what purpose it exists — including considerations of algorithmic or digital audit, sustainability assurance, self-audit, community or peer audit, citizen or participatory audit, and cultural or narrative audits.

The Special Issue calls for a new generation of qualitative auditing research in the international domain — interrogating the situated, contested, and evolving nature of auditing in Majority World settings. Qualitative and interpretive methodologies are especially encouraged — including interviews, ethnographies, participant observations, discourse analysis, and case studies.

This Special Issue is open to submissions in both English and French. Papers conducted within Arab contexts may be submitted in English or French and, if accepted, will be offered the possibility of translation into Arabic.

Thematic Areas and Research Questions

1. Professional Identity, Ethics, and Socialization

• How might auditors be socialized in the Majority World?

• How do intersections of identity — gender, race, age, or sexuality — shape professional formation and career trajectories?

• How do local cultural values and socio-political conditions influence auditors' ethical judgments, independence, and decision-making?

2. Contextualizing Audit Work and Judgment

• In what ways do colonial legacies continue to shape contemporary auditing practices, hierarchies, and notions of professionalism?

• How are audit independence and professional skepticism interpreted in environments marked by varying degrees of state involvement, corporate entanglement, or informality?

• How do auditors navigate corruption, client pressure, or informal practices normalized in local business cultures?

3. Sustainability Assurance

• How are sustainability assurance practices adapted, reinterpreted, or resisted in contexts where global sustainability reporting perspectives conflict with local realities?

• What alternative understandings of materiality, responsibility, or transparency emerge in Majority World environments?

4. Technology, Digitization, and the Future of Audit

• How are digitization, AI, and data analytics incorporated into auditing practices in Majority World societies?

• In what ways do technological transformations reshape auditors' work, professional identity, and accountability structures?

5. Power, Knowledge, and Global Standards

• How does the diffusion of "global" auditing standards reproduce or challenge North-South asymmetries in knowledge and professional authority?

• What alternative epistemologies or practices of auditing emerge from the Majority World?

6. Auditable Societies

• How does the concept of the "audit society" operate within the Majority World?

• Who has the power and authority — especially in the context of social media, AI, and Big Data — to audit or hold organizations to account?

• Are forms of bottom-up approaches to auditing emerging in these societies?

List of Topic Areas

Manuscripts are invited on themes including, but not limited to:

1. Auditor socialization, professional identity, and career trajectories in the Majority World

2. Colonial legacies and their influence on contemporary auditing practices

3. Audit independence and professional skepticism in diverse institutional environments

4. Corruption, informality, and client pressure in Majority World audit contexts

5. Language, translation, and communication norms in auditing processes

6. Sustainability assurance practices — adaptation and resistance in local contexts

7. AI, digitization, and data analytics in Majority World auditing

8. Global auditing standards and North-South asymmetries in knowledge and authority

9. Alternative and emerging forms of auditing — community, citizen, peer, and digital audit

10. Audit society dynamics in the Majority World

11. Gender, race, and diversity in auditing in African, Asian, Middle Eastern, and South American contexts

12. Power, accountability, and legitimacy in public and private sector auditing

13. Big Four and local audit firm practices in Majority World societies

14. Bottom-up accountability and participatory auditing approaches

Guest Editors

Prof. Lisa Baudot HEC Paris, France Email: baudot@hec.fr

Prof. Mouna Hazgui HEC Montreal, Quebec, Canada Email: mouna.hazgui@hec.ca

Prof. Rania Kamla University of Edinburgh Business School, UK Email: rkamla@ed.ac.uk

Key Dates & Timeline

Pre-Submission Workshop Abstract Deadline: 30 June 2026 (Submit to Lisa Baudot at baudot@hec.fr)

Pre-Submission Workshop: August 2026 (Online — Optional)

Manuscript Submission Window: 1 December 2026 – 31 January 2027

Note: Presentation at the pre-submission workshop is not a prerequisite for submission. Acceptance to the workshop does not guarantee publication. Authors should note that a submission rejected from this Special Issue cannot be resubmitted to a regular issue of CPA.

Submission Guidelines

Authors should refer to the Critical Perspectives on Accounting website and follow the author instructions when submitting. Please select Article Type:

"VSI: Studies of Auditing"

All manuscripts will undergo the journal's standard peer review process.

All submissions must be original and must not be under review elsewhere at the time of submission.

For any questions, please contact Lisa Baudot, Mouna Hazgui, or Rania Kamla directly.

About the Journal

Critical Perspectives on Accounting, published by Elsevier, is a leading international peer-reviewed journal with a CiteScore of 10.6 and Impact Factor of 5.7. It supports open access publishing and is dedicated to advancing critical accounting research — recognizing that conventional theory and practice is ill-suited to the challenges of the modern environment, and that accounting practices and corporate behavior are inextricably connected with many allocative, distributive, social, and ecological problems of our era.

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