Research Trends on Religious Moderation in Islamic Education: A Bibliometric Analysis of Scopus-Indexed Publications (2021–2025)

Abstract

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.