Journal of Global Responsibility: Systematic Literature Review On The Evolution of Integrated Reporting Research

Journal of Global Responsibility
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Systematic literature review on the evolution of integrated

reporting research
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Journal: Journal of Global Responsibility
Manuscript ID JGR-07-2022-0073.R2
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Manuscript Type: Research Paper
Integrated Reporting, Sustainability Reporting, Intellectual Capital,

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Keywords:
Environmental Social and Governance, Determinants
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Page 1 of 31 Journal of Global Responsibility
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5 Systematic literature review on the evolution of integrated reporting research
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9 Abstract
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Purpose - This study provides a comprehensive analysis of studies on integrated reporting and
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12 focus more on four key aspects: sustainability reporting, environmental social and governance,
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13 intellectual capital, and auditing.
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15 Design/methodology/approach - The study analyzed 167 studies from 53 Scopus-indexed
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16 journals in accounting, sustainability, finance, and management, based on the journal, country,
17 methodology, approach, research questions, and theories. Results shed light on the inconsistent
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knowledge gaps in previous studies, which provide insights for future studies.
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21 Findings - The findings revealed that a comprehensive definition of integrated reporting has not
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22 been established. Although it is not mandatory in most countries, there is an increase in companies'
23 adoption of these reports. The results also highlighted the need for more single-country empirical
24 studies, focusing on the differentiation between the approach used to provide a clear scientific
25 vision that contributes to developing knowledge about the strategy of making these reports.
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Theoretically, the results indicated that scholars had adopted stakeholders and legitimacy theories,
28 limiting the theoretical lens in explaining the phenomenon of integrated reports.
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30 Originality/value - This study provides a comprehensive and systematic analysis of studies that
31 discussed integrated reports. Due to the limited review of research on this topic, this study will
32 provide a clear roadmap for future researchers to support future studies, as it outlines the academic
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research development of integrated reports and criticisms to guide future work.
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Keywords; Integrated Reporting, Sustainability Reporting, Intellectual Capital, Environmental
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37 Social and Governance, Determinants.
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Journal of Global Responsibility Page 2 of 31
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3 1. Introduction
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Integrated reporting refers to an innovative and effective report form that contains a
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combination of financial and non-financial information in one report. According to Vitolla et al.
7 (2019a) integrated reports enable institutions to overcome the shortcomings that exist in traditional
8 reports, which allows for conducting advanced assessments that keep pace with the aspirations of
9 the institutions.
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10 The International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) has begun to promote integrated
11 reports as a new method of disclosure in order to provide more information to various stakeholders
12 (Al Amosh and Mansor, 2021). IIRC (2011) suggested that the integrated report includes a
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13 summary describing the plans and strategy of the institutions, their business, their governance, the
14 business model, and the expectations of the institutions to create value at all stages, long, medium,
15 and short-terms. The integrated reports have multiple effects, which the IR has identified in six
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capitals: financial, manufactured, intellectual, human, social and relationship, and natural. Pistoni
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18 et al. (2018) reported that integrated reports provide a complete view of the organization and
management of the business through eight (8) elements: the organization’s overview and its
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20 relationship, the external environment, the business model, governance, opportunities and risks,
21 the organization’s strategy, and resource allocation, performance based on preparation and
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22 presentation, and expectations of adding value. As suggested by Busco (2013), the main objective
23 of integrated reports is to gradually create value over time and clarify institutions' business models
24 better than traditional financial and non-financial reports.
25 As a result of the shortcomings in preparing traditional financial reports, integrated reports
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26 were used to address these shortcomings by providing integrated disclosure to the information
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users (Al Amosh et al., 2022a; IIRC, 2013). According to Baboukardos and Rimmel (2016) and
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De Villiers (2014), there is a rapid increase in the use of integrated reports in institutions.
Additionally, integrated reports are the latest rapid attempt to find alternative solutions to the
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31 shortcomings found in traditional financial reports and sustainability reports. Thus, integrated
32 reports have attracted increasing interest from stakeholders, such as investors, shareholders, and
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33 information users, who seek more disclosures. Moreover, the literature needs more innovative
34 research to clarify this new technique of disclosure and improve insights into it (KPMG, 2017).
35 While other scholars argue that there are shortcomings related to the lack of regulations that
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36 regulate the work of integrated reports to achieve its objectives in bringing about organizational
37 changes as it is directed to stakeholders and society alike (Thomson, 2015). Integrated reports
38 provide policy makers and practitioners with a modern view of overcoming the shortcomings of
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traditional reports. Therefore, the implementation of this type of report requires more research to
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reach a single formulation that organizes and defines the work of these reports.
42 In recent years, there has been a gradual increase in integrated reporting research and a large
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43 number of research articles have been published on this topic. However, only a few researchers
44 have focused on reviewing the existing knowledge to provide a roadmap for future studies.
45 Previous studies discussed integrated reports from specific sources, a short discussion, and
descriptive analysis (Camodeca et al., 2018; Correa Ruiz, 2013; De Villiers et al., 2014). Dumay
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47 et al. (2016) conducted an early review of the literature to develop research insights into IR, and
48 they advocated a focus on the investigation of IR practices instead of the normative approach of
49 research. Camodeca et al. (2018) limited their review to only six years of literature (2012–2017)
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50 to identify key opportunities and challenges experienced by integrated reporting. Furthermore,

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Soriya and Rastogi (2021) increased this timeframe to ten years and searched for the sample
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literature on limited databases such as Springer and Wiley.
54 Other studies have concentrated on a particular area, such as the development of integrated
55 reporting (Correa Ruiz, 2013) and its determinants (Kannenberg and Schreck, 2019). Oll and
56 Rommerskirchen (2018) used only 37 studies to analyse the status of the literature regarding
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3 integrated reporting. Nwachukwu (2022) used only 17 studies to discuss the status of the literature
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regarding integrated reporting. As a result, there is a need to provide a broader perspective of
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integrated reporting research, which is a modern practice of disclosure that is of interest to many
7 stakeholders, such as investors, shareholders, and information users, in order to provide insight
8 into current research contributions and analyses them in order to direct the compass of future
9 research by identifying current gaps through a comprehensive systematic review of the topic.
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10 Unlike these reviews, this study used a large sample of 167 studies to conduct a comprehensive
11 and systematic review that included most high-impact journal articles from several disciplines,
12 including accounting and auditing, intellectual capital, sustainability, social responsibility,
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13 governance, finance, and management. Moreover, this study combined a descriptive and content
14 analyses of the literature in terms of the productive journals, country, common theories, and
15 research settings; the approach was divided into three types: IIRC, King Report on Corporate
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Governance (King III) and one report. The content assessment based on the themes discussed in
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sample literature was divided into four topics: sustainability reporting, intellectual capital,
environmental social and governance (ESG), and auditing and assurance; the studies that were not
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20 included in the first four topics were considered as the other. Based on the Scopus database, 167
21 studies were analyzed in an attempt to answer the following research question.
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23 RQ1. How has IR been researched to date, and what are the emerging themes from the literature?
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25 This study contributes to the current literature by providing up-to-date assessment analysis of
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26 studies that discussed integrated reports after the regulations were added and introduced by IIRC
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to the work of integrated reporting in 2013 using a broad sample. Integrated reporting is the last
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international framework to emerge after Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), which enforced the
integration of financial and non-financial reporting. Thus, the current review enhances the
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31 understanding of this emerging phenomenon to improve international practices in reporting and
32 discover the importance of adopting such a modern method of disclosure and its effects on
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33 shareholders, stakeholders, and capital markets. Hence, this study will provide a clear roadmap for
34 future researchers to support future studies, as this study outlines the academic and research
35 development of integrated reports and criticisms to guide prospective authors. Furthermore, this
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36 work explores the focus of the literature on a theoretical and methodological basis by following
37 different theories and approaches and their importance in developing knowledge of integrated
38 reports to cover the shortcomings of traditional reports.
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This article is organized as follows: Part 2 presents the methodology and research strategy;
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Part 3 introduces the SLR findings; Part 4 discusses the determents and criticisms of the integrated
42 reports; Part 5 discusses the limitations of previous literature and future research avenues; and Part
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43 6 concludes the study.

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45 2. SLR Methodology
To provide a comprehensive systematic study, all published literature on integrated reports
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47 was collected following a reproducible approach. The study followed the methodology that is
48 widely applied in the literature (see, Amrutha and Geetha, 2020; Dumay et al., 2016; Hazaea et
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al., 2021a; Janjua et al., 2021; Khatib et al., 2022a, 2021a; Wan Sulaiman and Mustafa, 2020;
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Hazaea et al., 2021b; Hazaea et al., 2022b) and relied on the Scopus database to search the
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keyword of “integrated report.” The keywords for integrated reports were determined after
53 reviewing similar studies (De Villiers et al., 2014; Lai and Stacchezzini, 2021; Maroun, 2019;
54 Vitolla, Raimo and Rubino, 2019b). Also, the SLR method differs from traditional research review
55 methods by providing insightful and influential research (Khatib et al., 2021b; Hazaea et al.,
56 2022c).
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3 As Figure 1 shows, the search process resulted in 1007 studies as an initial sample. After the
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literature was limited to the English language, 28 studies other than English were excluded. Then,
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published studies in books and conferences were excluded, leaving only 794 studies. By focusing
7 on specific fields, namely “Environment Science,” Business,” Management,”
8 Finance,” and “Economics,” the number of sample studies decreased to 566 studies that fall within
9 these fields. After the investigation process using the title and summary, 443 studies were counted
for analysis. Next, we followed the exclusion and inclusion criteria applied by Vrontis et al.’s
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11 (2021) to provide a more accurate perspective on the selected papers. The full text of the sample
12 articles was checked to ensure their relevance and eligibility to the analysis. Finally, this process
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13 resulted into 167 studies that explicitly discussed integrated reports. Our study was not limited to
14 a specific journal or a specific group in one speciality. The study aims to explore all the research
15 development related to integrated reports according to the identified field. In line with Khatib et
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al. (2021a) and Zamil et al. (2021), our focus was on journals, curriculum, theory, context, and
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features of diversity and structure in the study. The methodology followed in this study includes
the investigation of the literature in three basic aspects, the first aspect is the descriptive aspect
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20 represented by the distribution of the literature in the journals, the geographical area, while the
21 second aspect includes the investigation of the methods, theories and topics most concentrated in
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22 the literature; finally, the third aspect discusses the determinants, consequences and criticisms of
23 the integrated reports. This method in line with other studies to obtain the required literature (i.e.,
24 Khatib et al., 2021b; Nerantzidis et al., 2020; Wan Sulaiman and Mustafa, 2020). This study
25 attempts to investigate the development of integrated reporting topics and uncover the gaps that
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26 have been identified in similar studies. We expect this review to provide a comprehensive and
27 complete knowledge of integrated reporting, which contributes to enhancing the knowledge of
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regulators, stakeholders and those interested in the status and development of integrated reporting
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literature.
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32 [insert figure 1 here]
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34 3. Findings of SLR
35 3.1. Journals distributions
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36 In order to provide a clear picture of the literature discussed in this paper, the journals in which
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the research has been published have been identified. Hristov et al. (2021) mentioned that the
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classification of studies according to the journals in which they were published provides a clear
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40 picture of the nature and extent of their impact on the existing literature. As publication in high-
41 impact journals indicates the research's importance and the strength of its contribution. The figure
42 shows that seven journals dominated the previous literature, with more than 57% of the total
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43 sample of 96 studies. These journals are among the most important high-impact journals in
44 accounting, sustainability, and management. It also shows that a Meditari Accountancy Journal
45 came first with [20 articles 11.97%], Journal of Intellectual Capital ranked second with 19 articles
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46 [11.38%], Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal ranked third with 14 articles [8.38%],
47 Business Strategy and the Environment and Sustainability Journals ranked fourth and fifth with 13
48 and 12 articles respectively. Based on this result, the level of interest of researchers in the field of
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integrated reporting appears through publication in journals of great interest among readers. Table
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51 1 shows the classification of journals index in which most literature has been published and sample
52 distributions by journal presented in figure 1.
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3 3.2. Geographical focus
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Table 2 includes an analysis of the literature by country. The table shows that 39 studies used
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multi-country data majority of them based on IIRC (Busco et al., 2018; García-Sánchez and
7 Noguera-Gámez, 2018; Gianfelici et al., 2016; Lai et al., 2014; Ligia, 2017). Seven studies focused
8 on the European context (see, Gibassier, Rodrigue and Arjaliès, 2018; Beretta, Demartini and
9 Trucco, 2019; Landau et al., 2020), while the South African market was evaluated with 33 studies,
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10 which is the leading country in integrated reporting (De Villiers et al., 2014; Zhou, Simnett and
11 Green, 2017). According to IDSA (2009), issuing integrated reports in South Africa is mandatory,
12 as companies listed on the South African Stock Exchange must give integrated reports based on
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13 the explanation or application. The Italian market has been investigated in ten studies (Del Baldo,
14 2017; Fasan et al., 2016). The Australian market has been examined in 6 studies, and the German
15 in only four studies. Like the Arab and African countries, the demographic distribution indicates
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an absence of studies in China; although it is a great economic power, it lacks studies that
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18 investigate integrated reports. On the other hand, the contribution of the United States to the
literature appears to be very little, as it contributed only to two studies. However, the single- report
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20 was developed by the United States (Eccles and Krzus, 2010). In comparison with European
21 countries, European countries have contributed extensively to the literature. This may be due to
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22 the fact that European countries focus on extensive traditional research, unlike the United States,
23 which focuses on positive capital market studies and research (Parker and Guthrie, 2014).
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3.3. Theoretical underpinning
29 Table 3 shows that the literature before 2015 relied commonly on four theories: Stakeholder theory,
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30 legitimacy theory, agency theory, institutional theory, and other theories. The table shows that the
31 most common theories used in the literature are stakeholder theory [42 articles]. The essence of
32 stakeholder theory recognizes that the institution has extensive and distinguished relations with
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33 many parties and parties interested in its activities and performance (Donaldson and Preston, 1995).
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The stakeholder theory is used to emphasize that business successes associated with integrated
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reports must be linked explicitly and clearly to the need for information required by stakeholders.
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37 The results of this study show that the development of integrated reports research was closely
38 related to several incentives, including the stakeholders' need for integrated information (Al
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39 Amosh et al., 2022b, 2022c), which was confirmed through the frequent usage of the stakeholder
40 theory in a large way, and then institutions began to move towards society to clarify the role of
41 these institutions towards the environment and society (Lai et al., 2018), where it confirmed this
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trend through the use of research on the theory of legitimacy as institutions seek to achieve
44 community satisfaction. Scholars started to apply different theories in recent years due to their
45 importance in disseminating the necessary information about intellectual capital (Terblanche,
2019), providing the necessary information on social and environmental issues (KPMG, 2017), as
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47 well as assurance reports (Simnett and Huggins, 2015). Therefore, the development and expansion
48 of the reporting functions have increased the use of the literature for modern theories such as
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signaling theory, diffusion of innovations theory and stewardship theory. On the other hand, the
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interest of stakeholders and regulators has reinforced the importance of discussing integrated
52 reports in a broad way and studying their importance in various parties, such as government,
53 supplier, customer, and investors.
54 Legitimacy theory comes second [40 articles]. Legitimacy theory is based on the concept of
55 social contradiction, which refers to the institutions’ dependence on the environment and the non-
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3 uniform expectations of society, in addition to the institutions' attempt to clarify and justify their
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existence through the activities they practice (Newson and Deegan, 2002). According to this theory,
6 the institution seeks to achieve the satisfaction of society through the realization of its interests.
7 Thus, organizations usually develop strategies to accomplish this (Lai et al., 2018).
8 Then agency theory [33 articles], as the literature used this theory in 33 studies, either alone
9 or with other theories. Agency theory focuses primarily on the relationship between agents and
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10 principals (Hazaea et al., 2021a; Khatib and Nour, 2021). However, the agent enjoys access to
11 information and shares it with managers by implementing regulations and governance mechanisms,
12 enabling managers to reduce the challenges of information asymmetry (Briem and Wald, 2018).
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13 Followed by Institutional theory [25 articles]. The Signaling theory was used in [17 articles], and
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the voluntary disclosure theory in [9 articles]. Political cost theory, stewardship theory, and
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diffusion of innovations theory have been used in 4 articles for each theory. While the table shows
17 that 68 other theories were used in the literature, they were clarified at the bottom of the table.
18 Finally, the table shows that 35 studies did not explicitly use any theory. Notably, 56 articles used
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19 a single theory, and 76 papers used multiple theories. Finally, these theories have been divided
20 into categories based on investigation by the authors in order to expand the knowledge further.
21 Despite the importance of stakeholder theory, its overuse in the literature raises many questions.
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22 Stakeholder theory's application in integrated reporting practices can be attributed to its similarity
23 to corporate social responsibility disclosure practices, which have received significant attention
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from stakeholder theorists. However, because integrated reports provide two types of information,
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26 financial and non-financial, there is a need to emphasize the role of shareholders and strengthen
27 the role of shareholder theory and other theories in explaining the adoption of integrated reports
28 (Al Amosh et al., 2022a). Also, the diffusion of innovation theory, which provides a perspective
29 on developing the existing business model by inventing new ways to create value and competitive
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30 advantage, can also be expanded to explain companies' adoption of integrated reports.

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36 3.4. Approach to integrated reported

37 The idea of having bodies to issue guidelines and guidelines for companies started a long time ago
38 to address the shortcomings of traditional financial reporting. Also, to improve the stereotypical
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image of organizations for different stakeholders and reduce the contradiction between the
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behavior of the organizations and the reports issued, moving forward towards achieving
42 sustainable development goals (Dumay et al., 2019). This contributed to the development of the
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43 concept of reports and the enrichment of their content by companies. In 2013, the International
44 Integrated Reporting Framework was issued, trying to combine financial and non-financial
45 information into a single report. It was updated in 2021 to improve the quality of information
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46 available to its users, such as analysts, regulators, investors, and shareholders. Recently, the Value
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Reporting Foundation (VRF) announced that the IR Framework and the Sustainability Accounting
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49 Standards Board (SASB) Standards will be merged into the IFRS Foundation and that it will join
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50 the effort to establish the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). This consolidation
51 is scheduled to be completed by June 30, 2022. This latest development confirms the importance
52 of integrated thinking when disclosing information by providing information of high quality and
53 value to the user. Most importantly, it is integrated to serve different users, such as shareholders
54 and investors (Al Amosh and Khatib, 2022). Table 4 summarizes the integrated reported
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approaches.
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3 The expected integration could provide a new concept of integrated information that serves
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different stakeholders to address the shortcomings of existing reports and standards and to integrate
6 efforts towards a comprehensive corporate reporting system (Bridges et al., 2021). Which may
7 provide a mechanism on which the various stakeholders can rely to evaluate the performance of
8 companies more clearly. Consequently, these ideas have attracted the attention of many academics
9 and practitioners to assess the practices of companies and the motives that may push companies to
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10 adopt different types of reports. Are they mandatory motives through regulatory legislation, or are
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they motives stemming from the pressures of various stakeholders and legitimacy concerns, or are
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they a forward-looking behavior of companies to improve performance? Many questions arise here.
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14 Thus, providing a systematic review can reveal the many answers that may show current gaps and
15 other underlying motives to put it as a roadmap for future research. In this section, the approach
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16 that was used in the literature was determined based on three approaches, namely:
17 IIRC pre-2013 and IIRC 2013 guidelines: IIRC advocates that integrated reports be the
18 primary and globally accepted standard for corporate reports that aim to meet the aspirations and
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19 requirements of stakeholders (Bernardi and Stark, 2018a). According to this approach, integrated
20 reports provide ore financial information about the strategy the institutions are working on. This
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also provides information on governance, performance, and expectations that reflect the
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23 institutions' social, environmental, and commercial context. It should be noted here that in 2021
24 an update was issued by IIRC to provide more guidance and clarity to IR practitioners and improve
25 the IR adoption by organizations.
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26 This approach focuses on the integrated thinking of creating value and aims to improve the
27 quality of information available to financial capital providers. So that they can allocate capital
28 more productively and efficiently, in addition to strengthening agency and the issue in various
29 aspects related to capital (social, human, and financial), this approach has been used in 148 studies
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30 (Bektur and Arzova, 2020; Hsiao et al., 2017; Simnett and Huggins, 2015). In 2021, updates were
31 issued by IIRC to provide more guidance and clarity to IR practitioners and improve the IR
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adoption by organizations.
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35 King III (updated to the King IV in 2016): this approach was used in 55 studies, including
those discussing the South African market, such as (Ahmed Haji and Anifowose, 2017). According
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37 to this approach, integrated reports reflect the organization's performance from all aspects,
38 including the financial and sustainability aspects. The objectives of this type of report are the
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39 organization's work strategy and objectives and reporting performance related to financial aspects
40 and social relations. Moreover, this report also reflects the performance of institutions and their
41 relationship to environmental factors. On the other hand, this approach works to coordinate and
42 align the organization with the expectations of stakeholders.
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43 It should be noted that on November 1, 2016, the King III Report was replaced by the King
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IV Report. Unlike the previous version, the new Code adopts an “apply and explain” basis and is
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principle- and outcomes-based (Dumay et al., 2017). Also, the guidelines of King IV were
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47 formulated to apply to all sectors without exception (Natesan, 2020). It is a step towards enhancing
48 the performance of governance and integrated reporting practices in the South African market.
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50 One report: this type of report has been published by Eccles and Krzus (2010). One report
51 indicates that the report should include all the information, whether financial or non-financial.
52 Thus, the one report provides a conceptual platform that is supplied and supported by technological
53 platforms to offer the complete information needed by all parties, including the shareholders.
54 Through this report, stakeholders can thoroughly review the performance of the institution. This
55 approach has been used in the literature in 69 studies (Gal, 2019; Rivera-Arrubla et al., 2017).
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3 Moreover, this type of report provides information on the sources and relationships that affect the
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work of the institution. On the contrary, the King III report is directed towards governance
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principles and the operation of companies. The analysis shows the wide use of IIRC compared
7 with other reports. However, there is a need for further investigation in differentiating between
8 types of reports in all respects. This includes the meaning, the objectives of the parties to which
9 they are directed, and the content so that researchers can develop knowledge related to integrated
reports.
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Methodologically, multiple regression analysis has been widely used in the literature, such as
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16 ordinary least squares (OLS) (Kılıç and Kuzey, 2018; Pavlopoulos et al., 2019; Zhou et al., 2017),
17 Multivariate analysis (Menicucci, 2018), ML such as (Dey, 2020; Melloni and Stacchezzini, 2015;
18 Stacchezzini et al., 2016; Velte, 2018), T-Test and ANOVA (Camodeca et al., 2018; Tirado-
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19 valencia et al., 2019), logistic regression model (Fuhrmann, 2020), and Mann–Whitney U test
20 (Naynar et al., 2018). The empirical studies based on analytical tests are few compared to studies
21 based on content analysis and theoretical, analytical studies. Significantly very limited studies used
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the questionnaire tool to discuss integrated reports such as (Adhariani et al., 2019). The studies
24 aimed to explore the views of stakeholders and report preparers on the importance of integrated
25 reports in the economy and h can auditors and accountants achieve value addition to achieve
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26 sustainability. The interview was more widely used than the questionnaire (Vesty et al., 2018),
27 which provides a practical vision of the participation of managers of large companies and their
28 vision of integrated reports. For example, Briem and Wald (2018) used the interview to investigate
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external auditors' role in ensuring that integrated reports are voluntarily obtained.
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The results showed the importance of those external auditors' role in ensuring the assurance of
32 obtaining integrated reports and strengthening relationships with stakeholders. Although some
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33 studies have used interviews, the number of interviews is so small that it cannot give an in-depth
34 and broad idea of the questions that are asked to be discussed in the investigation (Lai et al., 2018:
35 Maroun, 2018; Briem and Wald, 2018). Case studies were used in 9 research articles (i.e., Adams
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36 et al., 2016) which discussed the development of reports in promoting investment activities in light
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of the current development of integrated reporting. The investigation also shows that very few
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studies have used mediating and moderating variables. Studies that include mediating and
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40 moderating variables provide results based on multiple interpretations, which contribute to
41 increasing knowledge about the topic under discussion and obtaining in-depth interpretation that
42 helps in designing useful research (MacKinnon, 2011). Bernardi and Stark (2018) proved that the
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43 environmental, social, and governance disclosure level represents the mediating variable in
44 determining the effectiveness of integrated reports. Pavlopoulos et al. (2019) showed that the level
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of disclosure in integrated reports based on the general principles of King III and IIRC is the
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47 mediating variable in determining the extent of the effectiveness of integrated reports in the capital
48 markets. Having reviewed the literature, the findings indicate that some studies used a suitable
49 sample of reports. However, it was noted that many studies have relied on a short sampling period
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50 (Rivera-Arrubla and Zorio-Grima, 2016; Santamaria et al., 2021) and a small sample size
51 (Steenkamp, 2018; Stent and Dowler, 2015). Some recent studies also call for using a large sample,
52 such as Borgato et al. (2021) and Cooray (2021), pointing to the need for more research
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considering a larger sample size and long period.
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3 3.6. Thematic results
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5 The study reviews the topics related to integrated reports discussed in the literature by investigating
6 the topic of each paper separately in terms of reading the title, abstract, keywords, and thematic
7 analysis. The study categorized the literature into six categories as following:
8 3.6.1. Sustainability and integrated reporting
9 Integrated reports are viewed as an essential and prime tool for stakeholders to identify
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sustainability issues in companies (Goicoechea and Fernando, 2019); therefore, it was considered
12 an important area for researchers. Thirty-nine studies from the sample focused on integrated
reporting and sustainability, and it is the most discussed among the other topics, and this is
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14 consistent with the results of a study by Lai, Melloni and Stacchezzini (2014), which showed that
15 the field of sustainability is gaining great momentum, as many companies adopt these reports as a
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16 substitute for sustainability reports. The results of the studies that discussed the role of integrated
17 reports in promoting and ensuring sustainability indicate a wide controversy with the direction of
18 the results of most studies that integrated reports failed to achieve sustainability. According to
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19 McNally et al. (2017), the lack of understanding of the purpose for which integrated reports were
20 used (as a result of imposing inappropriate internal protocols, the use of different guidelines and
21
the perception of the preparers of these reports) affect the role that reports should play towards the
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22
23
performance of sustainability. In the same context, studies by Flower (2015) and Stacchezzini et
24 al. (2016) argued that integrated reporting has failed to enhance sustainability.
25 On the other hand, the results of a study by Montecalvo et al. (2018) showed that integrated
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26 reports enhanced and improved sustainability. Thus, there needs to be a broad understanding of
27 integrated reports' function and strategy as non-mandatory reports. Except for South Africa, where
28 integrated reports are mandatory for companies, it contributed to the absence of awareness of the
29 importance of these reports in other contexts (Bernardi and Stark, 2018b; Setia et al., 2015).
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30 Previous studies lacked an explanation of the integrated report's concept of value creation and how
31 it contributes to sustainable development. In addition, the literature should be deepened by
32 investigating the role integrated reports play in achieving higher sustainable development.
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33
34
35 3.6.2. Intellectual capital and integrated reporting
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36 In 19 studies, the impact of integrated reports on intellectual capital was discussed. According
37 to Vitolla et al. (2019a), integrated reports consider six types of capital as the basis for the success
38 of any institution, including intellectual capital. The results of studies show that integrated reports
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39 positively affect intellectual capital and contribute to value creation. Intellectual capital is an
40 essential element that strengthens companies' competitive advantage and helps them achieve their
41 long-term and medium-term financial goals (Onileowo et al., 2021). Therefore, due to the absence
42
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of regulations and principles for intellectual capital due to the lack of disclosure by the current
43
44
accounting principles, integrated reports may help companies publish their information (Vitolla et
45 al., 2020). Terblanche (2019) reported that the disclosure of intellectual capital information is
increasing in companies that use integrated reports. Despite the discussion of intellectual capital
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46
47 in relation to integrated reports in multiple studies, there is an absence of studies on the
48 characteristics of boards of directors and their impact on intellectual capital with a focus on
49 demographic characteristics such as education, age, gender as well as foreign diversity among
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50 managers and their analysis from the reality of integrated reports.

51
52
53
3.6.3. Environmental social and governance and integrated reporting
54 Proponents of using integrated reports argue that these reports provide deep insights into
55 creating and adding value to the company (Landau et al., 2020). Therefore, many companies that
56 provide reports related to environmental, social, and governance issues have resorted to using
57
58 9
59
60
1
2
3 integrated reports, such as KPMG. These companies believe that integrated reports provide a deep
4
and broad vision that enables shareholders to monitor the environmental performance of
5
6
companies compared to regular reports (KPMG, 2017). Cooray et al. (2020) reported that
7 governance contributes in a small way to providing appropriate information to stakeholders on
8 how to create value through integrated reports. Twenty-nine studies discussed integrated reports
9 and ESG. However, some studies have raised that the type of ESG report according to integrated
reports may not be apparent due to the lack of an acceptable definition of integrated reports
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11 specifically (Maama and Mkhize, 2020). Also, previous studies did not provide a clear perspective
12 on this relationship and what is the link between it, and the items on which the integrated reports
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13 are based never intersect with the items of ESG. Therefore, there is a greater need to provide a
14 broader understanding of current disclosure practices by linking the objective of disclosure and the
15 desired results.
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16
17
18 3.6.4. Audit and assurance
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19 In the recent period, IIRC expanded the scope of integrated reports in companies to include
20 all aspects related to the facility to achieve the goal of integrated reports in creating value (Simnett
21 and Huggins, 2015). According to Dumay et al. (2016), IIRC began publishing guidelines for
fG
22 ensuring the adoption of integrated reports. As a result, our sample's research related to audit and
23 assurance came with specific studies, which amounted to 12 studies. Simnett and Huggins (2015)
24 was the first study to discuss ensuring integrated reporting, which aimed to present visions related
25
to the development of the integrated reporting framework. This study indicated that IIRC expanded
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26
27
the scope of the integrated reporting work to include emerging issues such as assurance.
28 Goicoechea and Fernando (2019) pointed out that ensuring IR is an important issue, but there are
29 many challenges related to non-financial reporting that auditors must find solutions for and
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30 overcome. The findings conclude that assurance and audit issues are recent issues on integrated
31 reports and are a vast place for future research. Also, it is noted that there is an absence of studies
32 that discuss the impact of different sources of assurance on the quality of integrated reports.
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34 3.6.5 Accountability and integrated thinking and integrated reporting
35
According to the claims of the International Council for the Regulation and Preparation of
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36
37
Integrated Reporting, it contributes significantly and enhances the achievement of accountability
38 in companies (Lai et al., 2018). However, no investigation studies explicitly confirm these
allegations due to the many challenges that could face those responsible for preparing these reports.
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39
40 On the other hand, some studies' results show the importance of practicing accountability in
41 achieving the continuity of the activity of institutions (Atkins and Maroun, 2018). Although there
42 are four studies that discussed integrated reports and accountability, they did not explicitly discuss
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43
the importance of integrated reports in promoting and enhancing accountability in companies. Five
44
45 studies discussed the relationship between integrated thinking and integrated reports as one of the
most important tools of higher administrations in achieving balanced performance and reducing
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46
47 tensions between different capital intellectually, humanly, naturally, socially, and financially.
48 Integrated reports can also fully enhance the investigation of accountability and assist in decision-
49 making by communicating a variety of different information (van der Lugt et al., 2022). Given the
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50 great importance of integrated thinking and its relationship to integrated reports, more future
51
52
studies may expand knowledge about the extent and importance of the relationship.
53
54 3.6.6. Other topics
55 Other relatively less common topics were studied in 59 studies. Two of them focused on agency
56 costs, whose results showed that the application of the integrated reporting practice in an integrated
57
58 10
59
60
1
2
3 manner contributes to reducing agency costs (Obeng, Ahmed and Miglani, 2020; Obeng, Ahmed,
4
Cahan, et al., 2020). The capital market has been studied by Flores (2019) and Zhou et al. (2017),
5
6
and the results showed the contribution of integrated reports in providing critical information to
7 the capital market. Investment decision-making was investigated by Hsiao and Kelly (2018).
8 Studying the ownership structure by Raimo et al. (2020) showed that the quality of integrated
9 reports is positively affected by institutional ownership; on the contrary, the quality of integrated
reports is negatively affected by state ownership and administrative ownership. Other studies
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11 include accounting disclosure (Pavlopoulos et al., 2019) and accounting curriculum (Correa Ruiz,
12 2013). Analysing the cost of equity capital by Vitolla et al. (2019) showed that the quality of
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13 integrated reports reduces the cost of property rights and negatively affects equity capital. Other
14 topics such as value relevance (Dey, 2020; Reitmaier and Schultze, 2017; Tlili et al., 2019),
15 stakeholders' perspective (Marasca et al., 2020; Stubbs and Higgins, 2018), stakeholder pressure
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16
(Vitolla et al., 2019), stakeholder engagement (Fasan and Mio, 2017; Unamuno, 2017), and social
17
18
investment (Adams et al., 2016) have been carried out. Some papers discussed the development
of IR, such as (Akhmetshin et al. 2018; Maroun and Atkins, 2018). Future studies are encouraged
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20 to conduct further research on topics that have received little attention in exploring the importance
21 of integrated reporting.
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22
23 4. Determinants, consequences, and criticisms of integrated reports adoption
24
25 4.1. Determinants of integrated reporting adoption
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26
In this part, some studies were presented that discussed the determinants of integrated
27
28 reporting adoption. The study by Girella et al. (2019) is based on multiple theories, such as agency
29 theory, signaling theory, theory of cost of capital, theory of political cost, theory of proprietary
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30 cost, institutional theory, and stakeholder theory exploited 71 firms and used integrated reporting.
31 On the contrary, 278 firms have not used integrated reports to determine the characteristics related
32 to the country and the company that impact the adoption of integrated reports. Regarding the
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33 factors related to the country, the results showed a desire to implement integrated reports in
34 countries where corruption levels are high, and there is a high rating associated with a risk rating,
35 orientations based on long-term, feminism, and collectivism. At the same time, the results showed
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36 that the political and legal system is not linked to the need to implement integrated reports.
37
Concerning the factors related to the characteristics of the company, the results of the study showed
38
that the profitability rate, the size of the institution, the size of the board of directors, as well as the
on
39
40 market ratio compared to the book value are factors that have an impact on the implementation of
41 integrated reports. In addition to that, the study found that no effect calls for the performance of
42 integrated reports concerning the board of directors' characteristics in terms of independence and
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43 diversity of members, the efficiency of the institution, and the factors associated with the higher
44 leverage of the company.
45 In line with institutional theory, Frías-aceituno et al. (2013) discussed the effect of the legal
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46 system on companies' implementation of integrated reports and used 750 reports to show that
47 countries that enjoy the implementation of civil law and the application of the system in a strong
48 and highway, companies tend to implement integrated reports. In other words, the results show the
49
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desire of stakeholders to implement this type of report. The results of a study by Hsiao and Scott
50
51
(2021) showed that the basic logic that determines the implementation of integrated reports is
52 related to the state's adoption of these reports. In countries that do not adopt the implementation of
53 integrated reports, some factors such as environmental and social performance, companies'
54 adoption of the social responsibility committee, as well as the extent to which the preparers of
55 these reports have experience in dealing with the guiding principles and regulations in the
56 preparation of these reports determine the possibility of implementing this type of reports. Maama
57
58 11
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1
2
3 and Mkhize (2020) reported that the use of integrated reports by companies in Ghana came from
4
the desire of these companies to improve their business image towards the public. The Study of
5
6
Ahmed Haji and Anifowose (2017) proved that the pressures exerted on institutions by the
7 regulatory and supervisory parties were one of the reasons for implementing integrated reports so
8 that these companies could legitimize their business towards society and the environment.
9 Regarding the quality of reports, some studies discussed the determinants of integrated
reporting adoption. Rivera-Arrubla et al. (2017) showed that there is a correlation between the
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11 degree of disclosure of integrated reports and the degree of association with countries, assurance,
12 industry, as well as advertising and publication on the official website of IIRC. Previous literature
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13 has ignored several potential determinates of integrated reporting, such as the role of social
14 responsibility compliance and environmental innovation. Other determinants can be considered,
15 for example, the political connection of the board of directors, and the diversity of ownership, such
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as foreign and family ownership. Future studies may discuss the determinants integrated reports
17
18
complaint based on several criteria, including what is related to the political and cultural system
of the country, the level of education, and the economic level of the country, in addition to studying
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19
20 the principle of implementation of these reports based on the experiences of its practitioners, the
21 desire of stakeholders, the size of institutions. On the other hand, future studies can study the
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22 determinants of integrated reports based on business expansion, colossal capital, and
23 environmental changes such as the COVID-19 crisis.
24
25 4.2. Consequences of integrated reports adoption
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26 In this section, the analysis reviews some studies that discussed the effects and outcomes of
27
integrated reports and their quality in improving performance. Pavlopoulos et al. (2019) discussed
28
29
the impact of integrated reports on companies' capital markets and stock market value. The results
showed a significant correlation between the level of good disclosure of integrated reports and the
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30
31 stock's market value improvement. Moreover, the results showed that there is a permanent and
32 significant relationship between the quality of integrated reports and enhancing the return on assets
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33 through influencing the increase in sales volume, the size of the company, the practice and
34 application of corporate governance, and improving the independence of the companies’ board of
35 directors.
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36 The study by Dey (2020) argued that there is a positive and significant relationship between
37 the implementation of integrated reports and the company's value. The results also showed that the
38 relationship between the practice of integrated reports and liquidity is not present. The results of a
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39
study by Flores et al. (2019) concluded that there is a role for integrated reports in the possibility
40
41
of assisting analysts in practicing accurate profit forecasts. Vitolla et al. (2019) reported that the
42 quality of integrated reports reduces the cost of equity. As for the role of integrated reports in
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43 decision-making, Esch et al. (2019) proved that integrated reports might contribute to decision-
44 making by providing the necessary information to decision-makers about the reality and the extent
45 of the impact of corporate strategies, in addition to providing comprehensive information to
investors, including the provision of sustainability information. Thus, there is a great need for more
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46
47 studies that discuss the role of integrated reports in enhancing performance and sustainability as a
48 result of the absence of absolute confirmation on this part in the literature.
49
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4.3. Criticisms of integrated reports adoption
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52
Many researchers directed to criticism of integrated reports. Opinions differ between those
53 who support implementing these reports and those who have some reservations about that.
54 According to Stacchezzini et al. (2016), integrated reports did not provide essential information to
55 the external stakeholders concerning the indicators of integrated reporting compliance, which
56 contradicts the goal of integrated reports in providing integrated information to support the reports
57
58 12
59
60
1
2
3 of both external and internal types. Flower (2015) concluded that integrated reports failed to
4
achieve this report's sustainability goal. The results showed that integrated reports did not provide
5
6
all the requirements needed by stakeholders and their failure towards the environment and society.
7 Similarly, a recent study by Borgato et al. (2021) discussed auditors' perceptions of the
8 importance and effectiveness of integrated reports. The results showed that integrated reports in
9 its current state do not represent a great addition to the institutions due to many factors that need
radical changes and the emergence of challenges that must be developed. In addition, there must
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11 be solutions found for such challenges, the absence of appropriate standards regulating the work
12 and follow-up of these reports, the lack of support by stakeholders as a result of poor understanding
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13 of the importance of these reports, and the assurance of information that directs towards the future
14 is uncertain. The results of Adhariani and De Villiers (2019) study showed little knowledge about
15 the importance and strategy of integrated reports by the company's report preparers. More future
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16
studies are needed to investigate the failure of integrated reports to achieve and create value.
17
18
5. Discussion and future research agenda
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20 Companies are working rapidly and more consciously to provide sustainability information to
21 all stakeholders in the form of integrated mixed reports (Hassan et al., 2019). Therefore, integrated
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22 reports include important financial and non-financial information for stakeholders' decision-
23 making. Integrated reports research has developed significantly in recent years, which has helped
24 to clarify more to provide a clear definition of it (Songini et al., 2022; Velte and Stawinoga, 2016).
25 It can be said that integrated reports have contributed significantly to enhancing the transparency
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26 and accountability of corporate reports of social and environmental impacts of business and
27
communicating accurate and detailed information about the mechanism and how companies can
28
29
create great value in the short, medium and long term and enhance the relationship between
stakeholders and the company effectively.
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30
31 The results of this study highlight several gaps. In the previous section, the study reviewed
32 the analysis of the theoretical basis on which the studies relied. It was found that the two theories
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33 of stakeholders and legitimacy are the most common, while the agency theory came third. Given
34 the nature of these theories, integrated reports have been studied from an economic view
35 (stakeholders – agency) or socio-political (legitimacy) perspective, which is also an indication of
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36 the continuing research in using the traditional theories common in this field (Cho et al., 2015).
37 Based on the preceding, future work is encouraged to consider the behavioral, psychological, and
38 sociological viewpoints (Hsiao and Scott, 2021). Wang (2017) argued that firms should engage in
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39
social ethical behavior and act responsibly toward stakeholders. Hence, evaluating ethical behavior,
40
41 for example, could help us better comprehend firms' adoption preferences for integrated reporting.
42 Additionally, the psychological characteristics of policymakers within firms (executives, directors,
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43 and top management) might have varied preferences toward adopting integrated reporting. Yusoff
44 et al. (2015) suggested that female directors are imbued with unique psychological characteristics
45 that enable them to lend their ear to particular stakeholders’ claims, thus heightening the salience
of such claims. Notably, 56 articles used a single theory, and 76 papers used more than one theory.
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46
47 It indicates the need for studies on a more theoretical basis based on different viewpoints that
48 enable the development of knowledge in this field.
49
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Concerning countries, a few studies discuss integrated reports in Denmark, the oldest country
50
in which integrated reports were used. On the other hand, a recent study by Novo Nordisk and
51
52
Novozymes firms. Santamaria et al. (2021) called for focusing on the European Union region to
53 conduct cross-comparative and cross-industry studies in countries. The results of the analysis
54 showed that there is a need to conduct studies in the regions of great economic development, such
55 as China and the United States.
56
57
58 13
59
60
1
2
3 On the other hand, the analysis results showed that the majority of the literature was based on
4
IIRC-King III data in different countries. Therefore, the study based on the data of one country
5
6
and using various data collection methods may be of interest to future studies. Moreover, there is
7 a lack of studies based on the use of the questionnaire tool, through which it is possible to know
8 the perceptions of stakeholders, managers, and regulators about the importance of integrated
9 reports and present the benefits and disadvantages of their implementation. Santis et al. (2019)
also called for future studies to use questionnaires. On the other hand, future studies may provide
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11 an investigation of the social and cultural impact on the applicability of integrated reports and the
12 possibility of conducting studies related to the impact of the experiences of report preparers,
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13 auditors, and accountants on the readability of integrated reports. Regarding the approach followed
14 in the studies, there is a lack of extensive knowledge in differentiating between these approaches.
15 Therefore, more studies are based on the same approach, with the possibility of conducting
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16
comparative analyses based on the report's objectives, requirements, and the party to which these
17
18
reports are directed.
On the substantive side, the study results show that many topics still need further research,
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20 considering that they discussed a little, such as the relationship between integrated thinking and
21 the preparation of integrated reports, which took less attention than other topics. Therefore, more
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22 experimental studies are needed to discuss integrated reports' role in raising the level of integrated
23 thinking in organizations. The part of integrated reports in decision-making may also be the subject
24 of research for future studies. The analysis also shows that most studies focused on evaluating the
25 reasons for adopting integrated reports, their role in creating value, enhancing sustainability, and
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26 their role in covering the shortcomings of traditional reports. Therefore, the literature did not focus
27 extensively on all the factors that contribute to enhancing the quality of integrated reports from
28
economic and cultural aspects and aspects related to the reporters of these reports.
29
Future studies may investigate the relationship between the quality of financial reports and
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30
31 financial performance. Our previous analysis showed that most studies were based on IIRC and
32 King III data. Therefore, future studies may investigate the effects of the quality of financial reports
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33 on organizations and private institutions (Tirado-valencia et al., 2019) and non-profit institutions.
34 More studies on the impact of environment and governance on integrated reports with the ability
35 to analyze integrated reports and their role in enhancing sustainability and creating value for
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36 institutions in light of a COVID-19 crisis are needed.

37 Surprisingly, only one study out of the total sample of studies discussed the effect of
38 ownership on the quality of integrated reports. This was the study of Raimo et al. (2020), who
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39 showed that the quality of integrated reports is positively affected by institutional ownership; on
40
the contrary, the quality of integrated reports is negatively affected by state ownership and
41
42
administrative ownership and therefore did not consider all the characteristics of ownership. Future
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43 studies may mainly take this topic to discuss the impact of family, government, foreign, mixed,
44 institutional, and individual ownership on the quality of financial reports (Al Amosh and Khatib,
45 2022). It is also interesting to explore other integrated reports disclosure determinants. Therefore,
it is important to make future contributions in this field.
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46
47 Future research could explore the levels of adoption of integrated reports between different
48 countries. This will benefit in identifying the different motives of countries, as well as highlighting
49 the less fortunate countries in studies such as the Arab and African countries and China, as the
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50 integrated reports contribute to activating value creation strategies for companies (Al Amosh and
51 Mansor, 2021), which enhances the performance of emerging markets. This could draw the
52
attention of many stakeholders, such as foreign investors, which may attract more foreign capital
53
54
to invest in those markets, contributing to the growth and development of capital markets.
55 Therefore, future studies should answer many questions about the role of integrated reports in
56 attracting foreign investments and bringing in more cash flows.
57
58 14
59
60
1
2
3 On the other hand, it is necessary to conduct comparative studies between different industries.
4
To what extent do specific industrial sectors adopt integrated reports without others, and what are
5
6
the reasons behind this? These studies will bring an important perspective from different sectors.
7 Moreover, future researchers should consider a long-term period sample of integrated reports
8 adoption. Investigations can be done on the time effect on the markets and companies that adopted
9 integrated reports before and after through various financial performance measures such as
profitability and return on investment. In addition to that, the results indicate that there is a need
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11 to conduct more studies on the assurance of international reports, considering the external
12 assurance as a promising step in enhancing reliability and completeness. Future studies can also
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13 investigate the importance of integrated reporting in assessing risks and enhancing potential value
14 growth and the extent to which this affects attracting investors and potential providers of capital.
15 The study of Adhariani and De Villiers (2019) asks about leadership style's role in adopting
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16
integrated reports. Therefore, it is crucial to investigate the effect of board thinking and
17
18
characteristics on integrated reports adoption. On the other hand, there is a great debate between
stakeholders, report preparers, accountants, investors, and managers, about the importance of
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20 integrated reports; Besides, it is interesting to conduct separate studies using interviews,
21 questionnaires, or comparative studies. Thus, it is possible to know the perception of each party,
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22 which can enable it to determine the requirements of all parties and direct the regulators to do so.
23 This is also encouraged by (Goicoechea and Fernando, 2019). Finally, future studies may discuss
24 the quality of integrated reports and their relationship with the cost of capital, the weighted average,
25 and the cost of debt.
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26
27 6. Conclusions
28
This study presented A systematic review of the latest research related to integrated reports
29
until June 2021. One hundred sixty-seven studies were analysed in this study from 53 journals
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31 belonging to accounting, sustainability, finance, and management. These studies were classified
32 into 81 practical studies, 57 non-practical studies- theoretical content analysis, and 29 reviews-
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33 commentary. Our analysis also explored the theories applied in the sample literature, which
34 showed that stakeholder and legitimacy theories were the most common, while the agency theory
35 is the third common theory among IR scholars. The empirical literature also applied different
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36 regression methods where the multiple regressions came first, and few studies used ordinary least
37 squares. However, few experimental studies have used Mann–Whitney U (K-S) test to investigate
38 whether there is any difference in the level of integrated reports and determine the percentage of
on
39 this over the years. In the sample literature, there are no studies that have used structural equation
40
41
modeling. It should be noted that there are studies that used reports but used the content analysis
42 method without using regression tests or any other tests.
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43 Furthermore, the results show that the expansion of researchers in investigating the importance
44 of integrated reports has increased with its application as well as the development in the use of
45 modern theories such as political, cultural and behavioral theories. It should be noted that most
studies used data from IIRC or King III, in general or specific, across a group of countries.
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46
47 Therefore, there are very few studies based on collecting data from one country. The findings show
48 that widespread literature based on IIRC and King III came second and one report third; also, there
49 is a need for more future studies that focus on the differentiation between curricula mainly in a
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50 way that contributes to developing knowledge more. Moreover, there is a need for more empirical
51
research focused on the search for reasons that contribute to the development integrated reporting
52
53
practices in achieving value creation and enhancing sustainability engagement.
54 Our study contributes to the available literature by presenting a comprehensive review of
55 studies on integrated reports using a large and specialized sample in the areas of accounting,
56 sustainability, finance, and management. It also provides new visions for researchers, practitioners,
57
58 15
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1
2
3 and regulators about integrated reports as an emerging and modern model by exploring and
4
clarifying the results of empirical and theoretical studies that discussed this topic and classifying
5
6
the general framework for its development. This study also provides new lines and a roadmap for
7 unique, undiscovered areas that require further research. The literature is categorized into five main
8 themes and considered studies that were not included in the previous five issues with a
9 classification of others. The study's findings enhance the understanding of the nature of the
relationship between antecedents, outcomes and decisions. In addition, this study can provide
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11 complete knowledge by integrating fragmented knowledge. Additionally, the study provides
12 insight into the relationship between disclosure theories and adopting integrated reporting. The
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13 stakeholder theory sheds light on stakeholders' repeated requests for more information, and the
14 legitimacy theory shares similar visions in emphasizing the organization's legitimacy through
15 greater disclosure and transparency. Thus, it can be attributed to the adoption of integrated reports
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as an important step in bridging the gap between companies and stakeholders, as well as satisfying
17
18
the desires of various parties and improving accountability and their contribution to making
appropriate decisions as one of the most important tools that provide various financial and non-
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20 financial information, which contributes to legitimize its activities.
21 In addition, the study made some recommendations for future studies. Integrated reports are
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22 the latest reports that have begun to cover the shortcomings of regular reports. As a result, some
23 topics have received little attention from researchers, such as assurance/ audit, readability of IR,
24 cost of capital, stakeholder engagement, ownership structure, capital market, agency cost, and
25 disclosure quality, which are of interest for future studies.
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26 Finally, this study relied on the Scopus database to obtain literature, as it is one of the largest
27 bases that includes high-quality studies. However, there are studies of no less importance in this
28
literature that may be available in (ABS and ABDC) journals that are classified within. Therefore,
29
future studies that may discuss integrated research reports may take the literature from these
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31 databases. Future studies can also suggest other keywords for the search string, such as integrated
32 disclosure and non-financial reporting or non-financial disclosure.
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35
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38
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42
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45
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3 References
4
5
(IIRC), I.I.R.C. (2011), “Towards Integrated Reporting: Communicating Value in the 21st
6 Century, London”:, International Integrated Reporting Council , Available at:
7 Http://Www.Discussionpaper2011.Theiirc.Org/Wp-
8 Content/Uploads/2011/DP/Discussionpaper2011_print_version.Pdf.
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10 Reporting Council”, , Available at: Http://Www.Discussionpaper2011.Theiirc.Org/Wp-
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Content/Uploads/2011/DP/Discussionpaper2011_print_version.Pdf.
12
Adams, C.A., Potter, B., Singh, P.J. and York, J. (2016), “Exploring the implications of
ur
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14 integrated reporting for social investment (disclosures)”, The British Accounting Review,
15 Vol. 48 No. 3, pp. 283–296.
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16 Adhariani, D., & De Villiers, C. (2019), “Integrated reporting: perspectives of corporate report
17 preparers and other stakeholders”, Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy
18 Journal, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 126-156.
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Ahmed Haji, A. and Anifowose, M. (2017), “Initial trends in corporate disclosures following the
20
21 introduction of integrated reporting practice in South Africa”, Journal of Intellectual
Capital, Vol. 18 No. 2, pp. 373–399.
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23 Akhmetshin, E.M., Prodanova, N.A., Shevchenko, S.S. and Ratnikova, I.P. (2018), “Current
24 Issues of Corporate Integrated Reporting Development in Russia”, Vol. XXI No. 3, pp.
25 142–153.
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26 Al Amosh, H., Khatib, S. F., & Hussainey, K. (2022a). The Financial Determinants of Integrated
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Reporting Disclosure by Jordanian Companies. Journal of Risk and Financial
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Vitolla, F., Raimo, N. and Rubino, M. (2020), “The role of board of directors in intellectual
12
capital disclosure after the advent of integrated reporting”, No. February, pp. 1–13.
ur
13
14 Vitolla, F., Raimo, N., Rubino, M. and Garzoni, A. (2019), “How pressure from stakeholders
15 affects integrated reporting quality”, Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental
na
16 Management, Vol. 26, available at:https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1850.
17 Vitolla, F., Salvi, A., Raimo, N., Petruzzella, F. and Rubino, M. (2019), “The impact on the cost
18 of equity capital in the effects of integrated reporting quality”, No. July, pp. 1–11.
lo
19
Vrontis, D., Makrides, A., Christofi, M., & Thrassou, A. (2021). Social media influencer
20
21 marketing: A systematic review, integrative framework and future research
agenda. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 45(4), 617-644.
fG
22
23 Wan Sulaiman, W.N.A. and Mustafa, S.E. (2020), “Usability Elements in Digital Textbook
24 Development: A Systematic Review”, Publishing Research Quarterly, Springer US, Vol. 36
25 No. 1, pp. 74–101.
lob
26 Wang, M.C. (2017), “The relationship between firm characteristics and the disclosure of
27
28
sustainability reporting”, Sustainability (Switzerland), Vol. 9 No. 4, available
29 at:https://doi.org/10.3390/su9040624.
al
30 Yusoff, H., Darus, F. and Rahman, S.A.A. (2015), “Do corporate governance mechanisms
31 influence environmental reporting practices? Evidence from an emerging country”,
32 International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 76–96.
Re
33 Zamil, I.A., Ramakrishnan, S., Jamal, N.M., Hatif, M.A. and Khatib, S.F.A. (2021), “Drivers of
34
corporate voluntary disclosure: a systematic review”, Journal of Financial Reporting and
35
Accounting, Vol. ahead of p No. ahead of print, available at:https://doi.org/10.1108/JFRA-
sp
36
37 04-2021-0110.
38 Zhou, S., Simnett, R. and Green, W. (2017), “Does Integrated Reporting Matter to the Capital
on
39 Market?”, Abacus, Vol. 53 No. 1, pp. 94–132.

40
41
42
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43
44
45
ilit
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y
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58 24
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1
2
3
4
5
Table 1. Classification of journals in which most literature has been published
6 Journals Wos ABS* Journal Wos ABS*
7 2021
8 Meditri Accountancy ESCI 1 Journal of Business Ethics SSCI 3
9 Research
Jo
10 Journal of Intellectual SSCI 2 Research in International SSCI 2
11 Capital Business and Finance
12 Accounting, Auditing, and SSCI 3 European Accounting SSCI 3
ur
13
Accountability Journal Review
14
15
Business Strategy and the SSCI 3 European research studies - -
na
16 Environment journal
17 Sustainability SCI/SSCI - International Journal of ESCI 2
18 Disclosure and Governance
lo
19 Sustainability Accounting, SSCI 2 Journal of Management ESCI 2
20 Management and Policy Control
21 Journal
fG
22 Journal of Cleaner SCI 2 Journal of Sustainable ESCI 1
23
Production Finance and Investment
24
25
Corporate Social SSCI 1 Managerial Auditing SSCI 2
lob
26 Responsibility and Journal

27 Environmental
28 Management
29 South African Journal of ESCI 1 Problems and Perspectives - -
al
30 Accounting Research in Management

31 Accounting Forum SSCI 3 Public Money and SSCI 2
32 Management
Re
33
British Accounting Review SSCI 3 Social Responsibility ESCI 1
34
35
Journal
Critical Perspectives on SSCI 3
sp
36
37 Accounting
38
on
39
40
41
42
sib
43
44 Table 2. Geographical focus
45 Country 2013- 2015 2016-2018 2019-2021 Total %
ilit
46
47 South Africa 5 18 10 33 19.76%
48 Italy 3 7 10 5.99%
49
y
The EU 3 4 7 4.19%
50
51 Australia 1 4 1 6 3.59%
52 German 1 2 1 4 2.40%
53
54
The UK 2 1 3 1.80%
55 The USA 1 1 2 1.20%
56
57
58 25
59
60
1
2
3 Spain 2 2 1.20%
4
5 New Zealand 1 1 2 1.20%
6 Sri Lanka 1 1 2 1.20%
7
Malesia 1 1 2 1.20%
8
9 Cross country 3 13 16 32 19.16%
Jo
10 Other countries* 6 9 15 8.98%
11
12
No country /general 13 22 11 47 28.14
ur
13 *Other countries include, Romania, French, Ghana, Bangladesh, Russia, Denmark, Colombia,
14 Ukraine, Japan, Thailand, Poland, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Turkey
15
na
16
17
18
lo
19
20
21
fG
22
23
24
25
lob
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27
28
29
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on
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ilit
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49
y
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58 26
59
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1
2
3 Table 3. Theoretical underpinning
4
5
Theories 2013- 2015 2016-2018 2019-2021 Total
6 Stakeholder’s theory 6 13 23 42
7 Legitimacy theory 3 17 20 40
8
9 Agency theory 4 13 16 33
Jo
10 Institutional theory 5 11 9 25
11 Signaling theory 0 9 8 17
12
Voluntary disclosure theory 1 2 6 9
ur
13
14 Political cost theory 1 2 1 4
15 Stewardship theory 1 1 2 4
na
16
17 Diffusion of innovations theory 1 1 2 4
18 Other theories* 11 26 31 68
lo
19 No theory 11 13 11 35
20
21 *Other theories include. Economic theories (19 theory) which includes neo classical economic
theories of sustainability (1), economies of worth theory (1), the economic agency theories (1),
fG
22
23 economics-based disclosure theory (1), political economy theory (3), economic theory (1),
24 economic based theory (1), financial theory (1), theory of cost capital (1), capitalistic theory(1),
25 shareholder value theory (1), motivation theory (1), theory of proprietary costs (1), random walk
lob
26 theory (1), human capital theory (1), asymmetric information theory (1), equilibrium theory (1),
27
28
common good theory (1). Sociology theories (8 theory) which includes social ontology theory (2),
29 sociology theory (1), social theory of trust (1), accountability theory (1), conspiracy theory (1),
al
30 critical theory (1), sztompka’s theory (1), oriented theory (1). Psychology theories (8 theory)
31 which includes cognitive cost theory (1), behavioral theory (1), behavioural decision theory (1),
32 sensemaking theory (1), framing theory (2), espoused theory (1), searle’s theory (1), normative
Re
33 theory (1). Psychology and Sociology theories (2 theory) which includes impression management
34
theory (1), structuration theory (1), discourse theory (1). Economic, Psychology and Sociology
35
theories (7 theory) which include organizational change theory (1), value creation theory (1),
sp
36
37 resource dependency theory (3), shareholder theory (2), organization’s theory (1), formal theory
38 (1), contingency theory (1). Political theories (2 theory) which include:( resistance theory (1),
on
39 regulation theory (1).Other categories of theories (22 theory ) which includes Actor network
40 theory (2), grand theory (2), bourdieu’s theory of practice (1), island theory-Darwin’s theory (1),
41 accounting theory (1), theory of rhetorical diffusion (1), the decision–usefulness theories (1),
42
sib
classical grounded theory (1), slack resource theory (2), the decision‐usefulness theory of
43
44 accounting (1), Instrumental theory (1), catastrophe theory (1) information processing theory (1),
45 emerging theory (1), reputation theory (1), individual’s theory (1), upper echelons theory (1),
ontology and practice theory (1), falsifiable theory (1), corporate disclosure theories (1), public
ilit
46
47 value theory (1), and predominant theory (1).
48
49
y
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
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58 27
59
60
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58 28
59
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1
2
3 Table 4. Approach of integrated reported
4
5
Approach * 2013- 2015 2016-2018 2019-2021 Total
6 IIRC pre 2013 and 2013 guidelines 23 69 56 148
7 King III 12 29 14 55
8
9 One report 15 27 27 69
Jo
10 *It should be noted that some studies relied on more than one approach during the discussion of
11 the study.
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31 Figure 1. Research protocol
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Figure 2. Journals distributions
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Journal of Global Responsibility: Systematic Literature Review On The Evolution of Integrated Reporting Research

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Journal of Global Responsibility

Systematic literature review on the evolution of integrated

Journal: Journal of Global Responsibility

Manuscript Type: Research Paper

Integrated Reporting, Sustainability Reporting, Intellectual Capital,

50 to identify key opportunities and challenges experienced by integrated reporting. Furthermore,

43 6 concludes the study.

30 advantage, can also be expanded to explain companies' adoption of integrated reports.

36 3.4. Approach to integrated reported

50 managers and their analysis from the reality of integrated reports.

36 institutions in light of a COVID-19 crisis are needed.

39 impact on financial performance: evidence from the Levant countries”, Corporate

Al Amosh, H. and Mansor, N. (2021), “Disclosure of integrated reporting elements by industrial

33 aspirations, discourses and reporting practices”, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability

26 Flower, J. (2015), “Critical Perspectives on Accounting The International Integrated Reporting

30 Frías-aceituno, J. V, Rodríguez-ariza, L. and García-sánchez, I.M. (2013), “Is integrated

33 Fuhrmann, S. (2020), “A multi-theoretical approach on drivers of integrated reporting – uniting

39 Pressures versus Firm Incentives in the Disclosure of Integrated Reporting”, Australian

for Stakeholder Salience : An Investigation Through Integrated Reports”, Journal of

33 Directors of South Africa., pp. 5–6.

39 Empirical Research on Its Determinants and Implications, Journal of Business Economics,

No. 5, pp. 1026–1053.

30 Maama, H. and Mkhize, M. (2020), “Integrated reporting practice in a developing country —

Springer US, available at:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10997-015-9319-z.

39 Analysis”, Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, Vol. 25 No. 4,

reporting policies”, No. February, pp. 1–13.

Rivera-Arrubla, Y.A., Zorio-Grima, A. and García-Benau, M.A. (2017), “Integrated reports:

26 determination process and material issues in integrated reports”, available

33 Terblanche, W. (2019), “The Influence of Integrated Reporting and Internationalisation on

39 Tirado-valencia, P., Cordobés-madueño, M., Ruiz-lozano, M. and Vicente-lama, M. De. (2019),

39 Market?”, Abacus, Vol. 53 No. 1, pp. 94–132.

26 Responsibility and Journal

30 Accounting Research in Management

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