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An increasing non-drinker population is developing, but much research focusses on alcohol misuse, rather than the experiences of those who abstain or consume little alcohol, particularly within student populations. This student co-constructed qualitative research aimed to understand alcohol abstainer and light drinking students’ university experiences and perceptions of university alcohol cultures, given recent trends in alcohol drinking behaviour.

Ten UK undergraduate students (six males, four females; 21–26 years), five alcohol abstainers and five light alcohol drinkers (AUDIT-C), participated in semi-structured focus group interviews.

Thematic analysis of transcripts identified participants’ negative experiences of pre-university social pressures in navigating no or low alcohol drinking identities, which impacted university expectations. Participants perceived alcohol drinking cultures as remaining prevalent on university campuses and possibly used for profit and recruitment. Alcohol dominant university-sanctioned social events, alongside limited other provisions, impacted initial university transitions and belonging. However, students reported co-existing realities between such cultures and simultaneous peer acceptance of their no or low drinking status, finding similar others and long-term friendships not impacted. Due to this, student participants called for universities to take urgent action in changing pervasive university alcohol cultures, which they felt no longer aligned with changing student behaviours and perceptions.

Guided by findings, we provide important implications for prevention work and future research, including the importance of social context interventions. We also highlight the value of student co-creation and external partnerships within such work.

The purpose of this paper is to describe how an academic library at one of the most diverse universities in the country responded to the 2016 election through the newly formed Inclusion and Equity Committee and through student outreach.

This paper details the context of the 2016 election and the role of social justice in librarianship. It offers ideas for how library diversity committees can address professional development, recruitment and retention efforts and cultural humility. It highlights student outreach efforts to support marginalized students, educate communities and promote student activism. Finally, it offers considerations and suggestions for librarians who want to engage in this work.

This paper shows that incorporating social justice, diversity, equity and inclusion requires individuals taking action. If institutions want to focus on any of these issues, they need to formally include them in their mission, vision and values as well as in department goals and individual job descriptions. The University of Nevada, Las Vegas University Libraries fully supports this work, but most of the labor is done by a small number of people. Unsustainable practices can cause employee burnout and turnover resulting in less internal and external efforts to support diversity.

Most of the previous literature focuses either on internal activities, such as professional development and committees, or on student-focused activities, such as outreach events, displays and instruction. This paper is one comprehensive review of both kinds of activities.

This study aims to evaluate whether the Big-4’s commenting efforts influence the characteristics of Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (FASB’s) Final_Standards using the content of their comment letters. Whether auditors lobby standard-setters to help their clients or to help themselves and whether they are successful are questions highly relevant to issues of auditor independence and audit effectiveness.

Based on components of Mergenthaler (2009), this study develops a rules-based continuum change score to measure how much more (less) rules-based a Final_Standard is compared to its exposure draft to evaluate the influence of the Big-4 on the FASB’s standard-setting for 63 accounting standards.

The findings show that extensive comment letters and increased uncertainty language are associated with increases in the rules-based attributes included in Final_Standards. These results suggest the Big-4 prioritize a reduction in their own litigation risk over the possible preferences of their clients for less rigid standards. Moreover, the results are consistent with their comment letters influencing the FASB’s decision to include more rules-based attributes in Final_Standards.

This study develops a potential proxy for audit risk by assessing the changes in the rules-based characteristics of proposed accounting standards and using the content of the comment letters to evaluate whether the Big-4 accounting firms may influence the FASB’s Final_Standards. Overall, this study provides a unique perspective on the influence of constituents on the FASB’s standard-setting.

The purpose of this study is to investigate reporting incentives for accounting conservatism in the context of asset and equity tunnelling and to provide empirical evidence that accounting conservatism can be reported for opportunistic reasons rather than efficiency reasons.

A cross‐sectional analysis of data from the period 2002 to 2004 is conducted.

This study provides empirical evidence that firms undertaking asset or equity tunnelling transactions report higher conservatism than firms undertaking other kinds of connected transactions. Further tests document a positive association between accounting conservatism and the private benefits gained by controlling shareholders from asset and equity tunnelling.

Contrary to the prevalent view that accounting conservatism signifies better quality accounting and benefits financial statement users, this study shows that accounting conservatism is influenced by institutional factors and the incentives of financial statement preparers. Researchers should exercise caution in interpreting higher accounting conservatism as an indication of better accounting information quality, especially in cross‐country research involving different institutions.

The purpose of this study is to examine factors affecting the extent of consumers’ use of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), specifically online product reviews (OPRs), during their decision-making process. It also examines their motives for using OPRs.

The study uses an exploratory qualitative research methodology involving observation and free-flowing face-to-face interviews with consumers who have previously made a purchase online and who read OPRs during the decision-making process. An adaptation of the grounded theory method is used for collection, coding and data analysis.

Findings confirm previously uncovered motives for consumers’ use of OPRs. In addition, the findings suggest that two previously unidentified factors influence the extent of consumers’ use of OPRs: “decision-making drive” and “decision-making drag”. Decision-making drive is a mental momentum created when one or more factors that enhance decision-making readiness are present. This momentum tends to accelerate the decision-making process and shorten the information search process, leading to a reduction in the extent of OPR use. In contrast, decision-making drag is a mental resistance created when one or more factors that impede decision-making readiness are present. This resistance tends to decelerate the decision-making process and lengthen the information search process, leading to an increase in the extent of OPR use.

Focused on the pre-consumption phase of eWOM, between the stages of product need recognition and information search, this study is the first to identify decision-making drive and decision-making drag as additional psychological mechanisms affecting the extent of OPR use by consumers. For marketers, understanding these mechanisms has strategic marketing implications that can provide guidance to brands, websites and online review systems.

Given the conflicting attitudes that people have toward those who report wrongdoing and a lack of empirical research specifically examining subsequent hiring, it is an open question as to whether accounting professionals would want to work with former whistleblowers. The authors examine this question using an experimental design, in which participants evaluate an employment candidate before and after the person discloses having been a whistleblower. Four manipulations of whistleblowing are used in both a within-subjects and a between-subjects manipulation. The authors’ results demonstrate that accounting professionals’ intentions to recommend a candidate for hire decrease after they are informed that a strong candidate has a whistleblowing past. A candidate is viewed most negatively, however, when discovering malfeasance and electing not to blow the whistle internally. Moreover, when the whistle is blown internally and the superior takes no action, the candidate who remained silent and chose not to continue to push the issue is viewed more negatively than the candidate who proceeded to blow the whistle externally. Although a candidate having a whistleblowing past appears to pose a cautionary signal in the interview process, participants reacted more harshly when the candidate failed to act or lacked the durable moral courage to see the matter through to completion.

The purpose of this paper is to explore some of the ethical and practical dilemmas faced by an experienced researcher in undertaking research with a person with dementia (whom we have called Amy). Amy died shortly after a period of observation had ended and the family subsequently consented to the data being shared.

This individual case study presentation was nested within a larger study conducted in England and Scotland between 2013 and 2014. The overall aim of the main study was to investigate how healthcare professionals and informal carers recognised, assessed and managed pain in patients living with dementia in a range of acute settings.

The presented case study of Amy raises three critical reflection points: (i) Researcher providing care, i.e. the place and positioning of compassion in research observation; (ii) What do the stories mean? i.e. the reframing of Amy's words, gestures and behaviours as (end of) life review, potentially highlights unresolved personal conflicts and reflections on loss; and (iii) Communication is embodied, i.e. the need to move beyond the recording of words to represent lived experience and into more multi-sensory methods of data capture.

Researcher guidance and training about end of life observations in dementia is presently absent in the literature and this case study stimulates debate in a much overlooked area, including the role of ethics committees.