A Review of eXtensible Business Reporting Language Studies

The aim of this study is to conduct a review of XBRL research and to identify XBRL’s thematic domains.

In order to achieve the research objectives, the present study focuses on XBRL articles published in the Web of Science database (for foreign articles) and the Noormags database (for domestic articles). In addition, co-word analysis and social network analysis have been used to topic modeling these studies and identify research gaps.

The findings show that XBRL research falls into three thematic domains. These domains of research include: "research on the benefits of implementing XBRL", "research on the challenges of implementing XBRL", and "implementing XBRL in developing countries".

Findings indicate that various topics such as "information", "disclosure", "assurance", "earnings", "performance", "efficiency", "technology", "costs", "standardization", "ownership", "corporate governance", "quality", "behavior", "consequence", "transparency", "earnings management", "market", etc. have been considered by foreign researchers, but domestic researchers have not addressed these topics.

Contribution:

With respect to the wide range variety of XBRL domains, to date no research (either foreign or domestic) has categorized these thematic domains, and in this respect the present study is able to reveal evidence that has previously been hidden and provide additional knowledge for regulators, standard setters, accounting academics, and professional accountants. In addition, the present study, through an in-depth review of the XBRL foreign and domestic literature, reveals research gaps in XBRL domestic studies compared to foreign studies and provides effective recommendations for future research. As a result, the present study is able to provide a broad perspective for regulators, standard setters, accounting academics, and professional accountants.