Do journals signal or reflect? An alternative perspective on editorial board composition

This commentary presents an alternative to the signaling perspective on editorial board composition set forth by Endenich and Trapp (2018). Under this alternative, editorial boards do not so much signal editorial preferences as they reflect the preferences indicated by submissions entrusted to the journal. This alternative complicates the goal of enhancing scholarly diversity, even for editors who share this goal. The commentary closes with a call for more effective communication as the key to real progress in building bridges between different traditions of accounting research. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.