{"id":151,"date":"2017-10-17T09:59:50","date_gmt":"2017-10-17T07:59:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eaa-online.org\/arc\/peer-mentoring-initiative\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T21:26:56","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T20:26:56","slug":"peer-mentoring-initiative","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/eaa-online.org\/arc\/peer-mentoring-initiative\/","title":{"rendered":"PhD Mentoring Initiative"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>&nbsp;<\/div>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Welcome to the EAA\u2019s PhD Mentoring Initiative, which forms part of the EAA\u2019s Accounting Research Centre (ARC) resources.<\/h2>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">How the EAA supports your doctoral journey<\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-6710 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/eaa-online.org\/app\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/eaa-phd-journey.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1154\" height=\"449\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eaa-online.org\/app\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/eaa-phd-journey.png 1154w, https:\/\/eaa-online.org\/app\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/eaa-phd-journey-300x117.png 300w, https:\/\/eaa-online.org\/app\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/eaa-phd-journey-1024x398.png 1024w, https:\/\/eaa-online.org\/app\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/eaa-phd-journey-768x299.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1154px) 100vw, 1154px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>AIMS &amp; SCOPE<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"elementToProof\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">The EAA PhD Mentoring Initiative (PMI) aims to help EAA PhD students refine their thesis and enhance the overall quality of their work by accessing timely advice and feedback from some top accounting researchers. The PMI is a resource open to all European PhD students in accounting. <i>The scope of the PMI is any area of accounting research, broadly defined. As such, the PMI welcomes submissions in all subject areas and theoretical perspectives, and across the various paradigms, methodologies, and styles of conducting that research.<\/i><\/div>\n<div class=\"elementToProof\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">Many European PhD students face limited opportunities to expose their plans and ideas to experienced researchers at an early stage of the research design process. The PMI seeks to address this problem by providing a virtual means of accessing external, independent help and support from experts in your field.<\/div>\n<div class=\"elementToProof\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">Experience suggests that receiving expert feedback and guidance at the initial stage of your research can have a dramatic positive impact on the quality of your final PhD thesis. In particular, timely feedback can help you to:<\/div>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li>Strengthen the motivation behind the purpose and research question(s)<\/li>\n<li>Sharpen the contribution of your work<\/li>\n<li>Identify potential weaknesses in your conceptual development<\/li>\n<li>Refine your hypotheses, and point you in the direction of supplementary predictions (mainly for students planning to undertake quantitative work)<\/li>\n<li>Consider alternative theoretical frameworks that could be applicable to your topic<\/li>\n<li>Pinpoint potential problems with your research design and offer remedial solutions<\/li>\n<li>Draw your attention to innovative methodologies or datasets.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"elementToProof\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">The PMI operates a journal-style peer review system. You submit your research proposal via the specially designed submission system where the editors will select an expert reviewer to provide constructive feedback on your work via a reviewer\u2019s report. <b>The proposal is anonymous and confidential.<\/b>&nbsp; Reviewers are not allowed to reveal or divulge the content to any party during or after the assessment and are requested to observe the <u><a id=\"OWA01185f81-448f-14aa-5cc4-845d9305422c\" class=\"OWAAutoLink\" title=\"https:\/\/editorresources.taylorandfrancis.com\/reviewer-guidelines\/\" href=\"https:\/\/editorresources.taylorandfrancis.com\/reviewer-guidelines\/\" data-outlook-id=\"59f92d2e-8061-45e3-87cc-3e36269cf682\">Taylor &amp; Francis guidelines for peer reviewers<\/a><\/u>.&nbsp;You and your supervisors are then free to use the comments and suggestions provided in the report as you think appropriate.<\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Watch the <span style=\"color: #0090cc;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #0090cc;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=wbs6mPYWPbE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">video<\/a><\/strong> <\/span>to learn what the PMI is all about!<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: georgia, palatino, serif;\"><strong>EDITORIAL TEAM<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; background-color: transparent; outline: 0px; vertical-align: top; text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: georgia, palatino, serif;\"><strong>Senior Editors<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: georgia, palatino, serif;\"><strong style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; background-color: transparent; outline: 0px; vertical-align: top;\">Martin Walker<\/strong>,&nbsp;<em style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; background-color: transparent; outline: 0px; vertical-align: top;\"><em style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; background-color: transparent; outline: 0px; vertical-align: top;\">University of&nbsp;<\/em>Manchester, UK<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: georgia, palatino, serif;\"><strong style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; background-color: transparent; outline: 0px; vertical-align: top;\">Steven Young<\/strong>, <em style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; background-color: transparent; outline: 0px; vertical-align: top;\">Lancaster University, UK<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; background-color: transparent; outline: 0px; vertical-align: top; text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: georgia, palatino, serif;\"><strong>Editors<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333; font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><strong style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; background-color: transparent; outline: 0px; vertical-align: top;\">Beatriz Garcia Osma<\/strong>,&nbsp;<em style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; background-color: transparent; outline: 0px; vertical-align: top;\">Universidad Carlos III, Spain<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333; font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Sven Modell<\/strong>, <em>Manchester Business School, UK<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333; font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Brendan O\u2019Dwyer<\/strong>, <em>University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333; font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Laurence van Lent,<\/strong> <em>Tilburg University, The Netherlands<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333; font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Ann Vanstraelen<\/strong>, <em>Maastricht University, The Netherlands<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; background-color: transparent; outline: 0px; vertical-align: top; text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Thank you for choosing to submit your proposal to the PMI. These instructions will ensure we have everything required so your proposal can move through expert review smoothly. Please take the time to read and follow them as closely as possible, as doing so will ensure your proposal matches the PMI\u2019s requirements.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">To start the submission process, you need to make sure you have three documents:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">A high-quality research proposal in English (see below for further details on how to structure your proposal)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">A letter of support from your supervisor confirming you are a registered PhD student at a European higher education institution<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Proof that you are a member of the European Accounting Association (if you are not, please visit&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/eiasm.my.site.com\/s\/login\/?ec=302&amp;startURL=%2Fs%2F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #0090cc;\">this link<\/span><\/a>&nbsp;to join now).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: georgia, palatino, serif;\"><strong>What is a PhD proposal?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">A research proposal is a structured and organized explanation of the research you intend to undertake, \u201ca plan to action\u201d. Typically, a proposal is prepared before data collection, in order to assess the strength and relevance of your conceptual arguments, but also to evaluate, when appropriate, if the operationalization of the research is feasible and consistent with the epistemological standing of your research.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">In the context of your PhD studies, you may be developing a research proposal for each chapter of your thesis, or an overall one, depending on guidance from your institution and supervisor(s). We welcome any type of research proposals, but if you are working on a paper-based thesis, you may want to consider submitting one proposal at the time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Normally, a proposal should be no longer than 4,000 words and it should articulate what your research question is, why it is relevant and what contribution you expect to make to the existing literature. It should also delineate your methodological approach (i.e. how you intend to operationalize the research, which methodology to use, how to collect the data, etc.).<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">It should incorporate:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">A working title for your work.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">A brief abstract of no more than 250 words that provides a general overview of the area of study you aim to work on.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">A review of the relevant literature in the area. This should demonstrate that you are aware of the prior work in the area. You must demonstrate that you know prior work and that your proposed topic offers a contribution to this prior work.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Research question(s). The proposal should include clear and manageable research questions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Which theoretical framework(s), if any, do you plan to apply?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Methodology. It is important to specify how you expect to approach your research question\/s. What qualitative or quantitative approaches do you expect to use?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Planning. What is the timescale of the research?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">References to the articles included in the proposal.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: georgia, palatino, serif;\"><strong>Is my PhD proposal ready for submission?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Before you submit your proposal to obtain feedback, please ensure you can answer \u2018yes\u2019 to all of the following questions:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Have you reviewed the literature on this topic?<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Have you searched SSRN or other suitable databases for papers on this topic?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Have you searched in the resources available in your library (e.g., EBSCO, EconLit, ProQuest, ABI\/Inform) for papers on this topic?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Does your proposal include a list of references?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Does your proposal review the relevant literature, and does it explain how you will add something novel to this literature?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Does your proposal explain how you will approach your research question\/s?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">If your proposal is empirical, what data will you use to test your ideas? (Either in databases or by collecting it yourself?)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Can you realistically conduct this research within the time you have left for your PhD studies?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt; color: #0090cc;\"><a style=\"color: #0090cc;\" href=\"https:\/\/mc.manuscriptcentral.com\/eaa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Click here to start the submission process<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Welcome to the EAA\u2019s PhD Mentoring Initiative, which forms part of the EAA\u2019s Accounting Research Centre (ARC) resources. How the EAA supports your doctoral journey &nbsp; AIMS &amp; SCOPE The EAA PhD Mentoring Initiative (PMI) aims to help EAA PhD students refine their thesis and enhance the overall quality of their work by accessing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2943,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.12 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>PhD Mentoring Initiative - ARC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PhD Mentoring Initiative - ARC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&nbsp; Welcome to the EAA\u2019s PhD Mentoring Initiative, which forms part of the EAA\u2019s Accounting Research Centre (ARC) resources. 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