Call for Papers

Beyond Sarbanes-Oxley:
Can the Accounting Profession Meet Its Ethical Mandate?

Ninth Symposium on Ethics in Accounting
Call For Papers: Tuesday, April 1, 2004

The AAA's Professionalism and Ethics Committee invites papers for the Ninth Symposium on Ethics in Accounting, to be held immediately preceding the 2004 AAA Annual Meeting in Orlando.

Scope and Aims of Symposium
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act will be fully implemented before the meeting, providing an opportunity to reflect on its implications and to evaluate its initial effects. Rules have changed, but is there evidence that the accounting profession has a strategy for assuming the ethical mandate assigned by society? The current environment provides a unique opportunity to make a difference in the ethical climate of business. Is the accounting profession up to the challenge?

The conference will be open to any papers related to ethics in accounting. We especially encourage authors to develop and communicate a theoretical understanding of why the accounting profession continues to struggle through a series of ethical failures. Positive, empirical explanations of "what is" are encouraged as well. But perhaps it is time to also think theoretically of why things are the way they are, and to provide a road map based on theory that gives direction for change.

Based on submissions received, we expect to have three tracks at the conference: a theory track, an empirical/experimental track, and an ethics education/case track. This should lead to a lively interchange of ideas, potentially including time for informal "discussion sessions" with authors to aid them in fleshing out ways to apply ethics theory to the problems confronting the profession. The goal of this conference is to stimulate creativity in the accounting ethics community and to allow networking opportunities. We encourage collaboration with members of the profession outside academe. We welcome your suggestions (e-mail mshaub@stmarytx.edu) on how to make this the most interesting accounting ethics conference you have ever attended. We want all members of the accounting ethics community to be included in this event.

A prize will be awarded for best overall paper and a separate award will be presented for the best paper authored by a Ph.D. student. Both presentation and forum sessions will be included in the program. All faculty and doctoral students are invited to attend; enrollment fee waivers are available for doctoral students, with registration covered by the Professionalism and Ethics Committee.

Location and Dates
The symposium will be held in Orlando as a CPE session, immediately prior to the 2004 AAA Annual Meeting. The meetings will be held in the main convention hotel, or within a convenient walking distance from the hotel.

Details for Paper Submission
One (1) copy of the completed manuscript should be transmitted as an attached Word file to the conference coordinator, Mike Shaub (mshaub@stmarytx.edu), on or before Tuesday, April 1, 2004. To preserve the anonymity of the review process, please remove any references to authors on the cover page and in the body of the paper. Author names and affiliations should appear in the submission letter (i.e., cover email). Please indicate with the submission: 1) the names of any co-authors that are doctoral students; and 2) if you would like the paper to be considered as well for publication in Research on Professional Responsibility and Ethics in Accounting OR Accounting and the Public Interest. The editors of both journals have graciously agreed to waive the initial journal submission fee. A non-refundable conference paper submission fee of $20 U.S. (made payable to the American Accounting Association) should be submitted concurrently to:

Dr. Mike Shaub
School of Business and Administration
St. Mary's University
One Camino Santa Maria
San Antonio, TX 78228-8607
Phone: (210) 431-2036
Fax: (210) 431-2115