Non-financial reporting research and practice: Lessons from the last decade

Research on non-financial reporting (NFR) practices has grown considerably over the last decade, interweaving with several other fields of study, including business ethics, financial accounting and strategic management. NFR is a comprehensive term that includes several forms of reporting, such as CSR reporting, integrated reporting (IR), SDG reporting, GRI reporting, and GHG reporting, among others. The lack of a common standard in NFR has generated discrepancies in NFR managerial practices around the globe. As a result, this study aims to summarise the various NFR practices and the evolution of NFR research by providing a review based on the most influential articles published between 2012 and 2020. We used bibliometric analysis to identify eight research areas: the content of non-financial reports, the IR framework, the relation of NFR with firm-level variables, the relationship between NFR and corporate governance, the theories behind NFR, NFR assurance, the relationship between institutional context and NFR, and environmental reporting. We propose a summary of the literature, together with the best managerial practices that have emerged in recent years. The present study also offers methodological best practices for conducting literature reviews grounded on bibliometric analysis (applying the visualisation of similarities - VOS - method) through a ten-step process, which guarantees the reproducibility of the study by applying quality assurance protocols from medical fields, such as PRISMA and AMSTAR 2.

Automated summary

Research on non-financial reporting practices has grown significantly in the past decade, intertwining with various fields of study. NFR is a comprehensive term that encompasses different types of reporting. The lack of a common standard has led to variations in NFR managerial practices worldwide. This study aims to summarize NFR practices and research by reviewing influential articles published between 2012 and 2020. It also offers methodological best practices for literature reviews using bibliometric analysis.