MyCite 2012 Report

The Malaysian Citation Centre of the Ministry of Higher Education recently published its first report titled "Performance of Malaysian Journals in MyCite: 2012".  Basically, the report aims to inform about the status and performance of Malaysian journals that are currently indexed in MyCite (Malaysian Citation Index).  To date, MyCite lists a total of 112 journals, covering five main disciplines: Arts & Humanities (21), Engineering & Technology (14), Medical & Health (19), Sciences (27) and Social Sciences (31).  The majority of the journals indexed are published by the universities (75%) and the remaining by either professional societies (19%) or other government agencies (6%).  The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) showcases two journals, namely the Asia-Pacific Management Accounting Journal (APMAJ) and the Malaysian Accounting Review (MAR). MyCite basically aims to promote Malaysian journals and to encourage appropriate citations of these journals.   Broadly, a citation is a reference to a published or unpublished source (not always the original source). Citation has several important purposes: to uphold intellectual honesty, to attribute prior or unoriginal work and ideas to the correct sources, to allow the reader to determine independently whether the referenced material supports the author's argument in the claimed way, and to help the reader gauge the strength and validity of the material the author has used.  Renowned database companies such as ISI Thomson and SCOPUS normally publish Journal Citation Reports (JCR) to evaluate the level of citations received by those journals that they indexed.  As such, the higher the level of citation (often measured by the journal H-Index), the higher is the impact of those journals to the body of knowledge, hence the higher is the "quality" of those journals.  With reference to the MyCite report, only 88 journals have obtained an H-Index of at least "1".  Of these, twelve journals have between "3-6" H-Index; 27 journals with "2" H-Index and 49 with an H-Index of "1".  ARI's two journals, MAR and APMAJ  have respectively garnered "2" and "1" H-Index.  It's a great start.  What that also meant, ARI researchers must aggressively promote the journals and when appropriate, cite them accordingly.

ARI Meeting with IRB CEO

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) thanks Tan Sri Dr. Mohd Shukor bin Hj. Mahfar, the Chief Executive Officer/Director General of the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) of Malaysia for welcoming our researchers at his office this morning.  Prior to this meeting, ARI has just completed a two-week research methodology training module for IRB staff who have been awarded  scholarship to pursue post-graduate programs.  In general, the meeting discussed possible ARI-IRB collaborations in terms of joint-research, co-supervision of PhD students, training, organisation of conferences and joint-publications.  As Tan Sri himself is actively involved with international agencies such as the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBFD) and many others, he has invited ARI researchers to submit suitable research and training proposals that may be of interest to these organizations.  Several tax-related research topics have also been identified during the meeting.  ARI hopes to work closely with the Research & Development Division of IRB.

Thank You Prof Willett

After spending two weeks with the Accounting Research Institute (ARI), Professor Roger Willett left for Melbourne today. There's a lot of meetings and discussions being held during his professorial visit to ARI:  (i) Research meeting on HIV/Aids Harm Reduction project, (ii) Publication of four books of reading from the management accounting group, (iii) Green accounting project with UiTM Facility Department, (iv) Publication workshops with researchers from ARI, UiTM Johor and UiTM Perak, (v) Meeting with ARI fellows on collaborative works, (iv) Management accounting lecture (v) Individual consulations with staff and post-graduate students and (vi) Meeting with the Vice Chancellor.  ARI's director, Professor Normah was there at the hotel lobby to bid good bye to Professor Willett.  It was indeed a very fruitful two weeks for all of us at ARI.

Professorial Lecture in Dentistry

The Accounting Research Institute congratulates Professor Dr Mohamed Ibrahim Abu Hassan, Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry, Universityi Teknologi MARA (UiTM) for successfully delivering his professorial lecture entitled "Oral Diseases: What Do We Know & What Can We Do About it?".  The event which took place yesterday at the OIA Seminar Hall, UiTM Shah Alam was attended by more than 200 guests, comprising dental practitioners, academics, UiTM professors and students.  Professor Mohamed Ibrahim was introduced by the university's Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic & Internationalisation), Professor Dr Azni Zain Ahmed.  The Faculty of Dentistry was set up in 2006 and Prof Mohamed Ibrahim is the founding dean of the faculty since its establishment.  Indeed, within a span of less than ten years, the faculty has grown tremendously.  One of the faculty's and university's prides is the establishment of the "Mobile Dental Clinic", using a specially designed UiTM bus.  Indeed the Mobile Dental Clinic Bus has traveled throughout the country, providing services to students and the community.  Congratulations 

ARI Visit to PUNB

As part of their on-going effort to engage practitioners in their current research projects, members of the the Islamic Microfinance research cluster of the Accounting Research Institute (ARI) recently visited the Perbadanan Usahawan Nasional Berhad (PUNB).  PUNB is Malaysia's national entrepreneur development corporation that facilitate aspiring entrepreneurs to set up strategic and high potential businesses.  ARI members and fellows comprising Dr SitiKhadijah, Dr Bashir and Soheil accompanied Professor Dr Rashidah Abdul Rahman to PUNB Kuala Lumpur.  PUNB was established in 1996 to spur the development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by providing infrastructure facilities, financial assistance, advisory services, market access and other support programmes.  The delegates from ARI had a fruitful discussion with Mr Mohd Nor Shazali Idris, Head SME Investment Unit on possible collaboration in research and consultancy between PUNB & ARI.  Areas of interest include examining governance, marketing strategy and Islamic product development in PUNB.En Shazali was also interested to assign us a task in studying the impact of PUNB microfinancing on the success of the Young Entrepreneur Scheme.

UiTM-Tasmania Collaboration

Visiting Professor Roger Willett, on his last day visit to Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), met up with the university's Vice Chancellor, Dato' Seri Prof Ir Dr Sahol Hamid Abu Bakar at the later's office this afternoon. Professor Willet of the University of Tasmania (UTAS) has a BA in Economics from the University of East Anglia and a PhD from Aberdeen, in the UK. Prior to his academic position at UTAS, Prof Willett worked  as a Chartered Accountant with Coopers & Lybrand.  His previous university employment include the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, the University of Wales, The Australian National University, the University of Otago, New Zealand and Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane. His teaching interests are computational modelling and postgraduate teaching, although he has taught across all aspects of the discipline of accountancy at undergraduate level. His research interests are economic modelling, accounting measurement; the statistical analysis of accounting numbers and international accounting.  The Vice Chancellor is hopeful that the UiTM-University of Tasmania collaboration will go another level with more staff exchanges, joint-international research projects, joint-publication in reputable international journals, co-supervision of post graduate students and many others.  Future collaborations would also involve other faculties and department of both universities....

Professor Willett In UiTM Johor

This entry was sent to the Accounting Research Institute (ARI) by ARI Associate Dr Nor Balkish from Universiti Teknologi MARA Johor Campus.  Dr Nor Balkish coordinated Professor Willett's recent visit to the campus. 

It was a great pleasure to have Prof Willet in our campus on 21st of Feb 2013. He managed to deliver us two talks on quantitative research. He also spent another two hours from to help five research groups who were preparing their research proposals.  Prof Willett provided input in terms of confirming the research frameworks and mostly expressing his ideas concerning the research methodology issues. We are indeed very grateful to Accounting Research Institute for bringing Prof Willet to UiTM Segamat. We hope there will be more sharing of expertise that ARI could offer us in near future.

Graduate Research Assistant Positions at ARI

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) is inviting prospective candidates who are keen to pursue post-graduate programs (Master by Research or PhD) in the areas of Islamic Financial Criminology (IFC) to apply for the Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) positions at the institute.  IFC is a niche research area that ARI is pursuing under its Higher Institution's Centre of Excellence (HICoE) program.  Effectively, IFC comprises two main thrusts of Islamic Finance & Muamalat and Financial Criminology.  GRAs will be required to undertake a Master by Research or PhD program and he/she must be supervised (or co-supervised) by an ARI research fellow.  Those interested with the program can submit their resume to ARI.

LRGS - Hopeful

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) together with its counterpart, Institute of Zakat Studies (IKAZ) are hopeful that their joint-project on Islamic Philanthropy will be considered by the Ministry of Higher Education for the LRGS 2013 program.  The program's other collaborative partners include USIM, UMK, UNISZA, USM, UKM and INCEIF.  After an earlier successful submission of  its "concept-papers" proposal, MOHE has recommended the group to submit a full proposal on the topic.  Recently, the group organized a three-day retreat to finalise the full proposals.  The Islamic Philanthropy research comprises five distinct but related projects.  Whilst two of the projects will be driven by Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), three other projects will be led respectively by USIM, UNISZA and UMK.  The full LRGS presentation will take place on 21st February 2013 at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC).  ARI is hopeful that the projects will be accepted.  Two ARI fellows and one ARI Associate Fellow (Associate Professors Dr Abd Halim Mohd Nor, Dr Roshayani Arshad and Dr Noraini Mohamed) will lead the UiTM team.  Good luck everyone....

ARI Johore Chapter

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) welcomes its new members from Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Johore Campus.  In a half day meeting held at the Segamat campus today, ARI Director Prof Normah Omar and ARI Deputy Director (Post Graduate & Innovation) Associate Professor Dr Zuraidah Sanusi gave a research briefing related to ARI Phase 3 research projects.  Themed Islamic Financial Criminology, ARI is focusing on forging international research collaborations with  renowned research centres/universities globally.  ARI has identified seven research clusters  for its 2013/2014 program.  Twenty five researchers attended the research briefing.  During the meeting members have proposed several activities which included the organisation of an international conference and publication workshops.  Congratulations all...

Research Meetings with Professor Roger Willett

ARI Visiting Professor Roger Willett has been kept busy since his arrival in Shah Alam one week ago.  The first two days were dedicated discussing with researchers from the Asian Management Accounting Research Centre (AMARC), a research centre within the structure of the Accounting Research Institute (ARI).  Researchers have basically prepared four books of readings in management accounting and Professor Willett has agreed to become the guest editor for the books, which hopefully will be published in 2013.  Following a meeting with ARI research fellows on the third day, some one-on-one consulting sessions have been held to discuss joint-journal publications.  During the first week, Professor Willett has also delivered a professorial talk on management accounting for researchers and post graduate students at the university.  In the second week that follows, Professor Willett will participate in a research discussion related to "Green Accounting"; visit two state campuses in Perak and Johore; conduct publication workshops and meet the APMAJ journal administrators and editors.  

Visiting Professor Roger Willett

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) welcomes  Professor Dr Roger Willett from the University of Tasmania (UTAS), Australia who will be visiting the university as a visiting professor for two weeks beginning 9th February to 23rd February 2013.  During his visit, Professor Willett will be conducting both research and publication workshops with staff and post graduate students at the university.  He will also be participating in three of ARI research projects namely "Cost Effectiveness of HIV/AIDS Harm Reduction Programs"; "Governance of Non Profit Organizations" and "Green Accounting".  Beside the Shah Alam Campus, Prof Willett will also be visiting the Perak Campus for a one-day publication workshop.

Young Researcher Scheme at ARI

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) invites qualified candidates to apply for the Young Researcher Scheme (YRS) program.  Prospective candidates are to undertake postgraduate programs (Master by Research or PhD) at ARI in the niche area of Islamic Financial Criminology.  Current preferred possible topics may include:  Islamic Philanthropy; Social Enterprises; Islamic Microfinance; Anti Money Laundering; Financial Statement Fraud; Counter Financing of Terrorism; Fraud Prevention programs; i-CSR; Corporate Integrity System, etc.  Successful candidates will be required to undertake the post graduate program at ARI and they will be fully sponsored by the university.  Upon completion of their program, candidates will serve ARI for a period of time as stipulated by the contractual agreement.  Though their appointment will be within the UiTM lecturer scheme, candidates will be appointed as researchers at the centre of excellence.

ARI Retreat 2013

Day 3

On the final day of the retreat, members discussed internationalization strategies.  In addition to including renowned international professors as research team members, fellows are also encouraged to work very closely with industry players, regulators and enforcement agencies. Through the appointments of visiting professors, ARI researchers will participate in joint publications with renowned authors.  During their visit to ARI, visiting professors will conduct publication workshops with ARI researchers.  At the end of the workshops, ARI hopes to produce final drafts of journal articles for possible publication in ISI/SCOPUS journals.   Two research conferences have been planned for March and June 2013.  Whilst the March conference is to focus on research findings and output from Phase 1 research, the June 2013 conference is specially dedicated to ARI Phase 2 research output.  Each project is also expected to produce two camera-ready articles for the conference.  At the end of the two conferences, the Accounting Research Institute (ARI) hopes to compile all expected deliverable from phases 1 & 2 research projects.  ARI will arrange with certain reputable journals for possible "special issue" publications in the niche area of Islamic Financial Criminology.  The three-day retreat ended on a high note with some very interesting research topics that would certainly add value to the Islamic Finance sector globally....

ARI Retreat 2013

Day 2

On the second day of the retreat, research fellows were grouped into the seven clusters.  Each research fellow is tasked to lead a research project within the selected research cluster.  To support the internationalisation agenda, fellows are to identify their international partners for the project.  The identification of international partners has been made possible through fellows' earlier international linkages in 2012.  In preparing the research proposals, researchers are to identify possible research spin-offs for their projects.  It has been agreed that each project must produce a minimum of five spin-offs in the forms of indexed publications (compulsory), book chapters, research books, product innovations and conference proceedings.  Examples of research topics have included i-CSR; NPO & Cooperative Governance; Effectiveness of the AML/CFT Regime; Social Enterprise and Financial Diaries in Islamic Micro-finance.  Beside ARI research fellows, also present at the retreat are ARI's senior research fellow from the industry; international research fellow from Indonesia and  a Visiting Scientist from Nigeria.   In the afternoon, fellows presented their research proposals.

ARI Retreat 2013

Day 1

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) organizes a three-day research retreat to discuss its phase 3 research projects for 2013 & 2014.  Themed "The Internationalization of ARI HICoE", the focus of each research project is to invite international collaborators to participate either in the form of comparative studies, benchmarking or joint projects.  From its first day meeting and discussions, the group identifies seven research clusters within ARI's niche area of Islamic Financial Criminology (IFC).  The seven clusters are namely (1) Islamic Microfinance, (2) Waqaf, Zakat & Infaq, (3) Shariah-based capital market & governance, (4) Financial Fraud Prevention Mechanism, (5) AML/CFT, (6) Non-Profit Organizations and (7) Corporate Integrity System.  Basically, in support of Malaysia's vision to become the global hub in Islamic Finance, ARI's niche research in Islamic Financial Criminology aims to develop new products for the Islamic Finance sector.  At the same time, research in Financial Criminology hopes to identify relevant fraud risk indicators and to establish possible fraud prevention programs to "protect" the Islamic Finance industry.  The first day is basically used by ARI research fellows to brainstorm ARI's internationalization agenda.  To formalize international collaborations, ARI hopes to sign memorandum of understanding (MOUs) and memorandum of agreement (MOA) with as many strategic research partners as possible.  More importantly, the collaborations hope to see the emergence of new knowledge and new model to signify progress in Islamic Financial Criminology.  In addition to research publications, ARI hopes to create impact to the society and the community it serves.