Accounting and Information Systems 12-20-2023

This webpage is a copy of an original pdf document that you can get upon request by emailing academic@tcnj.edu.

Table of Contents

1. Background and Purpose
2. Scholarship in Accounting and Information Systems
3. Evaluating Scholarship
4. Standards for Scholarship Quantity
5. Review of this Document

The attached disciplinary standards have been reviewed and approved by the Committee on Faculty Affairs, the Council of Deans, and the Provost.

To avoid creating moving target for candidates for reappointment, the disciplinary standards in effect during a faculty member’s first year of employment will be used for reappointment and tenure applications. Candidates for promotion will use the disciplinary standards in effect in the year in which they apply for promotion.

The Department of Accounting and Information Systems will next review its disciplinary standards in Academic Year 2028.

1. Background and Purpose

This document articulates the guiding principles for the evaluation of faculty candidates’ scholarship for purposes of reappointment, tenure, and promotion within the Department of Accounting and Information Systems. These guidelines serve as the foundation for our commitment to academic excellence, fostering a dynamic and intellectually vibrant community of scholars.

The present document should be used in conjunction with the college-wide Reappointment and Promotions Document (RPD), which provides the institutional context for standards outlined in this document. These Disciplinary Standards are designed to describe the standards that mark excellence in scholarly, creative, and professional activities for the faculty in the Department of Accounting and Information Systems and offer discipline-specific guidelines and interpretation of the general standards with respect to scholarly activity. The RPD provides the timeline and processes mandated for reappointment, tenure, and promotion at the College (https://academicaffairs.tcnj.edu/faculty/promotions-reappointment/).

2. Scholarship in Accounting and Information Systems

Based on the Department’s goals of producing strong academic research and delivering a high quality education grounded in an innovative, forward-looking curriculum, the Accounting and Information Systems Department embraces a model where faculty remain actively engaged in the discipline via ongoing scholarly activities throughout their careers. The Department’s expectations about faculty scholarship are in line with TCNJ’s teacher-scholar model and reflect the underlying premise that research and teaching are complementary, and that new discoveries augment and sustain our work as educators. The Accounting and Information Systems Department concurs that “the best teachers remain devoted learners” (see RPD, section 2.3.) and recognizes different types of scholarship in Accounting and Information Systems: (1) the scholarship of discovery; (2) the scholarship of integration; (3) the scholarship of application; and (4) the scholarship of pedagogy (as defined in the RPD). Although scholarship of pedagogy is valued within the context of a larger research agenda, pedagogical contributions alone will not be enough to gain tenure or promotion.

The Department expects all faculty members to be productive scholars and to remain current in the theory, methods, skills, and scholarship of pedagogy of their respective disciplines. Faculty members are typically expected to document their research accomplishments and provide evidence to support their claims during the evaluation process. The present document outlines the standards for scholarship expected of faculty members.

3. Evaluating Scholarship

The Department of Accounting and Information Systems embraces TCNJ’s standards for evaluating scholarship (as outlined in the RPD), which include: 1) high quality work judged by one’s peers as to its significance to the field of inquiry; 2) on-going and active involvement in research; and 3) scholarship that encourages the use and supports the goal of TCNJ’s teacher-scholar model. To be hired at the Associate Professor or Professor levels, candidates must meet the same standards as those for internal candidates and must make their scholarship available for review by the Department and Dean.

3a. Research Quality and Individual Contribution

The Department faculty must establish a viable research program within one or more of the accounting and information systems disciplines. Candidates are expected to demonstrate the reach and significance of their work through peer-reviewed journal publications, citations, and other measurable indicators. Scholarship that can be applied to address real-world business problems, inform policy, or contribute to the betterment of society is highly regarded. Candidates are encouraged to demonstrate how their work translates into meaningful impact beyond the academic sphere. Collaboration across disciplines is encouraged and valued. Accepted evidence of an established research program include:

Publication of peer-reviewed journal articles.

1. Publication of peer-reviewed books and book chapters.
2. Publication of other peer-reviewed work, such as proceedings papers, working papers, publications in professional or trade journals, business cases in a book, significant instructional software subject to public scrutiny.
3. Refereed presentations of scholarly work at academic meetings and conferences.
4. Invited professional contributions, such as invited addresses to meetings of professional organizations.
5. External grants.
6. Applied scholarly activities, such as original databases or software developed for public use, journal editorial roles.

The Department believes that quality and impact of research are important factors to consider when assessing faculty scholarship. Indications of quality include but are not limited to: a) impact factor and/or acceptance rate of a journal; and b) type and nature of the review process along with importance and depth of the published work (i.e., significance in one’s field of inquiry, which necessarily requires peer review to validate the work’s significance). New and emerging outlets and venues (e.g., online journals) are acceptable to the extent that the quality of the work can be evaluated in a similar manner as more traditional outlets.

It is incumbent upon the candidate to provide such indications of quality as: Journal Citation Report numbers, reputation of the publisher, stature of editor and review board members of a journal, extent of distribution, or quality of independent reviews. While external indicators of the quality of disciplinary scholarship provide valuable guidance, the collective expertise of the department PRC represents the best resource for evaluating faculty scholarship.

Both sole and joint authorship works are considered and encouraged, and count equally to single-authored publications. The candidate does not need to be the first author on all their published work. However, the overall body of their published work should support the inference that the candidate is able to generate new research ideas, show scholarly leadership, and publish this research in quality outlets. In instances when the candidate has co-authors, the faculty member should clearly indicate the extent and nature of the contribution to the collaboration.

3b. Consistency, Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Consistency: The consistency of research productivity over time exhibits that the faculty member is actively engaged in research, i.e., pursuing scholarly activities and achieving a depth of knowledge through years of continuous, specialized research in one’s discipline. There should be evidence of a history of continuous publications, contributions, and evidence of capability to define and carry out a program of research. The candidate should make clear which scholarly accomplishments were achieved subsequent to appointment at TCNJ and which were achieved since tenure or the last promotion.

Interdisciplinary and Collaborative Research: The disciplinary areas within the Department of Accounting and Information Systems are interdisciplinary in nature and have roots and/or connections to several of the social sciences (e.g., psychology, law, economics, communications) and data science. Interdisciplinary scholarship is highly desirable and highly valued. It is anticipated that faculty members in the Department will have a disciplinary core that allows them to deepen their understanding of a field or subfield and master specific methodologies. However, the Department believes in flexibility with respect to the range of outlets for faculty members’ scholarship in terms of disciplinary focus to the extent that they meet the standards of quality as noted above.

Student involvement: The involvement of students in a candidate’s research is valued and encouraged by the College and the Department. However, collaboration with students is not a requirement for reappointment, tenure, or promotion.

Planning: Some scholarship, such as work that requires international travel, collaboration with colleagues at other institutions, the collection of longitudinal data, or the use of research methodologies that are time-intensive with regard to data collection may encounter challenges that might lead to slower publication rates. The Department supports these types of scholarly endeavors and recognizes these challenges. However, it is incumbent on the faculty member on tenure track to keep in mind the time constraints defined in the RPD and plan accordingly to provide a record of scholarship at the time of evaluation that meets or exceeds the basic criteria set forth in this document.

A successful research program will typically include: a) several projects at different stages of development or a systematic plan for one’s research projects; b) significant contribution to the scholarly works (sole authorship or substantial contribution in multi-authored articles); c) work conducted at TCNJ; and d) record of appropriate dissemination of scholarly work.

4. Standards for Scholarship Quantity

4a. Reappointment during the probationary (pre-tenure) period

Candidates for reappointment should demonstrate progress in their scholarly work and program since first coming to TCNJ. Examples of demonstrable progress include evidence of journal or book submissions, acceptance letters, letters of interest, conference presentations, and publications. For example, candidates should provide proof of manuscripts that have been submitted but not yet accepted, communication with a publisher, and presentations at conferences. Candidates can show progress toward publication by detailing in their Professional Development Essay the work completed and in-progress research, describing potential scholarly outcomes, and documenting paper submissions and revisions.

A typical candidate will have at least one peer-reviewed article published, under review, or revise and resubmit by the time of their third-year review and research projects in development. However, the Department recognizes that factors outside of the candidate’s control may impact the pace of the publication process in the discipline.

4b. Scholarly, Creative, and Professional Activity Expectations for Tenure and Promotion to Associate Professor

To be considered for tenure and promotion to Associate Professor, the Department of Accounting and Information Systems typically expects: 1) a minimum of three refereed articles (in print or in press) published while at TCNJ (unless otherwise negotiated at the time of appointment) and considered by the PRC as quality outlets in accordance with the quality measures explained above; and 2) an active scholarship program consisting of research under peer review or in progress (which may include peer-reviewed conference presentations, grants, book chapters). Candidates for tenure and promotion to Associate Professor should explain in their Professional Development Essay how their research meets the quality expectations communicated by the PRC in the previous letters of reappointment.

4c. Scholarly, Creative, and Professional Activity Expectations for Promotion to Professor

For promotion to Professor, the Department of Accounting and Information Systems scholarship expectations include a minimum of three refereed journal articles consistent with the quality measures explained above, published since promotion to the Associate Professor rank, or since hiring if hired as Associate Professor. The department believes that a candidate for promotion to Professor should have produced a substantial body of work that demonstrates a sustained, productive research program since attaining the rank of Associate Professor. Candidates must show clear evidence of maturation as a scholar, contribution to one’s discipline, and recognition in their field of scholarship, demonstrated by one or more of the following:

• Ongoing recognition of scholarly work at regional, national, or international level.
• Invited presentations at peer-reviewed regional, national, or international conferences.
• Review or referee invitation.
• Accumulated citations of the work published.

The Department recognizes that as a faculty member progresses toward Professor, his/her widening reputation may present valuable publication opportunities in addition to peer-reviewed journals, such as (but not limited to) scholarly books and invited articles. Such contributions are encouraged, as they are often the sign of an established scholar. The quantity and quality of these contributions will be evaluated by the Department in accordance with the quality measures stated above. Articles published prior to employment at TCNJ may be considered in the promotion to Professor decision.

For promotion to professor, external peer reviews of a candidate’s research will be sought to provide an independent assessment of its quality and impact.

5. Review of this Document

According to College policies, the expectations and standards of faculty scholarship should be reviewed at a minimum of every 5 years. Any proposed changes to the document must be voted on by the Department. The next review of these Disciplinary Standards will occur no later than AY 2028.

Approved by the Department of Accounting and Information Systems October 11, 2023