Jayanthi Krishnan, professor and Merves Research Fellow, is set to start her new leadership role as the senior editor of Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory (AJPT). AJPT is a highly ranked international journal and a publication of the Auditing Section of the American Accounting Association. As senior editor, Krishnan will lead a team of editors, serve as an ambassador for the journal and guide its overall mission. 

Of her work with the team, she says, “Our joint responsibility is to identify research papers that are likely to contribute to the body of knowledge in different areas of audit research, steer them through a review process that is both competent and supportive of the authors’ efforts.”

Krishnan’s own research is focused on archival auditing relating to audit quality and reporting. She examines the impact of policy, regulation and oversight on auditors and auditing committees. She is the recipient of the 2015 American Accounting Association’s Notable Contribution to the Auditing Literature Award, for her article entitled “Audit Committee Quality and Internal Control: An Empirical Analysis.”

Her appointment, which begins June 1, was announced at the American Accounting Association’s Annual Meeting last summer. She says, “Since then I have been working with the outgoing senior editor, Chris Agoglia (University of Massachusetts Amherst), who has been extremely helpful, for a smooth transition.”

“I am receiving the reins of a very well run journal,” she adds. “It has had a series of extremely competent and dedicated senior editors. My charge will be to maintain the high quality of scholarship.”

Krishnan acknowledges the challenges in juggling her editorship, research and teaching but is most concerned about her responsibility to her doctoral students. With the support of the Department of Accounting Chair Elizabeth Gordon and the Fox Dean’s Office, she is confident she will manage. 

“As challenging as it is going to be, I think it will be extremely satisfying,” she says. “I will be interacting with a lot of researchers, particularly young scholars, and will have a hand in shepherding good—and hopefully interesting and innovative—research to publication.”