Publication in High Impact Journals

As part of his scheduled activity, ARI's Visiting Professor Paul Barnes conducted a special workshop on "Publication in High Impact Journals".  He defines High Impact journals as journals that have been recognized internationally by the academic community and are often ranked highly by reputable indexing bodies.  The impact factor, often abbreviated IF, is a measure reflecting the average number of citations to recent articles published in science and social science journals. Publication in journals with a high impact factor is regarded as an indication of the quality of the research published and, by implication, the quality of its authors.

Not  surprisingly, publishing in highly ranked journals is an aspiration for most authors and often plays an important role in one’s own career prospects and progression. Yet, as more and more researchers aspire to publish in top rated journals, the competition gets tougher and the success rate far lower than publishing on low-impact journals. Two of the most used indexing bodies are SCOPUS and Thomson Reuters (ISI). Journals in these indexing bodies are often ranked as Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4 - often as a result of some form of journal citation analysis.  In Australia for example, business academics are encouraged to published in "A" and "B"-ranked journals of the Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC) directory.  In his talk, Prof Barnes encourages researchers to present their papers at conferences, get feedback, review papers and then submit them to journals.

UiTM Global Leadership Program

In 2014, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) established a student-based leadership initiative called Global Leadership Program.  Basically the program provides leadership skills to selected students by inviting renowned scholars and practitioners to share their leadership experiences.  The first cohort comprises seventy-two students who have been "hand-picked" by their faculties and deans as pioneer participants for the program.  Basically. these are Deans' List scholars who have achieved commendable academic results and are keen to make time to learn some very important leadership skills.  At the end of the program (which lasts over a period of one year), students are expected to have acquired life and leadership skills.  In addition to their already very good academic performance, they are also well-groomed leaders with good communication skills, strategists, visionary and adjust well with the environment they live in.  They are better-prepared for the job-market.  Some even want to start their own business and become employers themselves.  In a recent workshop, Accounting Research Institute (ARI) Director, Professor Dr Normah Omar has been invited to share ARI successes as Global Islamic Finance Awards (GIFA) winners for two consecutive years: GIFA 2014 for "Best Islamic Finance Education Provider" and GIFA 2015 for "Pioneering Islamic Financial Criminology Research". 

Visiting Professor Paul Barnes

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) welcomes Professor Paul Barnes who is currently visiting Universiti Teknologi MARA for two weeks as a visiting professor. Professor Barnes has written a number of books and published many academic papers in a wide variety of journals in the UK, Australia and the USA, on various aspects of financial crime and related subjects. He has been an expert witness in many high profile financial crime trials in the UK, mainly involving securities fraud, stock market abuse and insider dealing. He has also provided forensic accounting expertise in a number of civil actions and investigations.  Professor Barnes is an expert in forensic accounting and has acted as an expert witness and consultant in the areas of finance and forensic accounting. He was previously Professor of Finance and Fraud Risk Management at Nottingham Business School in the UK and is, or has been, a Visiting Professor at various universities in the US and Australia. He is a qualified Chartered Certified Accountant (although not a practicing member) an academic member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners and has degrees in history and management science, with a Ph.D. in economics.  Do you need an expert in financial crime? Or perhaps your business requires a consultant in forensic accounting?  Forensic Accounting is a specialist field of work which requires detailed knowledge and expertise. Researchers, staff and students are encouraged to meet up with Prof Barnes to discuss potential research in financial criminology and forensic accounting.

FRGS Projects 2015

The Accounting Research Institute congratulates all researchers who have successfully secured the Fundamental Research Grants either as Principal Investigators or co-researchers.  ARI have forged smart partnerships with four faculties namely (i) Faculty of Accountancy, (ii) Faculty of Business Management, (iii) Faculty of Law and (iv) Faculty of Information Management.  Congratulations all.  For the FRGS -1 2015 listing, ARI researchers are involved in the following projects:

Global Islamic Finance Awards

Global Islamic Finance Awards (GIFA) are the first of their kind of awards and emerged as the most respectable market-led awards in Islamic banking and finance. GIFA is based on an objective proprietary methodology developed by Edbiz Consulting.  These awards recognize and celebrate success and contributions of individuals and institutions in the Islamic financial services Industry. The objective of GIFA is to highlight the best practices in Islamic banking and finance and celebrate success of governments, institutions and individuals in Islamic banking and finance, with an ultimate objective of promoting social responsibility, adherence to Shari’a authenticity and commitment to Islamic banking and finance.  Each year, GIFA nominations are announced in the first and second quarter and remain open till the end of the second quarter of the year. The nominees are requested to send in relevant documents, highlighting their performance, objectives in line with GIFA. 

This is followed by detailed independent research work by the GIFA team and deliberations of the GIFA awards committee before the winners are announced.  The GIFA Awards Committee attempts to ensure complete transparency in terms of the following: (i) Innovation - those products and services will be rewarded, which contribute to the growth of Islamic finance through innovative applications and Shariah principles; (ii) Quantity and Quality - the breadth and depth of product/service offerings and where applicable, performance data are taken into account when assessing the performance of the nominated institutions and individuals during the award period; (iii) Cross Border - Provision of products/services that take on an international dimension outside of the established home market is a major criterion for selection of nominations and (iv) Promotion of the Growth of the Industry - Products/services that have established standards of best practices for the national markets and global Islamic financial services industry are also treated over and above other products.

HICoE Strategic Direction

The Higher Institutions' Centre of Excellence or HICoE is an initiative mooted by the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia in 2008 with the aim of recognising centres of excellence from various public universities so that they can spearhead their niche research agenda to higher international levels.  The six HICoEs recognized during the 2009 evaluation and their respective niche are namely (i) UM Centre of Research for Power Electronics, Drives, Automation & Control (UMPEDAC) - Renewable Energy; (ii) UKM Medical Molecular Biology Institute (UMBI) - Cancer Biomarkers; (iii) USM Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine (INFORMM) - Diagnostics Platforms; (iv) UPM Institute of Bioscience (IBS) - Animal Vaccines and Therapeutic; (v) USM Centre for Drug Research (CDR) - Behavioural Research in Addiction and UiTM Accounting Research Institute (ARI) - Islamic Financial Criminology.  Recently, all six HICoEs were called by the Ministry of Higher Education to present their strategic planning and strategic action towards becoming global reference centres within the next three years.  ARI presented its four research clusters namely (i) Islamic-based  Business Model  in Enhancing Good Governance and Wealth Creation, (ii) Corporate Integrity, Ethics and Risk Management, (iii) Anti-Money Laundering Mechanisms to Mitigate Financial Leakages and (iv) Methodologies in Financial Fraud Detection and Prevention. ARI's research in Islamic Financial Criminology has gained prominence globally as evidenced by it winning the Global Islamic Finance Awards (GIFA) for two consecutive years in 2014 & 2015.

 

ARI Bagged GIFA Award 2015

The Global Islamic Finance Awards or GIFA being the most respectable international market-led awards in Islamic banking and finance has announced the Accounting Research Institute (ARI HICoE) from Malaysia as the special winner of “Pioneering Research in Islamic Financial Criminology”.

The prestigous event  was held in Manama City, Kingdom of Bahrain on  28 September, 2015 at The Gulf Hotel.  Islamic Financial Criminology (IFC) is a pioneering research area introduced by ARI in 2010 when it was accorded the Higher Institutions’ Centre of Excellence (HICoE) status by the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia. IFC encompasses  two main domains namely Islamic Finance and Financial Criminology.  ARI believes that a sustainable Islamic Finance industry must focus on continuously developing new Islamic Finance products as well as be mindful of the potential risks of financial crimes that could retard the development of the Islamic Finance sector.

GIFA is the most prestigious awards in the Islamic finance services industry where recognition is given to individuals and organisations selected for their successes and best practices in the Islamic finance sector.  GIFA has been initiated and organised by Edbiz Consulting, a leading London-based Islamic financial consultancy since 2011.  Last year, ARI-HICoE was awarded the “Best Islamic Finance Education Provider 2014” at GIFA 2014 which was held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). It was such as honour for ARI HICoE of Universiti Teknologi MARA for winning the award for the second consecutive years.  Presence to receive GIFA 2015 award for ARI HICoE were its Director, Prof Dr Normah Omar and Research Fellow Dr Norazida Mohamed. Reflecting the name that it carries, ARI has shown outstanding performance since it was accorded the HICoE status in 2010 by Ministry of Higher Education. Within less than five years ARI has become a global leader in Islamic Financial Criminology research area. Research in Islamic Finance has seen the development of new products such as Islamic microfinance, Islamic-based Social Enterprises, E-Biz Waqaf and Islamic Philanthropy. 

 Researches in Financial Criminology include anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing, financial fraud/corruption prevention mechanisms and the development of corporate integrity system.  ARI’s collaborative partners have included among others, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS), Institute of Public Enterprise India, Association of Forensic Accountants Pakistan, Oxford Institute of Islamic Studies, IBFIM, Asian Institute of Finance, Compliance Officer Networking Group, Bolton University Institute of Islamic Finance, University of Teesside Centre for Fraud and Financial Crime, Association of Islamic Finance Tunisia, Association of Muslim Accountants, Philippines and the International Centre of Political Violence and Terrorism Research, Singapore.

UiTM Foundation for Economic Transformation

The Vice Chancellor of Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Tan Sri Dato' Seri Professor Ir Dr Sahol Hamid Abu Bakar and the Director of Accounting Research Institute (ARI), Professor Dr Normah Omar recently met up with the Yang Di Pertua Negeri Pulau Pinang, Tuan Yang Terutama (TYT) Tun Datuk Seri Dr Haji Abdul Rahman bin Haji Abbas on the viability for UiTM to set up a foundation to support the university's research project related to Islamic Microfinance.  The research project targets microcredit entrepreneurs in Penang who are currently being financed by  various financiers such as Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM), TEKUN and financial institutions.  The aim is to link them (microcredit entrepreneurs) with suitable partners who can either supply raw materials at much discounted cost or they can market the entrepreneurs' products through a "buy-back" concept.  As part of its economic transformation programme, the Accounting Research Institute has successfully embarked on Islamic Microfinance programmes (Tailoring) in Selangor and Terengganu. 

Corporate Integrity Survey for UDA Holding

Recently, Associate Professor Dr Jamaliah  Said presented the survey findings of the Corporate Integrity assessment to UDA Holding in Kuala Lumpur.  The preliminary findings were first presented to the Integrity unit of UDA before they are presented to the top management at a later date.  A corporate integrity workshop was conducted at UDA headquarters a few months ago, where representative of various units in UDA participated in the questionnaire survey.  Corporate Integrity Questionnaire is an instrument developed jointly by the academic group headed by the Accounting Research Institute and the Malaysian Institute of Integrity.

ARI's Strategic Planning Workshop

The Accounting Research Institute (ARI) held a  one-day strategic planning workshop at the Grand Blue Wave hotel today.  Attended by all fellows,the workshop discussed among others strategic actions for four main research clusters for 2015 - 2018.  The four research clusters already identified are: (i) Islamic-based  Business Model  in Enhancing Good Governance and Wealth Creation, (ii) Corporate Integrity, Ethics and Risk Management, (iii) Anti-Money Laundering Mechanisms to Mitigate Financial Leakages and (iv) Methodologies in Financial Fraud Detection and Prevention.  The four research clusters support ARI's niche research agenda in Islamic Financial Criminology.  Islamic Financial Criminology (IFC) is a pioneering research area introduced by the Accounting Research Institute (ARI) in 2010 when it was accorded the Higher Institutions’ Centre of Excellence (HICoE) status by the Ministry of Education Malaysia.  IFC then became the niche research agenda that ARI, as a HICoE needs to drive.  The chosen niche research in IFC is in tandem with Malaysia’s vision to become a Global Islamic Finance Hub by 2020.   IFC as a concept encompasses two main domains namely Islamic Finance and Financial Criminology.  ARI believes that to develop a sustainable Islamic Finance Hub, Malaysia must continue introducing new Islamic finance products as well as be mindful of the potential risks of financial crimes that could retard the growth of the Islamic Finance sector.  When developing a sustainable Global Islamic Finance Hub, there are various strategic aspects that must be considered: continuous development of new Islamic Finance products; the establishment of good ethics, integrity and governance measures and the development of financial fraud mitigation mechanisms.