Semnan University International Journal of Nonlinear Analysis and Applications 2008-6822 15 12 2024 12 01 Characteristics of corporate governance, audit committee, and audit report lag: A meta-analysis 343 356 8595 10.22075/ijnaa.2023.31523.4657 EN Sadegh Sadeghi Dehcheshmeh Department of Accounting, Shahrekord Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord, Iran Hamid Reza Jafari Dehkordi Department of Accounting, Shahrekord Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord, Iran Bahareh Banitalebi Dehkordi Department of Accounting, Shahrekord Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord, Iran Journal Article 2023 06 16 The primary purpose of conducting the above research is to use the meta-analysis approach to prove whether past researches provide a consistent picture of the drivers of audit report delays or not. These variables include; The independence of the board of directors, the size of the board of directors, the size of the audit committee, the independence of the audit committee, the financial expertise of the audit committee, the number of meetings of the audit committee, and the duality of the CEO. To achieve the goal of the above research, the approach of Lipsey and Wilson (2001) was used and also, and the implementation of Cochran and Egeer's Q tests including 9 domestic articles and 19 foreign studies during the years 2010 to 2023 was investigated. The results showed that there is no significant relationship between the size of the board of directors and the size of the audit committee, the independence of the audit committee, the number of meetings of the audit committee, and the duality of the CEO with the ARL. However, there is a significant negative relationship between the board of director's independence and the audit committee's financial expertise. The activity of expert auditors in the audit committee can speed up the audit process of companies and ensure that financial statements reach users on time. In addition, shareholders can take the main step toward timely financial statements by electing an independent board of directors. https://ijnaa.semnan.ac.ir/article_8595_2215d58a4d225926b2738cafcef995cc.pdf