Investigating the Topic Trend of Profit Management in Asian Countries in the Scopus Database with a Scientometric Approach

Purpose: Scientometric studies offer insights into the production, dissemination, and application of scientific knowledge, enabling managers at various research and executive levels to make informed decisions in their respective fields. The aim of this research is to analyze and review studies indexed in the Scopus database that pertain to profit management in Asian countries.
Methods: This research is an applied study conducted using documentary methods and scientometric techniques. The research community comprises 1,465 scientific publications indexed in the field of profit management. The time frame of the study spans 25 years, from 1998 to 2023, focusing on researchers in this field who are registered in the Scopus database.
Findings: The highest growth trend in scientific productions occurred during the period from 2022 to 2023, while the lowest growth trend was observed from 1998 to 2014, during which fewer than 100 degrees were produced. Following that, from 2015 to 2023, scientific production exhibited
a positive trend, increasing from 100 to 337 degrees. The majority of scientific publications were released during the years 2022 to 2023. In the following analysis, the growth rate of scientific productions was examined. According to this survey, although scientific productions were limited in the early years, it has experienced significant growth. The highest growth rate was recorded in 2001 at 4.0%, while the lowest growth rate occurred in 2000, with a decline of -1.0% due to a lack of degree production. According to ten highly cited articles on profit management, the total number of citations for scientific productions related to this field in the Scopus database during the review period was 27,002. On average, each article received approximately 11.59 citations.
The highest change rate of 471 citations in 2010 is attributed to the study by Jian et al. (2010), which focused on support through related party transactions. The article Private and Public Ownership and Earnings Management: Evidence from Chinese Listed Companies by Ding et al. (2007) has the lowest citation rate, with only 287 citations. Among the total of 6,470 authors in the field of earnings management listed in Scopus from 1998 to 2023, Wang, with 30 documents, Salehi, with 23 documents, and Li, with 22 documents, are the most frequently cited authors. In terms of countries, China leads with 775 documents, followed by Indonesia with 267 documents and Malaysia with 261 documents. The most productive journal in this field is the Asia Pacific Journal of Accounting and Economics, which has published 45 documents. Additionally, the University of Uttara Malaysia is
the most prolific institution, contributing 68 papers. The emerging issues surrounding earnings management research from 2014 to 2016 have been addressed in topics such as income, which has a link strength of 215, shareholders with a link strength of 116, and listed companies with a link strength of 123. Additionally, issues related to profit management, with a link strength of 2,264, corporate governance with a link strength of 706, and real profit management with a link strength of 508 have been examined during the period from 2018 to 2019. Furthermore, topics such as financial reporting quality with a link strength of 82, company performance with a link strength of 80, and audit costs with a link strength of 55 have emerged as significant areas of interest for researchers in recent years. According to high-frequency word analysis, the clustering of research keywords consists of eight interwoven keyword clusters.
Conclusion: In any case, considering the significance of the subject and the limited number of studies conducted in this field, it is essential to focus more attention on this area. This focus aligns with the goals of preventing and uncovering profit management issues. An analysis of journals, universities, and the most cited authors indicates that future collaborative efforts among researchers are necessary in this domain. In order to benefit from the findings of such research, scholars in the field of accounting, like their counterparts in other disciplines, should prioritize scientometric studies. This approach will help establish a coherent framework for understanding the current state
of accounting research and enhance the quality of published accounting articles. Based on this, suggestions have been presented to complete this research and expand scientific studies in the field of accounting knowledge, specifically focusing on the subject area of profit and reviewing related research.