The Evolution and Intellectual Structure of Local Wisdom Research in Indonesian Education: A Fifteen-Year Bibliometric and Systematic Analysis (2010–2025)
Aug 2026· Journal of Innovation in Educational and Cultural Research· 0 citations· 30 references
Abstract
The concept of local wisdom has become a significant strategic basis for culturally based education in Indonesia, though the structure of intellectual form and the developmental course of research in this area have yet to be fully synthesized. The paper explores the development and intellectual architecture of local wisdom research in Indonesian education between 2010 and 2025 through an inter-woven bibliometric and systematic approach. Based on PRISMA procedures, 132 studies were selected from 575 records of Scopus-indexed journal articles. The growth of publications, most popular journals, institutional productivity, and international contributions were analyzed using bibliometric mapping, and qualitative thematic synthesis identified the prevalent research clusters and theoretical orientations. According to the findings, a significant growth trend can be observed in recent years, and scholarship is concentrated mostly in Indonesian institutions, with a predominance of the sociocultural and constructivist approaches. Five important thematic areas were identified, reflecting an inclination toward pedagogical application. The paper finds that although the field is growing very fast, it is nationally confined and theoretically fragmented. This study provides intellectual scaffolding and strategic pathways for more rigorous and globally active scholarship by mapping the intellectual architecture of the field.
Background and Purpose: Internationalization of higher education has become a key strategy for improving the quality, competitiveness, and global visibility of higher education institutions. In Southeast Asia, Malaysia and Indonesia have increasingly adopted internationalisation initiatives, generating growing scholarly interest in the field. However, limited studies have systematically examined the development and intellectual structure of this research area. This study provides a bibliometric analysis of research trends on higher education internationalization in Malaysia and Indonesia between 2010 and 2024, with emphasis on implications for staff roles and sustainable institutional development.
Methodology: The study employed a bibliometric approach using 91 publications retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection after a systematic screening process. Data were analysed with Biblioshiny in RStudio to examine annual scientific production, research themes, author productivity, country contributions, citation patterns, and collaboration networks. The analysis also identified the most influential documents and countries shaping the field.
Findings: The results reveal a steady increase in research output and a growing diversity of themes, including international student mobility, institutional strategies, policy reforms, and cross-border collaboration. Citation patterns show that scholarly influence remains concentrated among a limited number of countries and authors. Malaysia demonstrates strong research productivity, while Indonesia shows increasing scholarly engagement and collaboration opportunities. The findings further highlight the expanding role of higher education staff in advancing internationalization and supporting sustainable institutional development.
Contributions: This study offers a comprehensive overview of internationalization research in Malaysia and Indonesia. The findings provide useful insights for researchers, policymakers, and university leaders by identifying emerging research directions, strengthening collaborative efforts, and supporting evidence-based approaches to sustainable internationalization.
Keywords: Bibliometric analysis, internationalization of higher education, Malaysia, Indonesia, staff roles, institutional development.
Cite as: Ismail, I. R., Mulyana, D., Muhammad Umar, M., Lusiana, E., & Mat, N. H. (2026). Bibliometric analysis of research trends on internationalization of higher education in Malaysia and Indonesia: Implications for staff roles and sustainable institutional development (2010–2024). Journal of Nusantara Studies, 11(2), 189-208. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol11iss2pp189-208
I. Ismail, Musa Muhammad umar, Deddy Mulyana et al.· Journal of Nusantara Studies...· 0 citations
Religious moderation has emerged as a significant discourse in Islamic education in response to radicalism and intolerance. Despite growing attention, systematic bibliometric studies focusing on the 2021–2025 period remain limited. This study analyzes publication trends, geographic and institutional distributions, authorship patterns, and the conceptual structures within this field. Utilizing a quantitative bibliometric approach and the PRISMA 2020 protocol, metadata were retrieved from Scopus on December 11, 2025. To ensure data transparency, inclusion criteria restricted the dataset to final-stage, English-language, open-access articles in the social sciences and humanities. Consequently, 26 eligible articles were analyzed using Microsoft Excel and VOSviewer. Findings reveal that research in this domain is in an early stage, marked by gradual growth and a heavy geographic concentration in Indonesia. Keyword co-occurrence analysis identifies Islamic Education as the central concept, linked with Religious Moderation, Islamic Moderation, Radicalism, and Multicultural Education. These findings imply an urgent need to de-center the discourse from its domestic focus by expanding international collaborations and diversifying research themes beyond responsive anti-radicalism paradigms.
Miswanto Miswanto, Moh Yudhi Firmansyah Pramudia, Imam Nur Aziz et al.· Jurnal Studi Islam· 0 citations
As an integrated educational model that combines inquiry-based learning with travel experiences, study travel plays a significant role in fostering students’ social responsibility, innovative spirit, and practical abilities, and has attracted growing attention worldwide. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, this study conducts a systematic review of the literature published between 1950 and 2025. It identifies six major themes corresponding to the three stages of study travel. Through bibliometric analysis, the research delineates publication trends, core journal distributions, and keyword co-occurrence networks in the field. The findings indicate that experiential learning, constructivism, and transformative learning theory constitute the dominant theoretical foundations in current scholarship. Moreover, a notable “learning–travel imbalance” is observed, whereby educational processes and learning outcomes receive substantially more scholarly attention than travel attributes, industry logic, and managerial dimensions. This paper offers a systematic mapping of the knowledge terrain and theoretical architecture in international study travel research, clarifies existing gaps, and suggests directions for future interdisciplinary integration and for deeper synthesis of “learning” and “travel” in both research and practice.
Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is increasingly recognized as a fundamental driver for achieving global sustainability, yet a comprehensive, long-term mapping of its intellectual structure is needed to guide future policies. This study aims to delineate the evolutionary trajectory of ESD research from 2000 to 2024, identify the most significant contributors (countries, institutions, journals, and authors), and uncover the prevalent thematic clusters within this domain. A quantitative bibliometric approach was employed. The sample consisted of 2,774 English-language peer-reviewed documents extracted from the Scopus Core Collection, spanning from 2000 to 2024. Performance analysis and science mapping were conducted utilizing RStudio (Biblioshiny) and VOSviewer to evaluate co-authorship networks and thematic co-occurrences. The findings confirmed a continuous, exponential growth in ESD publications post-2015. Germany emerged as the most productive country (12.5% of total publications), though the Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia was identified as the leading institution. Thematic analysis revealed 15 distinct clusters, heavily focusing on higher education, curricula, and teacher training, while also highlighting a significant geographical imbalance wherein developed nations overshadow developing countries in overall research engagement.
Van Vinh Le, T. Tran, Van Nga Tran et al.· TEM Journal· 0 citations
This bibliometric analysis provides comprehensive insights into the development and trends of research on entrepreneurship in higher education from 2004 to 2023. By examining 882 documents sourced from 415 different journals, books, and other publications, the study reveals significant growth in academic interest, with an average annual growth rate of 23.48%. The analysis highlights key contributors, with Maritz A leading in research output, followed by Ahmed U, Fischer BB, Guerrero M, and others. The collaborative nature of this research field is evident, with an average of 2.84 authors per document and 19.5% of publications involving international collaboration. The study also identifies diverse research themes through keyword cluster analysis, emphasizing foundational aspects like entrepreneurial culture and education, as well as emerging areas such as sustainable entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship. Network visualizations further illustrate the interconnectedness and influence of prominent authors within the research community. This analysis underscores the dynamic and evolving nature of entrepreneurship research in higher education, providing valuable insights for researchers, educators, and policymakers aiming to foster a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem within academic institutions.
Local wisdom and science literacy are increasingly recognized as complementary foundations for culturally responsive and contextually relevant education. However, the extent to which these two domains have been integrated within educational research remains unclear. This study aims to map the evolution, thematic structure, and intellectual foundations of research on local wisdom and science literacy. A bibliometric approach was employed to analyze 1,016 journal articles indexed in the Scopus database and published between 2016 and 2025. Bibliographic data were processed using the Bibliometrix package in R through the Biblioshiny interface to examine annual scientific production, source distribution, country productivity, citation patterns, keyword co-occurrence, cocitation networks, thematic mapping, trend topics, and conceptual structures.The results indicate a substantial increase in publication output over the observed period, with research activity accelerating particularly after 2021. The thematic structure of the field reveals a polarized knowledge architecture in which culturally grounded constructs such as local wisdom, sustainability, and character education coexist with science-oriented constructs including science literacy and science education, yet with limited conceptual integration between them. The geographical distribution of publications demonstrates a strong concentration of empirical production in developing countries, particularly Indonesia, while advanced research systems maintain greater citation influence within the global knowledge network. International collaboration patterns remain largely hub-dependent, reflecting uneven participation across regions. Overall, the findings suggest that research on local wisdom and science literacy has expanded rapidly in volume but remains conceptually fragmented and epistemically asymmetrical. The field continues to develop through parallel thematic trajectories rather than a fully integrated interdisciplinary framework.
Dwi Septiaseh, L. Prasojo, Bambang Saptono et al.· Multidisciplinary Reviews· 0 citations
