Originating in a panel presentation at the eighth Accounting History
International Conference, this study offers a reflection on the issues, opportunities and
obstacles which may arise when accounting historians engage with other accounting scholars
and scholars outside of accounting. Supporting the view that accounting scholars need and
should make an effort to engage with other scholars inside and outside accounting, various
aspects are considered as enhancing the interdisciplinarity of accounting history
research. Then, issues such as researchers and the community, research problems, theories,
methods and data are addressed. The opportunities arising from interdisciplinary
interactions with a wide range of scholars are then developed. Finally, the potential
obstacles are addressed. These obstacles can be overcome by the development of robust
communication and the invention of a new genre of discourse and research focus and by
working with those outside our discipline and embracing the challenge of the new and the
different.
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