The Unveiling Research Patterns in Carbon Accounting: A Bibliometric Study of Graduate Theses in Türkiye

Abstract

Environmental issues such as global warming and climate change have heightened the importance of monitoring and reporting environmental performance and sustainability levels of businesses. As a result, environmental accounting has emerged as a critical tool for calculating and reporting carbon costs. Carbon accounting, a specialized branch of environmental accounting, helps businesses track, report, and reduce their carbon footprints. In the context of combating climate change, carbon accounting supports sustainability goals and helps companies comply with regulations that influence financial performance. This study uses bibliometric methods to analyze graduate theses on carbon accounting available in the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) database, focusing on terms such as carbon pricing and carbon accounting. A total of 15 theses were examined based on parameters including publication years, research methods, and keywords. Findings indicate that graduate research on carbon accounting started in 2014, with significant growth in 2022. The five most frequently used keywords were carbon, accounting, carbon accounting, sustainability, and emissions. The majority of studies were conducted in the business administration field using quantitative methods. This research highlights trends and gaps in the literature, offering insights for future academic and practical work on carbon accounting.