Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the meaning of interdisciplinarity in accounting research and the possible benefits of moving toward a more integrated interdisciplinary approach. It also examines the drawbacks and institutional impediments to such a move. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws upon and synthesizes the authors’ experiences of involvement in the interdisciplinary accounting community over the past two decades. Findings – The paper distinguishes between interdisciplinarity at the field level and interdisciplinarity within individual studies. Noting a lack of study-level interdisciplinarity within accounting research, it explores the potential for novel insights emerging from encouragement of such an approach. Research limitations/implications – Institutional impediments to study-level interdisciplinarity need to be addressed if the accounting academy is to realize the potentially powerful benefits and social contribution of such an approach to research. A key limitation is that the paper is based primarily on the observations and perspectives of the authors. Originality/value – The paper provides a distinction between field-level and study-level interdisciplinarity. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.