Thirty years of TEFLIN Journal: A bibliometric portrait through the lens of Microsoft Academic

Bibliometric studies are a rare undertaking in the field of English language teaching, especially at a journal level. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of TEFLIN Journal, this study exhibits a bibliometric portrait of its publication, indexation, and citation from 1990 to 2019. Two pieces of free software were adopted to conduct the descriptive and network analyses of bibliographic data from Microsoft Academic. The publication and citation metrics have risen during its lifetime. The bibliographic network identifies the most productive authors, institutions, and countries along with the co-authorship pattern, type of top-cited articles, and top-used keywords. The articles relatedness is also sighted in terms of the citation frequency and number of shared references. Even though the analyses were complicated by some missing articles and improper indexation, this study could still take a full-length bibliometric portrait of the journal during its 30-year journey between the commitment to competence and the quest for higher impact.

💡 Research Summary

This study provides a comprehensive bibliometric portrait of the TEFLIN Journal (TJ) covering the period from 1990 to 2019. Using Microsoft Academic as the primary data source, the authors extracted metadata for all TJ articles and applied two free tools—Publish or Perish (PoP) and VOSviewer—to conduct descriptive and network analyses. PoP calculated 27 conventional bibliometric indicators (annual publication count, total citations, average citations per paper, h‑index, etc.), while VOSviewer visualized co‑authorship, institutional, and country networks, as well as keyword co‑occurrence and citation coupling maps.

The results show a steady increase in both the number of published papers and citations over the three‑decade span, with a pronounced acceleration after the mid‑2000s, coinciding with the journal’s inclusion in major indexing services such as SINTA‑A, DOAJ, Scopus, and ERIC. The most prolific authors are Abdul Syahid and Nur Mukminati(en), affiliated with Universitas Negeri Malang and Institut Agama Islam Negeri Palangka Raya, respectively. Co‑authorship analysis reveals a dense collaborative core around these scholars, indicating strong domestic and emerging international partnerships. Institutional analysis identifies Universitas Negeri Malang as the leading contributor, while Indonesia dominates the country‑level output.

Keyword analysis highlights a shift from traditional English language teaching topics toward curriculum development, teacher training, and technology‑enhanced learning, reflecting broader disciplinary trends. The top‑cited papers focus on practical issues such as material design, classroom practice, and assessment, and they exhibit high citation frequency and extensive shared reference lists, suggesting strong intellectual interdependence.

A notable limitation is the incompleteness and occasional metadata errors in Microsoft Academic, which led to missing records and inaccurate indexing. The authors mitigate this by cross‑checking with other open databases (SINTA, Scopus, DOAJ) and manually correcting gaps. Their work demonstrates that free, open‑access bibliographic databases combined with open‑source analytical tools can yield robust, reproducible insights into a journal’s evolution, reducing reliance on subscription‑based platforms.

In conclusion, the TEFLIN Journal has matured significantly in output, impact, and international visibility over its 30‑year history. The study not only maps its scholarly trajectory but also offers a methodological blueprint for similar bibliometric investigations of niche or regionally focused journals. Future research should address data gaps, incorporate qualitative content analysis, and update the citation landscape to further elucidate the journal’s role in the global ELT community.