Van der Schyf, D.B.2008-08-052008-08-052008Van der Schyf, DB 2008, 'The essence of a university and scholarly activity in accounting, with reference to a Department of Accounting at a South African university', Meditari: Accountancy Research, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 1-26. [http://www.meditari.org.za]1022-2529http://hdl.handle.net/2263/6472There is increasing academic pressure on Departments of Accounting in South Africa whose academic programmes are accredited with the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA). The reason for this that the academic training of potential chartered accountants has long been their main academic focus, and they often fail to do justice to their real academic mission of scholarly activity in accounting (the pursuit of science as an endeavour), which is central to the essence of a university. The quality of such departments’ research is not yet an important criterion for their prestige. However, only Departments of Accounting that develop Accounting as a social science in scholarly activity in accounting deserve international recognition. This empirical study attempts to convince Departments of Accounting, particularly those whose academic programmes are accredited by SAICA, to embark on scholarly activity in accounting as soon as possible.175436 bytesapplication/pdfenSchool of Accounting Sciences, University of PretoriaAccounting as a social scienceAccounting theory (conceptual foundations of accounting)Departments of Accounting (South Africa)Research process for accountingSAICA’s syllabiScholarly activity in accountingThe essence of a universityTheoryAccounting -- Study and teaching -- South AfricaArticle