ACC 541: Advanced Accounting Systems
Research Project Sources
This assignment guide was created to assist students in locating sources for Dr. Hsu's Research Project. The objective of the project is to investigate the current development of information technology and its effects on accounting and/or auditing.
The guide focuses on suggested strategies and best places to begin research efforts. For information & assistance in using any of the sources, please contact library staff:
Accounting Associations & Firms :
Associations: Taxsites.com
See links to the left: Accounting Information Systems, Accounting Software, Associations, & Firms and Careers. Look for relevant links, e.g. Information Technology, or search the site for your specific technology, e.g. Enterprise Resource Planning.
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Search Tool: Article Databases
Business Index ASAP
1st Search Type:
- Click on ‘Subject Guide’ to the left of the screen.
- Enter the broad information technology topic in the search box and click on the ‘Search’ button (example, enterprise resource planning).
- From the results list, locate the specific topic. You can either ‘View’ the complete list of articles on that topic OR narrow by subdivision. Narrowing by subdivision is useful in locating articles that will relate to your specific need.
2nd Search Type:
- Click on ‘Advanced Search ’ to the left of the screen.
- Enter separate search terms/phrases in the search boxes and click on the ‘Search’ button (example, erp and accounting).
- Scroll down the page to view results.
Ex.
| R1 |
(ke erp AND ke accounting)
View 125 Citations; Modify Search |
Business Source Premier (EBSCO)
Provides the full-text for more than 8,800 titles covering all areas of business.
- Click on the 'Advanced Search' tab at the top of the search page.
- Try a subject OR keyword search.
- In the first search box, enter your specific information technology term. Use the pull-down-menu to select 'Subject' or 'Select a Field'.
Note: Remember to spell out acronyms; instead of ERP, use enterprise resource planning.
- Enter additional terms in the remaining search boxes such as accounting.
- Click the 'search' button at the top of the screen.
- On the results screen, you may be able to focus your results to a specific topic area by clicking on subject terms to the left of the screen.
Proquest Newspapers (Includes Barron's and the Wall Street Journal)
- Click on the 'Advanced Search' tab at the top of the search page.
- In the first search box, use 'Citation and Abstract' and enter the term related to your specific technology..
- In the remaining search boxes, use 'Citation and Abstract' and enter any additional keywords that will help narrow your results such as marketing, human resources, strategy, etc.
- If you want the articles to come from a specific publication such as the Wall Street Journal, enter the publication title in the form under 'More Search Options'.
- Click the gold 'search' button.
- After viewing results, click on 'Refine Search' at the top of the screen to modify or add terms to your search or click on any of the 'Suggested Topic' links.
- When viewing the full-text of the article, remember to click on the 'Cite This' feature at the top of the screen to get bibliographic information.
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Search Tool: Google Scholar
Sample Searches:
+"audit command language" +software +popular
+"data warehousing" +"data mining" +effects +"accounting information systems"
+"intelligent software" +accounting +reporting +requirements +internal +external
Google Scholar is a beta test product for academic researchers. “It provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles, from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations. Google Scholar helps you identify the most relevant research across the world of scholarly research.” Researching your topic through Google Scholar allows you to utilize features of Google search technology with which you are already familiar.
Since Google Scholar is an index to scholarly literature, it may or may not provide the full-text for the secondary data sources it cites. Never purchase information from Google Scholar as you will be able to search Our Journal List OR SOUTHcat to locate materials that are available at USA or you will be able to request materials unavailable at USA Libraries through Interlibrary Loan .
So that you will be able to integrate the features of Our Journal List, whether you are on-campus or off-campus, remember to set Scholar Preferences and set a library preference for the University of South Alabama. Type ‘University of South Alabama’ in the library link box and click on ‘Find Library’. Once our library appears on the selection list with 'Full-Text @ USA' next to it, click in the box and at the top right of the screen select ‘Save Preferences’. You may also set preferences for English language only articles.
On the results list, anytime you see a citation with 'Full-Text @ USA' beside it, click on the link and it will search Our Journal List to see if the citation is available in full-text. If you are off-campus, you will be asked to provide your last name plus the first two letters of your first name and either your J Number (Including J00), the last 4 digits of your social security number or your library barcode.
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Search Tool: Our Journal List
Usually, you find a reference/citation to an article that may fit your research needs either through Google Scholar or listed in a bibliography at the end of another article or book chapter you have read. The next step is to try to locate the full-text so you can read and evaluate it further.
Our Journal List allows you to type in the title of a journal or magazine and directs you to a list of databases the library subscribes to which may provide the full-text of an article you need. Once you click on Our Journal List, enter the name of the journal, magazine or source in the first search box. If the title is indexed in any of our databases, it will appear on a results list. Across the top of the screen, you will find the dates of ‘Online Coverage’ per database for the title, a link to ‘Full-Text Access’ as well as a link to the library’s catalog record for the print title if available.
Specific Accounting Technology Journal Titles:
Accounting Technology
Intelligent Systems in Accounting, Finance & Management
International Journal of Accounting Information Systems
International Journal of Intelligent Systems in Accounting, Finance, & Management
Journal of Information Systems
Managing Accounting Systems & Technology
Interlibrary Loan (ILL)
Although the library subscribes to a number of full-text article databases and print journals, you may find a journal article citation that you would like to incorporate in your paper and USA does not provide the full-text. The library can ask other libraries for a copy of the full-text article once you fill out an ILL request.
The first time you request an article you will need to register. Journal articles and books located in libraries in Alabama will be obtained for you at no charge—undergraduates are limited to 5 requests in process at any time. Although articles may come sooner, please allow 7-10 days. Most of the time, articles are sent as PDF attachments and are delivered to your ILL web account. When they arrive, you will be sent an email to the account you listed when you registered for the service.
Often you will be able to find additional full-text articles in databases the library subscribes to without having to utilize ILL. Contact the Service Desk in the MCOB Library if you need assistance in locating other secondary sources for your team’s research paper.
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Search Tool: SOUTHcat (Library Catalog)
In addition to articles, remember to look for books about information technology in general or about a specific technology.
Materials, that are available in USA’s Libraries, are indexed in SOUTHcat.
- To locate materials about information technology and accounting or auditing in general, conduct a *Subject Heading Browse* search in the catalog for Accounting and scan the list for the Heading, "Data Processing ". Also conduct subject searches for Auditing and scan the list for the Heading, "Data Processing".
- To locate materials about specific information technologies, conduct keyword searches for the terms related to your topic, "enterprise resource planning ", accounting AND networks, etc.
If you need further information on how to search the library’s catalog:
Southcat Flash Tutorials
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Citation Sources
[For assistance in writing your papers, contact the University Writing Center.]
American Psychological Association (APA):
American Psychological Association (APA) Format (Purdue)
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th ed.
MCOB Reference BF 76.7 .P83 2001
Mitchell College of Business Handbook, University of South Alabama
MCOB Reference, 2 Hour Reseve Building Use Only, PE 1408 .K6746 2007
APA Documentation Style begins on pg. 445.
Other :
Online! Citation Styles
Uncle Sam - Brief Guide to Citing Government Publications
Online Citation Tools
BibMe
Citation Machine
EasyBib
OttoBib
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Last Updated: 8/23/09 DLH
