Scientific Discourse amongst the Scholars of the Oxford Journal of Islamic Studies: Bibliometric Study, and Geopolitical Analysis and Insights

1. INTRODUCTION

Assessing scholarly communication in the field of Islamic studies presents a unique set of challenges, like those in other related disciplines of humanities and social sciences.  Traditionally the Islamic studies have primarily centered around books, epistles, monographs and authorial compilations.¹ However, in recent years, there has been a remarkable and unprecedented surge in the publication of journals focused on Islam and other associated fields. The Index Islamicus¹ highlights the bilingual or trilingual nature of many such publications, promoting diverse authorship and readership.

The proliferation of scholarly endeavors in this domain serves as a testament to the inherent nature of Islam as an encompassing mode of existence, affording a plethora of subfields amenable to exploration by scholars across diverse epochs.

 The surge in publications can also be attributed to the increasing popularity of these subjects in recent years, both within academia and across various industries. For example, Islamic economics and finance are currently supported by over 100 global journals, indicating a growing interest in these areas. A similar upward trend can be observed in Islamic law, medicine, Islamic arts, architecture, and other fields.

Increased emphasis on research in Arab Gulf universities has shifted faculty focus from teaching to publishing, especially as institutions seek to improve rankings and gain accreditation. This shift reveals disparities between publishing norms in science and humanities, necessitating higher research standards and enhanced student training in Islamic studies. Over the past three decades, the Islamic studies field has expanded through journal articles, edited volumes, and books,³ raising public awareness despite English-language research remaining peripheral to Arabic classical sources.

In addition to the Index Islamicus, which is solely dedicated to the coverage of Islamic studies disciplines, Islamic studies journals are gaining recognition in major indexing databases such as Scopus and Web of Science, alongside national systems like the Norwegian Scientific Index. Open-access platforms are now common, and regional initiatives, including the Arabic Citation Index (ARCIF) and databases like Al-Manhal, are aligning with global standards to further integrate Islamic studies into the broader academic landscape.

To assess the scholarship in Islamic studies, initially the researchers analyzed the journals listed in the Index Islamicus which covers a comprehensive range of Islamic topics. We shortlisted Islamic studies journals indexed by databases such as Scopus, Web of Science, Scimago, etc. Table 1 presents a sample list of selected global journals, detailing their publishers, countries of origin, and publication start dates. It is noticed that the topics encompass diverse themes such as theology, culture history and inter-religious relations, etc., however, the specialized journals in fields such as Architecture, Archaeology, Economics, Finance, Marketing, etc., are excluded.

Notable long-standing journals include Der Islam (Germany, 1910), Die Welt des Islams (Germany, 1913, now published by Brill), The Muslim World (USA, 1911, focusing on Muslim-Christian relations), and Studia Islamica (France, 1953). India’s Islamic Culture (1927) was initiated in Hyderabad but is currently inactive. These journals reflect a global scholarly interest, originating from countries like the US, Germany, the Netherlands, Pakistan, India, and Malaysia. Numerous journals initiated by institutions are continued by reputable publishers such as Brill and Taylor & Francis.

The timeline of publications, ranging from 1910 to 2015, illustrates over a century of evolving engagement in Islamic Studies. Publishers include academic institutions, religious organizations, and commercial entities, underscoring broad interest across sectors. Some journals, like Die Welt des Islams, have transitioned to new publishers, reflecting shifts in editorial direction. Table 1 demonstrates the rich and diverse landscape of Islamic Studies journals, highlighting their historical depth, global reach, and thematic variety.

Table 1. A Selected List of Academic Journals on Islamic Studies Published Worldwide

In Appendix A, the researchers have listed journals that are published globally and offer a comprehensive view of Islam. Among them, the Oxford Journal of Islamic Studies (OJIS) was selected for this study because of its long-standing publication history, inclusion of books and book-reviews, and data on reading and citation tracking. The OJIS is also indexed in Scopus which enables analysis of scholarly contributions, publications, trends, and geographical distribution of impactful articles.  Furthermore, OJIS is a multidisciplinary journal of Islamic studies including subfields such as history, politics, economics, law, sociology, literature, philosophy, and ethics. The researchers of this paper aim to support the journal's efforts in providing a platform for the study of Islam and Muslim societies globally by encouraging interaction among academics from various traditions of learning and promoting the exchange and discussion of research findings in the relevant fields.

2.  Literature Review

While bibliometric studies in Islamic studies exist, they often focus on specific themes within the discipline, such as economics, finance, arts and architecture, management, and medicine. However, comprehensive bibliometric studies on the general discipline of Islamic studies are limited. In one study, Hussain et al. (2014)⁴ conducted a bibliometric analysis of the Islamic Studies Journal, a peer-reviewed journal published by the International Islamic University Islamabad and recently indexed in Scopus. They analyzed 91 articles from 2009 to 2011, revealing that major contributions came from male authors, and most authors were from Pakistan due to the journal's location. Books were more commonly cited than journals, and the majority of articles were single-authored and of varying lengths.

In another study, Hussain and Saddiqa (2020)⁵ conducted a bibliometric study analyzing Peshawar Islamicus, a research journal published by the Department of Islamiyat at the University of Peshawar, Pakistan. Their analysis of 290 articles from 2010 to 2020 examined authorship patterns, gender distribution, article count, paper length, most prolific authors, number of references, and department affiliations. The study found that most papers were published by authors based in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and the University of Peshawar had the highest affiliation.

Some recent bibliometric studies are specific theme-focused within the major academic fields of Islamic studies. For instance, Alshater et al., (2021)⁶ present a thorough analysis of the literature on Islamic finance published in the Scopus database during the period 1983–2019. The paper reviews 1,940 journal articles and review papers, and conducts bibliographic analysis specific to the field of Islamic finance to understand all the areas discussed within the framework of Islamic finance from a quantitative aspect. Handoko (2020)⁷ conducted a study with the objective of examining the bibliometric attributes and evolving patterns within articles related to Islamic economics and finance authored by Indonesians and indexed in Scopus. This research represents a refined investigation with a particular emphasis on a specific thematic area and the authors' nationality. The analysis revealed insights into collaborative efforts among authors, commonly employed research keywords, and citation associations within journal articles discussing topics related to Islamic economics by Indonesian scholars.

A similar specific theme based bibliometric research is undertaken by Harande (2015)⁸ in the field of Islamic Architecture. He undertakes an explorative bibliometric study of Islamic architecture literature, published over 49 years (1962-2011) from an architectural database. His study of 114 articles by 103 authors indicated that the literature of Islamic architecture is currently receiving some interest and attention from the scholars. Sarwar and Hassan (2015)⁹ undertake a bibliometric case study to examine the scientific research landscape within the Islamic World, aiming to assess research productivity, scholarly influence, and international partnerships in all areas of Science and Technology from 2000 to 2011, based on data obtained from the Scopus database.

3.  Methodology

Comprehensive bibliometric studies of journals in the broader field of Islamic studies, as opposed to specific theme-based journals, are currently limited. This study aims to fill this gap by conducting a bibliometric analysis of the literature in OJIS. The significance of this study stems from its thorough investigation of the contemporary landscape of Islamic studies scholarship based on the dataset from OJIS to fulfill the following objectives:

1. Evaluate the academic prominence of Islamic studies as an academic discipline by analyzing OJIS data.
2. Examine the factors underlying the publication patterns of Islamic studies articles, including authorship, affiliations, and geographical distribution.
3. Scrutinizing book and monograph selections, focusing on publishers, authorship, and representation.
4. Compare and contrast OJIS articles, reviewed books, and book reviewers to explore synergies and correlations.
5. Contextualizing three-decade old Islamic studies publications with their geopolitical milieu.

Considering various parameters, this research aims to offer insights for potential researchers in this domain, assist other scholars in planning their future studies, and potentially enhance research quality.

Two datasets were analyzed. The first, from OJIS (1990–2021), included 281 articles and 1,911 books. The second, from Scopus, covered 164 of these articles for citation and bibliometric analysis using tools like VOSViewer¹⁰ and Biblioshiny.¹¹

The analysis examines:

• Articles: Publication trends, subject areas, co-authorship, affiliations, and geographical contributors.
• Books and Monographs: Authorship, affiliations, publisher patterns, and interactions between book authors and reviewers.
• Citation Dynamics: Citation trends and their impact on academic discourse.

Through the execution of these two dataset analyses, the overarching goal is to attain a holistic comprehension of OJIS's pivotal role in the progression of Islamic studies and its profound impact on the broader academic discourse within this discipline. However, it is prudent to recognize that quantitative methods, while invaluable in illuminating various facets of scholarly production, may only partially capture the intricate dimensions of academic eminence, journal quality, and the multifaceted determinants that underlie publication patterns within the domain of Islamic studies. Qualitative considerations, such as the intellectual resonance of research, the context of historical developments, and the sociocultural dynamics in play, may necessitate supplementary qualitative analyses to provide a more comprehensive perspective.

4.  Findings and Discussion

The OJIS research repository comprises 2,192 publications as of the time of this study. Within this collection, 281 entries, constituting 12.82% of the total, are classified as articles, while the remaining 1,911 publications (87.18%) are categorized as books. Out of the 281 articles, 164 were identified in the Scopus database. These articles collectively received 1,153 citations.  As per the analysis of Biblioshiny, the dataset has an average of 7.02 citations per article which further translates to an average of 0.50 citations per article per year. 164 articles included the collaboration of 160 authors, and single-authored articles accounted for 95.7% of the Scopus sample, resulting in a collaboration index of 1.86. For a more detailed annual breakdown, Table 2 can be consulted.

Table 2. Descriptive Summary and Overview of the Datasets

The publication frequency of articles exhibited a consistent pattern during the period from 1990 to 2000, ranging from seven to thirteen articles per year as shown in figure 1. However, from 2001 onward, there was a four-year period where the number of articles published annually remained at six. Subsequently, after 2006, there was a resurgence, with annual publications ranging from eight to eleven articles per year. These fluctuations can be attributed, in part, to the impact of Islamophobia following the tragic events of 9/11. During this period, some Islamic studies scholars may have refrained from writing and publishing on Islam due to uncertainties and concerns related to potential stigmatization through their work. Nevertheless, the increase in publications from 2006 onward can be linked to various geopolitical factors.

Figure 1. Annual Scientific Production

Additionally, the increase in articles may be attributed to economic crises, prompting scholars to examine the absence of religion and ethics in business practices, highlighting the resulting societal impacts. Lastly, it is worth noting that declarations such as Trump's presidential candidacy and the spread of anti-Muslim sentiments in U.S. society, along with similar developments in India, particularly concerning policies toward Muslim minorities, have likely influenced scholarly discourse in these regions and the field of Islamic studies.

Table 3 enlists the top total viewed articles along with the citation instance of each of them. The geopolitical situation surrounding these citations and download patterns indicates the global relevance and interest in Islamic studies. The diverse set of countries with high download counts suggests a widespread interest in the field. Additionally, the diverse topics of highly cited articles demonstrate the multidisciplinary nature of Islamic studies and its relevance in various contexts worldwide. The article titled, “Kadizadeli Ottoman Scholarship, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, & Rise of Saudi State" published in 2015, has garnered the highest number of total views, reflecting significant interest. It received a substantial number of page views and PDF downloads. Its popularity may be attributed to the rise of then-Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, his ascent in political power, and his involvement in military actions against the Houthi rebels in Yemen. Despite being viewed extensively, it has received relatively few citations. “Early Arab Contact with South Asia" is ranked second in terms of total views, published in 1994, shortly after the demolition of the Babri Mosque in December 1992. These circumstances likely contributed to its heightened interest. The article has received a high number of total views, primarily through PDF downloads. Despite having only 22 page views, it has garnered three citations, indicating its relevance and impact. “Weeping in Modern Jihadi Groups" published in 2020, received a substantial number of views and two citations, while having more than 8000 downloads, indicating its contemporary relevance.

Table 3. Top 10 Viewed and Downloaded Articles

Table 3.1 serves as an insightful compilation spotlighting the top 10 articles with the highest PDF downloads, featuring associated citation numbers and page view counts. This collective data vividly outlines the extensive reach and influence of these articles, highlighting their significance through the metrics of downloads, citations, and page views. This comprehensive view provides a more dependable gauge than merely observing page view data alone. As discussed earlier, scholars within the realm of Islamic studies commonly channel their efforts into producing comprehensive books and monographs, deviating from scientific academia, where articles hold more precedence over monographs. The OJIS PDF download figures significantly validate and underline this observed trend.

The most downloaded article was Ibn Taymiah’s Hadith book, published in 2004, which has the highest number of downloads. Scholars are inspired by his reasoning and analogy, evident in the high download count. Professor Nizami’s book on Arab contact with South Asia followed closely as the second most downloaded. Despite being published a decade after Ibn Taymiah’s book, it ranks second, indicating the emergence of South Asian authors exploring Arab culture, heritage, and religiosity in their writings.

Thomas Hegghammer’s book, 'Weeping in Modern Jihadi Groups,' published three years ago, has received over 1000 PDF downloads. This academic work explores emotional and psychological aspects within contemporary Jihadi organizations, emphasizing emotions displayed within their operations, ideology, and cultural practices.

Table 3.1. Top 10 Pdf downloaded articles mapped with citations and page view.

Islamic Resurgence in Bangladesh's Culture & Politics: Origins, Dynamics & Implications, published in 2012, delves into the undercurrents of Islamic resurgence in Bangladesh and its implications in the country. While it has received fewer views and downloads than others, it stands out with a high number of citations, indicating its scholarly significance. Similarly, Islamic literary networks in South and Southeast Asia received moderate views and downloads and a notable number of citations, suggesting its contribution to the field. These articles reflect a range of topics and publication years, highlighting their varying levels of popularity, impact, and citation recognition within the Islamic studies community.

Published in 2018, Hamid Algar’s article catalogs and explores impostors, antinomians, and pseudo-Sufis. It has received moderate views, downloads, and two citations, reflecting a certain level of academic recognition. Ibn Rushd's Perspective on Natural Law and Its Mediation Between Human and Divine Law published in 2017 has received a substantial number of citations (20), indicating its significance in academic discourse. Published in 2016, this analytical study of the Prophet's treaty with the Christians of Najran assesses the authenticity of the Covenant. Apart from the valuable undertaken research, the significance of this scholarly study can be observed from its moderate number of views and downloads and is notable for having garnered 15 citations.

These articles represent various topics within Islamic studies and varying levels of impact, popularity, and citation recognition. The number of views, downloads, and citations provides insights into their reach and influence within the academic community.

The number of citations to OJIS articles exhibited notable peaks, particularly between 2000 and 2001, likely driven by heightened Western interest in exploring Islamic teachings.¹² This surge in curiosity was so noticeable to an extent that academic programs in Middle Eastern studies saw more than 126 percent increase in enrollments in Arabic language courses between 1998 to 2006.¹³ A similar surge in citations was also observed in 2001 and 2007.

In line with the general trend observed in scientific disciplines, older articles accumulate more citations than newer ones. This pattern also holds true for OJIS articles, with older articles displaying a consistent citation trajectory while more recent ones tend to have fewer citations. Table 4 provides comprehensive information about the top 10 most frequently cited articles in OJIS, indicating their substantial level of interest and recognition.

Table 4. Top 10 cited articles

Out of the OJIS 281 articles, only 44 have not received any citations, while the remaining articles have been cited anywhere between 1 to 53 times. One notable discovery is the highly cited article titled 'Temple Desecration and Indo-Muslim States' by Richard M Eaton, published in 2000, which has accumulated an impressive 53 citations. Additionally, several other articles (authored by W. Shadid & P. van Koningsved, Piers Gillespie, Paul Weller, William Roff and Zaman I) have garnered significant attention, receiving citations ranging from 49 to 39 respectively. These articles cover a wide array of topics, including Islamic education, the politics of re-Islamization, historiography in Ethiopia, Egyptian Salafism during times of revolution, Usūl al-Fiqh, nationalism and Islam, and various aspects of contemporary Islamic thought and practice.

In context of publication data in Scopus database as depicted in Figure 2, the number of publications per year does not match with that posed by OJIS official website as depicted in Figure 1. The data of Scopus also reports the number of citations garnered by each publication, therefore in the following part of this section, citation analysis is based on the data in Scopus.

Figure 2. Annual Scientific Production

The ‘Cited by’ variable shows the number of cited documents of OJIS within the database of Scopus. Therefore, to determine the distribution pattern of the variable under study, the following Figure 3 has been plotted. The sloping line in Figure 3 indicates that the number of articles peaked at around 48 articles with 3 citations per article. This was followed by the significant decline to approximately 20 articles receiving 5 citations for each article. The downward trend in citations accompanied by the decrease in the number of articles continued thereafter. Additionally, the figure also shows that variable's values are distributed unevenly. The distribution displays positive skewness with the values over-loaded on the left-hand tail. For a skewed distribution, the mean is often farther out on the larger tail than the median. To be precise, if the variable is right-skewed, the mean is greater than the median. Here, it can be seen that the mean is 7.5, median is 5.0 and mode is nearly 3.0. This suggests that the mathematical distribution is also skewed towards right. Therefore, in this case, median is used to determine the center of the data which is 5.0 and is represented in the graph by red line as 'Cited by median'. By analyzing the right-skewed pattern, one can deduce that most values are concentrated toward the lower range, with a few exceptionally high values on the upper end. This insight enables the researchers to pinpoint outliers that could be influencing patterns or trends within the dataset.

Figure 3. Histogram for the ‘Cited by’ Variable

The outliers are values that significantly deviate from the rest of the data, causing the distribution to become skewed and move away from the ideal normal curve. The presence of outliers significantly impacts statistical analysis and complicates data generalization. In this study, outliers were not removed, but it is acknowledged that future research, considering dataset limitations, could adopt three approaches to handle outliers: 1) removal, 2) transformation to align outlying values with others, or 3) reporting results with and without outliers.

To identify these outliers, a boxplot was created, representing a five-number summary: minimum, first quartile (Q1), median, third quartile (Q3), and maximum. Q1 marks the boundary for the lowest 25% of observations, while Q3 separates the upper 25%. The line inside the box represents the median, dividing the lower 50% from the upper 50% of observations. Dots on the plot indicate outliers. The boxplot in Figure 4 indicates that values exceeding 20 are considered outliers in this context, particularly articles with higher citation counts. One specific value, 43, stands significantly apart from the next highest value (28), indicating it as an outlier. Outliers can substantially impact our measurements. Addressing this outlier issue, the median value (5.0) serves as a more reliable measure of central tendency.

Figure 4. Boxplot to identify outliers for the ‘Cited by’ variable.

To depict the trend in citations over the years, Figure 5 displays a line chart illustrating variations in citations received by Scopus articles from 1990 to 2020. Upon initial inspection, the 'Cited by' variable exhibits fluctuations, both upward and downward. Notably, a sharp decline in citations occurred in 1990, followed by fluctuations from 1991 to 1996. A consistent trend emerged from 1996 to 2009, after which citations experienced drastic fluctuations until 2020. Eventually, the trend suggests a significant decrease in citations in 2023, which can be attributed to uneven citation distribution as well as the influence of outliers on exceptionally high citation counts.

Figure 5. Line Chart Highlighting Change in the ‘Cited by’ Variable Over a Given Period of Time

Remarkably, the fluctuations in the line graph correspond with periods of economic and global events, including the financial downturns of the 1990s, the 2008 recession, the industrial revolution in 2014, and the recent impact of COVID-19. Additionally, the decline in citations, evident in the decreasing 'cited by' trend, can be attributed to two main factors. Firstly, the graph represents citations exclusively within the Scopus database, excluding citations from external sources. Secondly, the decline can be logically explained by the proliferation of databases and journals in the field of Islamic studies over time. The expanding pool of available sources has provided scholars with a wider range of options for citation, leading to reduced citations for well-established journals like OJIS, especially those that require a subscription. Investigating the impact of this expanding database and journal landscape on the quality of scholarly papers would be a valuable and intriguing pursuit for researchers in the future.

The sample of articles under study shows the presence of 292 authors who have contributed to the advancement of articles published by OJIS. The aggregate of the received citations was 1885, averaging 6.46 citations per author. Out of 292 authors, 24 authors received at least 20 citations. Our analysis of the most prolific authors is based on two common metrics, namely: total publications contributed by an author and total citations received.

Table 5 presents the most influential and highly cited authors. Based on number of publications, Hamid Algar, Nabil Matar and Yassin Dutton emerged as the most frequently contributing authors with four publications each, followed by Yahya Michot and Devin Deweese with a contribution of two publications per author. It is important to understand that the most prolific authors are not always the most cited. The increasing number of contributions need not lead to enhanced recognition. The case in point is the absence of all top ten publishing authors in the list of the highly cited authors as shown in panel B of Table 4. Richard Eaton topped the list of highly cited authors with 53 citations from one article. Similarly, W. Shadid, P. Koningsved, and Piers Gillespie published one article each, accumulating 49 citations per article.

Table 5. Top 10 Publishing and Cited Authors.

Among the 281 articles (refer to Table 6), only 14 have co-authors, while the majority are written by single authors. Notably, affiliations with the University of California, Harvard, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), and Michigan are prominent. The remaining papers come from authors located in approximately 150 different countries. In terms of citations, Harvard University in the United States leads with 50 citations, followed by the University of Chicago with 43, and Bogor Agricultural University in Indonesia, McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and the University of Johannesburg in South Africa, with 28 citations each.

Table 6. Top 10 Cited Organizations

Table 7 provides insights into the contributions of different countries to OJIS articles, their citation impact, and the strength of connections among articles from the same country. It can help identify key players in the field and potential opportunities for collaboration and research development. The United States leads again with the highest number of published articles in OJIS (52). These articles have received a substantial number of citations (352), indicating a significant impact in the field. The total link strength, which may signify collaborative or thematic connections, is also relatively high at 57. The United Kingdom follows with 29 articles and 215 citations. While the number of articles is substantial, the link strength is comparatively low at 2, suggesting limited thematic or collaborative connections.

Table 7. Top 10 Article’s Data: Publishing and Cited Countries

Turkey, with 8 articles, has a relatively lower number of publications. However, these articles have a total link strength of 53, indicating strong thematic or collaborative associations. Canada contributed 7 articles with 45 citations. The total link strength is modest, suggesting limited thematic or collaborative ties. Several other countries, including Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Indonesia, Malaysia, Norway, Pakistan, Singapore, and South Africa, have also made contributions to OJIS articles to varying degrees. Though their articles have received citations, the total link strength for these countries appears to be low, indicating potential areas for future collaboration and thematic development in the field.

Countries with the highest number of PDF downloads include Lebanon, with an impressive 14,290 downloads, followed closely by the United States, with 13,900 downloads. The United Kingdom recorded 9,417 downloads, while India and Norway also displayed significant interest, with 9,242 and 2,341 downloads, respectively. The geopolitical situation surrounding these citations and download patterns indicates the global relevance and interest in Islamic studies. The diverse set of countries with high download counts suggests a widespread interest in the field. The puzzle of comprehending the rise in downloads, while observing a decrease in citations over time, as noticed in Figure 5, is assumably due to the proliferation of the databases and journals focused on particular fields of Islamic sciences, however identifying the precise reasons for the foregoing phenomenon presents a good topic for future research work. Additionally, the diverse topics of highly cited articles demonstrate the multidisciplinary nature of Islamic studies and its relevance in various contexts worldwide.

5.  Content Analysis

The research papers in this dataset cover a wide array of topics, including Islamic education, the official ulema and the politics of re-Islamization, historiography in Ethiopia, Egyptian Salafism during times of revolution, Usūl al-Fiqh, nationalism and Islam, and various aspects of contemporary Islamic thought and practice. The diversity of topics in the publication of these articles is mainly attributed to many economic and geopolitical factors. For instance, economic crises in the 70s and 80s followed by the great recession of 2007-2008 which prompted scholars to examine the religious and ethical considerations in business practices to highlight societal impacts. Political factors such as the demolition of the Babri Mosque in December 1992, Trump's presidential candidacy in 2016, the spread of anti-Muslim sentiments in U.S. society, along with similar developments in India, particularly concerning policies toward Muslim minorities, have likely influenced scholarly discourse in these regions and the field of Islamic studies.

Table 8 presents the occurrence of the top 10 research topics in the sample. History emerged as the most popular research theme of OJIS articles with an occurrence of 52 times, followed by studies on Islamic intellectuals (43) and topics on political science (35). Other topics with most frequency include philosophy (30), law and jurisprudence (22) and Muslim communities (20). These results are further confirmed by the subject occurrence diagram portrayed in Figure 6. This figure shows the multi-disciplinary facet of OJIS publications which cover a wide spectrum of Islamic related areas. Additionally, Figure 6 portrays the linkages between the predominant themes of OJIS publications. The research papers of history are strongly connected with political science studies, potentially attributed to the idea that the study of history can enhance one's political consciousness and contribute to the development of adept political figures and experts.¹⁴ Similarly, a significant correlation exists between studies of philosophy and the biographical research of intellectuals. The reason behind this connection could be owing to the fact that engaging in philosophical education entails gaining knowledge about prominent figures and key milestones in the history of philosophy. Overall, this analysis supports the existence of close ties in most OJIS studies evident to the multi-disciplinarity of OJIS publications.

Table 8. Top 10 Occurring Research Topics

The network diagram in Figure 6 presents the thematic evolution of research trends of OJIS articles for a period between 1990 and 2021. The absence of articles published between 1997 and 2008 on the Scopus database resulted in the exclusion of these articles from the sample. Accordingly, the thematic evolution analysis accounts for a period of 19 years, where the year 2011 was identified as the breakpoint, evident to the thematic shift demonstrated in Figure 5. In the period between 1990-2011, we identified 23 research themes from the research papers which were combined into three major clusters. The largest cluster based on the relevance of research articles to each of the three clusters was the intellectuals cluster, followed by the history cluster and the law and jurisprudence cluster as shown in Figure 7.

Figure 6. Occurrence of Topics

A thematic shift was captured post 2011 at which a new set of clusters emerged. While the intellectuals and law jurisprudence clusters disappeared in this period, the history cluster shows a fast development accumulating the highest number of publications among the three clusters between 2012 to 2021. Furthermore, the content analysis revealed the emergence of two new research clusters, namely: cultural studies and philosophy. The cultural studies cluster was the second largest cluster of the network diagram in Figure 6, while the philosophy cluster had the least number of publications.

The thematic analysis depicts the occurrence of dominating research themes of OJIS articles in six clusters on the basis of two dimensions: centrality and density. Centrality captures the thematic importance and is represented by the -axis. Meanwhile, the -axis denotes the thematic development or density. Figure 6 visualizes the thematic map in four quadrants. Motor themes are located in the upper right quadrant and denote developed and important clusters. Developed clusters with less importance are stationed at the upper left quadrant and are known as niche themes. Underdeveloped clusters with significant importance are located in the lower right quadrant and are referred to as basic themes, while emerging themes in the lower left quadrant represent the underdeveloped clusters with no substantial value.¹⁵

The thematic maps in Figure 9 depict the existence of six major research clusters that are identical to the themes portrayed by the network diagram in Figure 6. Starting with Figure 7a which visualizes the thematic map of articles published between 1990 and 2011, history as the largest research cluster (red), represents the thematic area treated as underdeveloped with significant importance. Alternatively, 50% of the intellectual research papers (blue) in the sample are designated to the underdeveloped and isolated theme (lower left), while the rest belong to the niche themes as an isolated developed cluster. The law and jurisprudence cluster (green) is equally divided into two parts. The first part is located in the motor theme signifying a developed cluster with substantial importance while the other part of the cluster has no significant value despite its affiliation to a developed cluster.

The thematic analysis of publications posts 2011 is presented in Figure 8. Philosophy (blue) as the smallest cluster was found to be an isolated and underdeveloped theme. Accordingly, research papers published in this cluster appear to be isolated in the scientific literature with a low degree of development. The cultural studies cluster (green) partially appears in the upper right quadrant as an important developed theme. The other part of the cluster is located in the upper left quadrant as a developed theme but is isolated in the literature. Finally, the history cluster (red) partially manifests the relevance of central and dense theme while the other half appears in the lower right quadrant as an important theme but still remains underdeveloped.

Figure 8. Centrality and Density of Research Trends

6. Comparison between OJIS Articles and Books

Table 9 classifies articles into broad subject categories, while books intended for review are categorized based on the frequency of their keywords. The entries are organized in descending order of occurrence frequency. This table provides insights into how frequently these research topics are discussed in articles and books, as well as the occurrence frequency of corresponding keywords in the books. It offers a snapshot of the prevalence and appeal of different research topics in these two mediums. For example, concerning 'History,' it holds the top rank with 52 occurrences in articles, but in books, it is ranked second with 456 instances. Among the remaining nine subject areas, there is a perfect match between articles and books, although the order of frequency ranking may vary slightly. This indicates that authors, whether writing articles or books, tend to explore the same subjects, demonstrating uniformity between these groups.

Table 9. Research Trends and Subject Dispersion

Table 10 offers a detailed comparison of the volume of work authored by different individuals in the realms of articles, books, and book reviews. The table is structured into three distinct columns, each representing a different category of written content: "Articles," "Books," and "Book Reviews." Within each cell of the table, specific data shows the number of documents—be they articles, books, or book reviews—attributed to the respective authors. A noteworthy observation is that among the featured authors, only Rodney Wilson, a prominent figure in the field of Islamic Economics and Finance as a Professor Emeritus at Durham University, is engaged across all three columns. This underscores his remarkable versatility, having authored two articles, contributed eight books for review, and conducted an impressive 22 book reviews. This multifaceted engagement exemplifies the impact of his work in promoting Islamic finance, which has garnered the interest of not only Islamic financial institutions but also conventional ones from the West.

Despite this remarkable overlap in Rodney Wilson's contributions, a closer analysis of the table reveals that the majority of authors maintain their unique presence within their respective categories. This highlights that the scholarship in this field is distributed among numerous authors rather than being somewhat concentrated among a select few individuals.

Table 10. Authorship Comparison

Table 11 compares the ranking of countries on their productivity in publishing OJIS research articles and books in the field of Islamic studies. As reflected in Table 11, the two most prolific countries were the US and the UK. In fact, 18.5% of OJIS articles were published in the US followed by the UK (10.3%) and Turkey (2.85%). The list shows the geographical dispersion of OJIS articles to countries in North America, Europe, Africa, Middle East and South-East Asia. The second set of countries in Table 10b showcases the most influential countries in publishing Islamic studies books. As can be seen, the UK tops the list with a contribution of 956 books constituting 50% of all books. USA, Netherlands, Germany, and India were ranked second, third, fourth and fifth with 554, 220, 40 and 28 books respectively. Collectively, the top 5 countries constituted 94.08% of all OJIS books. Table 11 offers comprehensive information about the leading nations with a significant impact on the publication of OJIS Islamic Studies books.

Table 11 provides a ranking of the top countries that publish articles and books in the field of Islamic Studies, as reflected in the Oxford Journal of Islamic Studies. The table is divided into two sections: one for articles and one for books. These rankings provide insights into the countries that are actively contributing to the field of Islamic Studies through their articles and books, highlighting their engagement and influence in this academic domain especially the U.K. and the U.S.A. Since Oxford has historically been and remains a symbol of excellence in education and academia in the Western world, a significant portion of English publications has originated from predominantly the USA and UK where interest in Islamic studies has mushroomed in the recent decades.¹⁶ Other countries might have published in their national languages, although a good portion of their research in English is published by OJIS, like Netherlands, Germany or Turkey.

Table 11. Top 10 Publishing countries in the context of OJIS books and articles

7. Conclusion

This comprehensive investigation delved into scholarly communication in the field of Islamic Studies through an exhaustive analysis employing the Oxford Journal of Islamic Studies (OJIS) as its focal point. Chosen for its historical significance, thematic breadth, and inclusion in Scopus, OJIS serves as a representative platform to analyze publication trends, geographic distribution, and the evolution of scholarship in this multidisciplinary field.

The research employs bibliometric methodology to analyze published works in OJIS from 1990 to 2021. This analysis focuses on trends in publication, authorship, affiliations, geographical distribution, and detailed citation metrics.

The study highlights the significant growth and diversification of scholarly work in Islamic Studies. This expansion is largely due to the discipline's multifaceted nature, which spans various fields such as finance, history, and society. Such diversification demonstrates Islam's substantial impact on numerous areas of human life.

Another key finding is the increasing acknowledgment and indexing of Islamic Studies journals in major online databases. Renowned platforms like Scopus and Web of Science now recognize these journals, enhancing the academic status of Islamic Studies and enabling researchers to assess their work's impact through citation metrics.

Older articles within the dataset consistently receive more citations, influenced by historical events like 9/11, which spurred Western interest in Islamic topics. Popular articles address diverse themes such as Saudi Arabia's rise, Arab-South Asian interactions, modern jihadism, and Islam's resurgence in Bangladesh.

Network analysis is rich and depicts the global collaboration of scholars across 150 countries to confirm the field’s international scope. The evolving research themes reveal both the continuity of classical and the emergence of novel themes, consistently both in articles and books. This unity in research themes underscores the interplay between these two scholarly mediums. However, the geographic analysis identifies UK as the key contributor to the Islamic studies, possibly due to the increased interest of the researchers sharing the geographical affiliation of OJIS.

In summation, the findings and dialogues presented within this research serve as illuminating signposts highlighting the dynamism and diversification characterizing the ambit of Islamic Studies scholarship. They underscore the global resonance and far-reaching influence of Islamic Studies across an array of academic domains. Moreover, the research offers perspicacious insights into the ebb and flow of research trends, underscoring the intricate tapestry of scholarly communication intrinsic to Islamic Studies. In so doing, it proffers a valuable resource for prospective researchers, scholars, and academicians navigating the terrain of Islamic Studies.

8. Future Research Pointers

One noteworthy trend observed in the realm of scholarly communication in Islamic studies is that most journals claim to be peer-reviewed. One of the major challenges faced in publishing is quality control, chiefly peer-review. "Peer-review" culture is slowly being introduced in Islamic studies and other humanities disciplines. However, many academics expect to get paid for peer-review work. In this sense, Islamic studies researchers tend to be more neo-liberal about research production than their conventional peers in the West. This raises the question of whether this culture towards scholarship is conducive to producing good quality publications. Furthermore, one wonders about the ways through which a culture of dedicated peer-review can be created voluntarily. A thorough peer-review of a paper sometimes requires about four to eight hours or more. One might ask whether the institutional culture in universities offering Islamic studies program allow faculty/researchers to allocate that much of their time voluntarily for the cause of developing knowledge. Moreover, the inability of our associations to actively organize conferences, seminars, and opportunities for giving and receiving feedback on research papers further affects the validity of the peer review process. The question of local universities overburdening researchers with administrative work, preventing them from delivering deep and meaningful contributions to literature and developing their in-house capabilities as researchers also remains pertinent These are some of the questions that need to be studied thoroughly beyond this study's scope.

Despite the profound significance of this research endeavor, a series of limitations merits elucidation. First and foremost, bibliometric analysis focuses on quantitative metrics, and overlooks qualitative depth and the impact of individual contribution of a datapoint. The exclusive data source of OJIS may not fully represent the diversity and complexity of Islamic studies, nevertheless it is a good proxy of the field’s diversity and complexity. The exclusion of Arabic language limits the scope of the study, especially the aspects that have cultural underpinnings, though the researchers in English language cannot undermine the significance of the results. Additionally, the analysis of books and monographs is limited to those reviewed by OJIS, similar analysis shall be undertaken for the publications of the prominent multilateral institutions such as Islamic Development Bank of Jeddah. Finally, it is prudent to note that the findings of this research predominantly emanate from the analysis of a single journal, OJIS, thereby imposing restrictions on the degree to which these findings can be extrapolated to other journals within the domain of Islamic Studies. Variations in publication patterns, author demographics, and citation practices among different journals might yield outcomes that are not universally applicable. Hence, an awareness of these limitations is indispensable when interpreting the results and considering their broader implications.

Conflict of Interest

The manuscript author has absolutely no financial or non-financial conflict of interest regarding the subject matter or material discussed in this manuscript.

Data Availability Statement

The data associated with this study will be provided by the corresponding author upon request.

Funding Details

The author did not receive funding from any source or agency.