With the release of the latest Brigham Young University (BYU) Accounting Research Rankings 2016 in February 2017, SMU’s School of Accountancy (SoA) is now placed in the top tier of institutions that specialise in this area. SoA is now ranked first in Asia and third in the world for both Archival Research (All Topics) and Archival Research (Financial).

It also ranks first in Asia for All Areas, All Disciplines, placing it in the league of the top American universities and ahead of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and London Business School. In all three areas, SMU moved up a few notches from last year in terms of the world rankings and swiped top spots for Asia:

Acclaimed as an objective and important ranking to watch for accounting research, the BYU Accounting Research Rankings are based on award winning research and rankings are based on classifications of peer reviewed articles in 12 accounting journals since 1990, which in turn determines university ranking based on authors’ affiliation. Researchers at BYU measure the intellectual contribution of accounting faculty members at all institutions in the world. They go through publications in the top peer-reviewed accounting journals and rank departments or schools in the recent years based on the number of publications.

A high ranking signals that SMU has the highest research productivity as compared to other peer schools worldwide, particularly in the fields that SMU’s SoA emphasises – archival-based financial accounting research. It also signals the quality of accounting education and research in Singapore. 

Under the leadership of Professor Cheng Qiang, who was appointed as Dean in July 2015, the rankings for the SoA have been strong. He says, “Despite being a young university, the robust rankings signify the high standards of accounting research and education here at SMU. This achievement could not have been without the dedicated and collective efforts of the School of Accountancy faculty members who are thoroughly committed to conducting research of the highest quality and constantly publishing their work in the best accounting journals. I would also like to thank the university leaders for their continuous and strong support in our research.”

SMU strongly encourages the research faculty to publish in the best academic journals to demonstrate the expertise and findings of our academics. In 2016 alone, the SoA faculty published 13 articles in the top five journals (Contemporary Accounting Research; Journal of Accounting and Economics; Journal of Accounting Research; Review of Accounting Studies and The Accounting Review), a rare feat for any accounting department or school.  

*Source: BYU Accounting Research Rankings: http://www.byuaccounting.net/rankings/univrank/rankings.php