Ethics and Managerial Accounting.

Choose any topic (except transfer pricing) that addresses an ethical issue in managerial accounting.

RESEARCH PAPER    ACCT610    Fall 2014

TOPIC: Ethics and Managerial Accounting. Choose any topic (except transfer pricing) that addresses an ethical issue in managerial accounting.

HOW TO CHOOSE A TOPIC

There are several ways to choose a topic. One way is to go to google or other search engine and do a key word search. Another way is to go to the library website, choose a site that has business journals and do a word search. You probably should do searches on both. Make a list of possible topics, then try to find literature that is on point. Choose a topic that interests you and that has some relevant literature. There is no need to reinvent the wheel.

SPECS

Double spaced, 1 inch margins on all sides, Times New Roman 12-point font, 10-20 pages (flexible). Left and right justified.Indent the first line of each paragraph 0.5”. Do not skip a line between paragraphs. Pages should be numbered and placed at the center, bottom.

Style: Turabian, Chicago style, MLA, APA or other acceptable style. The important thing is consistency. Once you select a style, use it consistently throughout the paper. Submit it as a Microsoft Word document. More guidance on style is given below.

Warning: It has been my experience that students sometimes plagiarize, often unintentionally. DON’T DO IT. If you don’t know what plagiarism is, google it and learn what it is. If you plagiarize and I find out about it, you will get an F for the course and I will report you to the appropriate university officials. If you plagiarize and your paper gets published and the plagiarism is not discovered until after your paper is in print, your reputation will be tarnished, or maybe even destroyed (although Vice President Joe Biden plagiarized a law review article and still managed to become VP). The cost of plagiarism outweighs the benefit. Plagiarism is easy to avoid. Just cite every source you used. If something is a direct quote, quote it – single spaced, 0.5” indentations left and right if it is 3 lines or more.

OUTLINE: The suggested format is given below. If you think some other format is better, feel free to use it. You will not be penalized for improving on the suggested format.

TITLE

Name

ABSTRACT

Write 100-200 words summarizing what the paper is about. Summarize findings, if any. Indent 0.5” left and right. Single space. Left and right justified. You probably won’t be able to write a good abstract until after you have finished the paper, since you won’t know what to say.

Key Words: List a few key words here.

INTRODUCTION

Introduce the topic of the paper. What is the paper about? What are you going to cover? The Introduction can be a few paragraphs or it can be a page or more. One topic you might discuss in this section is the various acceptable approaches to the issue, or a summary of the controversy, if there is a controversy. I am looking for quality, not quantity, although the quantity must be sufficient to have a good introduction.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Summarize the literature you found on the topic. Cite only the literature that is relevant for purposes of this paper. Everything you cite within the body of the paper must be listed in the reference section, using an appropriate format. If you incorporate an idea from someone else’s work, cite it. If you got an idea from a paper Jones wrote in 2009, cite it (Jones, 2009). If Jones had a co-author, cite it (Jones & Smith, 2009). If you don’t have at least 10 references listed in the reference section, your paper will probably not be sufficiently scholarly for a good grade because it will not be very comprehensive. More is better, within limits. Some scholarly papers have more than 100 references. That is too many for purposes of this project.

WHAT ARE THE ISSUES?

In this section, identify the issues and the various solutions that have been proposed. You do not have to give your own opinion. You might organize this section as follows (just a suggestion, not a requirement):

Issue 1

Proposed Solution 1

Pros and cons of Proposed Solution 1

Proposed Solution 2

Pros and cons of Proposed Solution 2

Issue 2

Proposed Solution 1

Pros and cons of Proposed Solution 1

Proposed Solution 2

Pros and cons of Proposed Solution 2

The topic you choose may not lend itself to this format. If this format is not appropriate, don’t worry about it. Use another format.

CONCLUDING COMMENTS

Wrap it up. Summarize the important points and discuss whatever else you want to discuss that has not already been discussed. If you see areas in need of further research, identify them. Sometimes there are certain aspects of a topic that scholars have not yet examined. If you are aware of such under-examined areas, identify them here.

REFERENCES

References should be listed alphabetically, single-spaced. The first line should hang 0.5”. Some styles suggest listing the authors’ last names and only the first letter of the first name. I don’t like that style, but I won’t penalize you if you use it. I prefer listing the full names. Here are some examples.

Gore, Al. 2012. Twenty Reasons Why Romney is an Idiot. The Accounting Review 76: 34-45. [Use this format for an article written by a single author; 76 is the volume number; 34-45 are the page numbers. Italicize the journal title. You do not have to use parentheses for the article title.]

McCain, John and Sarah Palin. 2012. Twenty Reasons Why Obama is an Idiot. Journal of Accounting Research 44: 56-67. [Use this format when there are two or more authors for an article; 44 is the volume number; 56-67 are the page numbers. Italicize the name of the journal. You do not have to use parentheses for the article title.]

Rothbard, Murray N. 2012. Forty Reasons Why You Should Vote for Thomas Jefferson. New York: Basic Books. [Use this format for a book. Italicize the name of the book.]

For references other than books and articles, use the format suggested by one of the acceptable styles mentioned about, or make up a style that looks good and is sufficiently comprehensive.