About the Journal

Focus and scope

Peer review process

Open access policy

Preservation policy

Interoperability protocols - Information Services

Editorial practices in Gender Equality

Focus and scope

a.- Editorial Line. Reasons and characteristics of the journal

In recent years, research work on the Accounting History in Spain and other non-Anglo-Saxon countries has increased considerably, making these countries relevant due to the number and quality of research carried out on this matter. As in these countries there are few doctrinal accounting journals, there is a difficulty for many papers to be published. In this way, there is a loss for the community of historians given the scarce knowledge and the lack of dissemination that a great part of the research reaches. This circumstance is especially regrettable in the current university situation, in which the professional career of university teachers depends largely on the publication of research in prestigious journals.

Therefore, and in order to facilitate that university professors from non-Anglo-Saxon countries, who dedicate their research activity to the Accounting History can find a way to develop their professional career, and can promote themselves without having to abandon their thematic preferences of research, the AECA Accounting History Commission took the initiative in 2004 to publish an Accounting History journal capable of publishing at least a part of the most important papers to be carried out in the future. For this reason, this journal accepts manuscripts written in the most important European languages.

The legal owner of the journal is the Spanish Association of Accounting and Business Administration (AECA) (CIF: G28729218) and the Pablo de Olavide University of Seville (CIF Q9150016E).The members of the editorial board are selected by the AECA Board of Directors based on the candidates' merits and their suitability for the journal's aim and scope. 

Publishing a conventional paper-based Accounting History journal did not seem appropriate at the time, given the still relatively small number of those interested in the discipline. Having in mind that paper journals have a limited circulation, which increased their cost extraordinarily due to fixed printing costs, so it seemed that the only viable way to edit a journal of this discipline was to proceed to an electronic edition. As an essential requirement and a sine qua non condition for the journal to meet its objectives was its birth from the beginning with the purpose and ambition of constituting a serious and rigorous publication, ready to meet the most rigorous academic standards, and to accredit itself not only in the Spanish, but also in the international scientific accounting means, to be able to request their inclusion in the most prestigious databases of periodical publications.

For this, it was, and still is essential, to conceive and design it so that, from its inception, it met certain conditions, among which are mainly the following:

1. The existence of a formal anonymous evaluation system for papers submitted to the journal for publication, developed in a rigorous and systematic way, carried out by external referees with the periodic publication of the list of referees. The existence of this system is a guarantee of the quality of the articles and that the citations and their references are correct and complete.
2. The punctuality in the publication of the issues of the journal within the indicated deadlines. This is a requirement for journals to be included in the ISI database. The regular publication of the issues proves the existence of a sufficient collection of accepted papers. To adequately measure the punctuality of a journal, the evaluator needs to have at least the last three numbers.
3. It was also necessary for the journal to comply with international editorial standards. These rules refer to the title of the journal duly reporting its content, to the existence of titles and summaries of published articles that sufficiently describe its content, including keywords, to providing complete bibliographic information of all the cited references and that full information on the author and his address is provided.
4. Likewise, it is required that articles not written in English were accompanied by the translation into this language of their titles, abstracts, keywords, and information about the author(s).
5. The existence of renowned researchers, from inside and outside of Spain, in the Journal Editorial Board contributes to enhancing its reputation.
6. Equally, the presence of researchers of prestige, among the authors of published articles, should also contribute to the journal reputation.
7. The publication of papers in English, in addition to other languages, apart from the languages of the country where the journal is published is also a positive element.
8. Electronic journals are subject to the same evaluation rules and are being increasingly included in international databases. The Institute for Scientific Information included the first electronic journal in its ISI database in September 1994.

In addition to the Doctrinal Articles section, the journal also publishes, among others, News, Chronicles, Bibliographic Comments, Summaries of Doctoral Theses, News about Historical Archives, and Book Reviews.

b.- Editorial principles

• According to its title, De Computis. Spanish Journal of Accounting History maintains a determined historical vocation since its birth, that is, it fundamentally proposes the presentation and exposition of historical events in the field of accounting, understood in a wide sense, whose knowledge has been gained from the research of the primary sources that correspond in each case.
• In this context, historical facts should be understood not just events in the strict sense, but also the approaches, doctrines, techniques, norms, publications, people, organizations, etc., related to accounting.
• It is considered that in the examination of the evolution of events, approaches, doctrines, techniques, etc., the study of the changes produced is of interest, as well as the study and interpretation of the causes that may have caused them.
• In any case, the presentation and description of historical events must normally be accompanied by their explanation and interpretation, as well as their insertion in the context, indicating the set of interactions and cause-effect relationships that are establish among the different components of the set. Only in this way do historical facts take on their entire being and significance.
• This does not mean, of course, that studies that limit themselves to presenting and exposing new historical facts are not valued, leaving the task of proceeding to formulate an explanation for later or for other papers.
• In this sense, De Computis. Spanish Journal of Accounting History understands that the examination of historical facts in the archives, from primary sources, can be equally valid, without representing an antiquarian conception of history guided by a mere eagerness of erudition and collecting. This is not the case. As it has been said, the discovery and exposition of events of the past constitute, precisely, the foundation of history. Therefore, all work, carried out with seriousness and scientific rigor, exposing unknown facts by the group of historians is valuable. The history of Spanish accounting is especially aware of this circumstance, given the large number of historical-accounting facts hidden in the documentation kept in the archives, the study of which would expand their volume of knowledge and the possibilities of drawing valid conclusions.
• On the other hand, it must be considered that, on occasions, there may be events of interest whose presentation is not susceptible to great interpretations, and without considering that all description and exposition of events always carry, even implicitly, certain doses of explanation and subjectivity.
• In the same way, papers that without presenting new historical facts should limit themselves to giving new interpretations of already known facts, provided that these interpretations provide novelties that place these facts in a new and more informative light.
• Thus, the statement made above that the presentation and exposition of the facts must normally be accompanied by an explanation of the facts and by their insertion in the corresponding context, must be understood as a statement of principles, in the meaning that it supports the idea that only when a conjunction of the said three elements occurs: 1. exposition, description and analysis of the facts; 2. explanation and interpretation of them; and 3. insertion of the set in the corresponding historical context with the study of the interactions and cause-effect relationships appreciated, it can be considered that a historical investigation has a full and complete character. But this idea does not mean, at all, that De Computis. Spanish Journal of Accounting History (Spanish Journal of Accounting History) renounces the publication of papers that do not contain all three elements at the same time.
• It is considered that the most valid and adequate explanations and interpretations of the facts are those made expressly, that is, those that are derived from the facts themselves studied. It must be kept in mind that historical facts are unique, unrepeatable, and irreversible. This does not mean, of course, that the use of pre-established theories to explain the facts under investigation is not appreciated or encouraged. Furthermore, if there are explanatory theories of events of a similar nature to those investigated, their knowledge and application will be considered inexcusable.
• In trying to explain and interpret the facts presented, and especially when using pre-established theories, it will be care not to fall into the vicious and current practice of presenteeism, that is, to evaluate and judge the facts of the past from the perspective of the present.
• In the application of pre-established theories to explain the facts, the investigation should be avoided with the deliberate and preconceived purpose of using history as a simple instrument to verify them. It is theories that serve history, and not the opposite. To do otherwise, apart from denaturing the concept of history, would entail an additional risk of bias and lack of objectivity in the investigation, due to the unconscious propensity to give greater importance to the facts related to this verification.
• Something similar can be said when an inquiry is undertaken with the purpose of exclusively using a determined theoretical approach to explain the facts under investigation. At best, this would imply unnecessary self-limitation that would not do justice to the complexity of the historical and real-life events being attempted to explain.
• In any case, it must be clear to the reader what are the facts that the investigation presents, describes, and analyzes, and where the explanations and interpretations begin. In any case, although absolute objectivity does not exist in history, if the investigation has been carried out in a serious and rigorous way, the exposition of the facts must reach a reasonable degree of objectivity; their explanation and interpretation, on the contrary, have a subjective character. The reader, being able to distinguish between facts and interpretations, will be able to give them their own interpretation.
• It will be considered important that the author explains at the beginning of his/her paper the object of the research, the review he/she has made of the existing literature, what is the contribution that in his/her opinion makes with respect to what has already been published and what lines of research open with it.
• The inquiry must have the right cites and references, so that the reader can reconstruct and verify on their own the process followed by the researcher. Therefore, cites are important. When an author is cited in support of a piece of information, an approach or a hypothesis, efforts should be made to cite the first one who contributed this knowledge and not just anyone who collected it. It should not be cited for friendship, affinity, or flattery, nor to demonstrate one's knowledge. It should never be forgotten that the purpose of the citations is to facilitate the reader's verification of the correct development of the research.

De Computis, Spanish Journal of Accounting History will not pay excessive attention to criteria of opportunity and current thematic or methodological relevance when selecting the papers to be published, since it is not known which topics or approaches will be relevant in the future. The selection criteria will be based on the scientific seriousness and rigor with which the paper has been carried out.