Analyze the Scientific Flow of Auditing Research on the Web of Science Database

The purpose of this article is to review the progress of audit research from the beginning to 2020.

The main research method of this article is bibliometric analysis and social network analysis which studies the characteristics of published articles such as authors, countries, topics, etc. The sample of this research is 8357 articles in the field of auditing indexed in the Web of science database from 2020 to the beginning.

The results show that the general trend of publication of articles is ascending and the highest number of articles is published in 2018. The most frequently used words are: audit quality, audit committee, audit fees, internal audit, auditor independence, auditing standards, audit risk, internal control, and non-audit services. The most cited article is an article entitled "Managing Profits and Characteristics of Board Members and Audit Committees" published in 2002. The US is among the most active publishers in the field.

The evolution of keywords can be divided into 4 categories: 1) Auditor characteristics and audit methods 2) Judge's report and report 3) Auditors' role being enhanced and their attention 4) Increased audit quality and Accountability of auditors and managers as well as increased scope for non-financial reporting.

There has been no comprehensive research on the research performed in the field of audit, the general trend of recent developments and future research directions.