Auditing Term Paper

Some Important Journals:

· The Journal of Accountancy

· The CPA Journal

· Current Issues in Auditing

· Accounting Horizons

· Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory

· Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance

· Journal of Accounting and Public Policy

· The Pennsylvania CPA Journal, published by the PICPA

· The Internal Auditor, published by the Institute of Internal Auditors

· New Jersey CPA Magazine

· Fraud Magazine

The full text of some accounting journals are available on-line through the Temple University Library system. In many cases the organizations publishing the journals have back issues available on line (e.g., Journal of Accountancy, and the CPA Journal).

To obtain the full text of official pronouncements, consult "U.S. Auditing Standards" in the reference area of Paley Library. You also may look up a standard in the "Official Releases" column found in issues of The Journal of Accountancy if you know approximately when it was released. Auditing Standards are also available at the AICPA and PCAOB websites.

Grading Criteria

The assignment will be graded on three dimensions: (1) Content, (2) Structure, Organization and Development, and (3) Style.

repetition)

Style (Is concise and precise; Is free of misspellings; Is free of grammatical mistakes; Lacks incomplete sentences; Uses correct punctuation; Is free of jargon and clichés; Cites references correctly)

Term Paper Preparation and Style

The following instructions are based on the manuscript preparation guidelines of the Accounting Horizons (copyright held by the American Accounting Association).

You should follow The Chicago Manual of Style (15th edition, University of Chicago Press). Another helpful guide to usage and style is The Elements of Style, by William Strunk, Jr., and E.

B. White (Macmillan). Spelling follows Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary.

Format

1. All papers should be formatted using Times New Roman 12-point font. The text should be double-spaced, except for indented quotations.

2. Please limit the paper to a maximum of six (double-spaced) pages including the tables, and appendices, if applicable.

3. Margins should be at least one inch from top, bottom, and sides.

4. Your name should appear on a separate cover page.

5. References should be listed on a separate page (not included in the six page limit).

6. In nontechnical text use the word percent; in tables and figures, the symbol % is used.

7. Use a hyphen to join unit modifiers or to clarify usage. For example: a well-presented analysis; re-form. See Webster’s for correct usage.

8. Headings should be arranged so that major headings are centered, bold, and capitalized. Second-level headings should be flush left, bold, and both uppercase and lowercase. Third-level headings should be flush left, bold, italic, and both uppercase and lowercase. Fourth-level headings should be paragraph indent, bold, and lower case. Headings and subheadings should not be numbered. For example:

A CENTERED, BOLD, ALL CAPITALIZED, FIRST-LEVEL HEADING

A Flush Left, Bold, Uppercase and Lowercase, Second-Level Heading

A Flush Left, Bold, Italic, Uppercase and Lowercase, Third-Level Heading

A paragraph indent, bold, lowercase, fourth-level heading.

Text starts...

Tables and Figures

Please note the following general requirements:

1. Each table and figure (graphic) should appear on a separate page and should be placed at the end of the text. Each should bear an arabic number and a complete title indicating the exact contents of the table or figure.

2. Tables or figures should be reasonably interpretable without reference to the text.

3. Notes should be included as necessary.

Work cited should use the “author-date system” keyed to a list of works in the reference list (see below). You should make an effort to include the relevant page numbers in the cited works.

1. In the text, works are cited as follows: author’s last name and date, without comma, in

parentheses: for example (Jones 1987); with two authors: (Jones and Freeman 1973); with more than two: (Jones et al. 1985); with more than one source cited together: (Jones 1987; Freeman 1986); with two or more works by one author: (Jones 1985, 1987).

2. Unless confusion would result, do not use “p.” or “pp.” before page numbers: for example: (Jones 1987, 115).

3. When the reference list contains more than one work of an author published in the same year, the suffix a, b, etc., follows the date in the text citation: Example: (Jones 1987a) or (Jones 1987a; Freeman 1985b).

4. If an author’s name is mentioned in the text, it need not be repeated in the citation, for example: “Jones (1987, 115) says ...”

5. Citations to institutional works should use acronyms or short titles where practicable: for example, (AAA ASOBAT 1966); (AICPA Cohen Commission Report 1977). Where brief, the full title of an institutional work might be shown in a citation: for example, (ICAEW The Corporate Report 1975).

6. If your paper refers to statutes, legal treatises or court cases, citations acceptable in law reviews should be used.

Reference List

You must include a list of references containing only those works cited. Each entry should contain all data necessary for unambiguous identification. With the author-date system, use the following format recommended by the Chicago Manual:

1. Arrange citations in alphabetical order according to surname of the first author or the name of the institution responsible for the citation.

2. Use authors’ initials instead of proper first names.

3. Dates of publication should be placed immediately after authors’ names.

4. Titles of journals should not be abbreviated.

5. Multiple works by the same author(s) should be listed in chronological order of publication. Two or more works by the same author (s) in the same year are distinguished by letters after the date.

Footnotes

Footnotes are not to be used for documentation. Textual footnotes should be used only for extensions and useful excursions of information that if included in the body of the text might disrupt its continuity. Footnotes should be consecutively numbered throughout the paper with superscript Arabic numerals. Use single space for footnotes.

Citations