Unravelling the truth: a bibliometric analysis of earnings management practices

This bibliometric analysis of earnings management (EM) literature work published between 2000 and 2022 sheds light on the growth of knowledge and research in the field. The study analyzed 1383 papers from the Scopus Core Collection database and evaluated various factors such as year of publication, journal, author, institution, nation, affiliation, subject area, and term analysis. The findings showed that EM is a heavily studied topic, with a significant growth in publications in 2020 (162). Most research was centered in the United States, China, Australia, and the United Kingdom. The study provides a comprehensive review of the EM literature and identifies broad research trends in the field. The findings highlight the most pressing concerns in this field and suggest new avenues for exploration. It enlighten on the social and intellectual structure of the domain, which may benefit policymakers in the field of EM. The findings also draw attention to the growing interest among researchers in studying earnings management and suggest opportunities for exploring the dynamics of EM in emerging economies. This study aims to provide a valuable resource for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners by demonstrating on the current state of EM research. Findings shows that early study focused on demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, but later studies included issues like earnings smoothing, earnings with societal effect, corporate governance, audit quality, stock returns and corporate social responsibility, which affect earnings quality. The findings of this study can inform future research by highlighting areas in need of further exploration and gaining a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities in the field of EM.