Research on environmental accounting: past studies and future trends

Abstract

This study aims to address a comprehensive analysis of the structure of publications and citations on environmental accounting. A total of 1370 indexed articles were analyzed using the Scopus database and characterized by bibliometric indicators such as the most cited authors, journals, universities, and countries with the highest number of publications.Our findings demonstrate a large increase in research on environmental accounting over the period analyzed (1976–2020), with 643 articles cited at least 10 times and 1182 articles cited at least once. Furthermore, the most relevant articles on the topic, as well as leading countries, institutions, journals, and authors, have been identified. Our methodology involves a descriptive quantitative analysis, specifically a bibliometric study, which is one of the most commonly used research methods for identifying research trends. Using VOSviewer software, we extracted different co-citation clusters of articles and authors. The contribution of this paper to academic literature is evident in the identification of trends and the evolution of scientific production related to environmental accounting. This research can be useful for governments, company directors, and researchers who continue to enhance their knowledge in this field with the aim of improving environmental accounting practices.