(Re)penser la contribution à la recherche

This essay examines how the academic contribution is thought and articulated in the field of research, including that of accounting. To carry out the examination I rely on anecdotal and documentary sources of information. Six key points emerge as characterizing the ways in which research contributions are thought and concretized in the field. In particular, the contribution is found as being unstable, ambiguous, contradictory and relative ? and this high level of disorder and confusion is far from being pathological. On the contrary, disorder and confusion over matters of contribution are just consequent with a social world characterized with the same qualities. However, my analysis indicates that we should worry about the effects that may ensue from the institutionalization of journal rankings, given their inclination at marginalizing certain types of research contributions.