Disclosure of corporate social responsibility on integrated report studies: a review of the literature

Abstract

Nowadays, companies' has been charged increasingly to disclosure their accountability of social environmental based on the concept of sustainability. The Integrated Report (IR) is a proposal to incorporate relevant financial and non-financial data on business activities, voluntarily integrating social and environmental concerns into corporate operational activities and decision-making. Therefore, this paper aims to analyze the development of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the international scientific production published in academic journals about Integrated Reporting (IR), from the perspectives of the theoretical platform, research paradigms and methodologies, and the utilized accounting process. For this purpose, a search was conducted in the Scopus indexing database, relevant to the scientific production on the topic and quotations. In the analysis of the data, 52 papers published in academic journals were considered within the period of 2010 to June, 2019, applying a structured review of the literature for data collection and using bibliometric study for the treatment and statistical analysis of its content. The results reveal the little emphasis given to social and environmental issues in academic research on IR, mainly regarding the identification, classification, measurement, and communication of such events in this type of report. The challenge is to develop strong and active research networks with researchers from different areas working in multidisciplinary contexts to investigate social, environmental, and sustainable issues in IR research. Only one network has been identified with two publications, revealing little interest in the study of elements that associate CSR practices and the process of adoption and disclosure of IR by the companies. Furthermore, it is of the utmost importance that academics and professionals interact so that the research findings can provide effective and practical benefits.