Introduction

Background

The open access movement strives to provide free online access to scientific and scholarly research literature. Scholars in North America began exploring open access publishing as early as the late 1980s [1], while the initiative to bring open access to Indonesia started in 2009. In Indonesia, an Open Access Journal Initiative was launched and welcomed by the government, which issued several policies and regulations to boost the productivity of Indonesian researchers’ scientific publications [2].

Most of the journals in Indonesia use the open source journal publishing platform, Open Journal Systems (OJS). OJS, released by the Public Knowledge Project in 2002, is the world’s most widely used end-to-end scholarly publishing platform. To date, more than 8,000,000 items have been published using OJS in 156 countries. It is designed to manage the entire journal workflow—from article submission through peer review and editing, to publication and distribution [3].

In Indonesia, journals that use OJS are published primarily by 296 universities located in Java (53.0%) and by 117 universities on the island of Sumatera (21.0%) (Fig. 1). The proportion of journals in these two regions corresponds to their share of Indonesian universities (74.5%) [4] and of the student population (78.3%) [5].

In 2013, the Directorate General of Higher Education issued circular No. 2050/E/T/2011, which mandated that higher education institutions in Indonesia upload their scientific publications to the Garuda website, their institutional websites, or their journal websites [6]. A year later, the Directorate General of Higher Education issued circular No. 152/E/T/2012, instructing that bachelor’s graduates publish their scholarly work in a national journal, master’s graduates in an accredited national journal, and doctoral graduates in an international journal [7]. Both measures heightened the importance of scholarly publishing in Indonesia, leading to considerable growth in the number of journals.

In 2015, the Directorate General of Research and Development-Higher Education issued circular No. 93/E/SE/XII/2015, which calls for the accreditation of electronically managed scientific journals using the OJS platform, with the goal of streamlining the review process to be easier, faster, more accurate, and more transparent [8]. Collectively, these three circulars have motivated scholarly publication communities to enhance both the quality and the quantity of Indonesian publications—a phenomenon described as government mediatization of e-journal publication policies in Indonesia [2].

This phenomenon is reflected in the growth of journals in Indonesia, which increased from 1,101 in 2013 to more than 23,486 in 2023 (Fig. 2) [9]. The largest surge occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the number rose from 7,452 in 2019 to 14,661 in 2021, supported by the regulation of the Indonesian Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education No. 9/2018 on the accreditation of scientific publications [10]. An earlier study on the global scope of scholarly publishing focusing on journals using OJS identified a growing degree of biblio-diversity in scholarly communication [11].

Since the Directorate General of Higher Education issued its 2011 regulations on research publishing—which mandated that Indonesian higher education institutions publish their scientific work on websites and other online platforms—Indonesian universities have increasingly distributed their scientific publications through their own websites, primarily using OJS. Researchers have also published in other local and international journals. The number of study programs at each university typically determines the number of journals it publishes. According to Beacon data collected from OJS instances, Universitas Negeri Surabaya in East Java manages the largest number of journals using OJS, with 130 journals (Fig. 3). It is followed by Islamic State University Alauddin Makassar in South Sulawesi, with 111 journals, and Universitas Airlangga in East Java with 98 journals. The data collected did not include journals in the process of migrating from OJS ver. 2 to ver. 3.

Objectives

Given that Indonesian institutions are the largest users of OJS, a study describing the accessibility, subject area, language coverage, disciplinary focus, indexing status, and overall number of journals published by Indonesian universities is essential for understanding how OJS is utilized with full government support. Specifically, the study examined the following characteristics from the collected journals: accessibility, language, discipline, and domestic or international indexing status.

Methods

Ethics statement

This study did not involve human subjects; therefore, institutional review board approval and informed consent were not required.

Study design

This literature database-based case study investigated the characteristics of university journals in Indonesia.

Data source/measurement

The data presented in this paper were obtained from the OJS Beacon, through which journal data are harvested by PKP with the consent of the journal manager. PKP’s ongoing research project collects and analyzes data on how OJS is used around the world. Based on 2023 data, there were 23,486 journals using OJS in Indonesia.

For this study, the dataset was filtered to include only journals from 93 Indonesian universities using OJS ver. 3 that manage more than 20 journals, yielding a total of 3,651 journals. For each university, six journals were randomly selected to create a sample of 558 journals for analysis (this sample represents 2.4% of the total 23,486 Indonesian journals using OJS as of 2024).

The following characteristics were investigated by reviewing each journal’s homepage: accessibility, language, discipline, and domestic or international indexing status. Research data are available at Dataset 1. The data for figure generation are available in Dataset 2.

Statistical analysis

Descriptive statistics were used to calculate proportions and percentages for data presentation.

Results

Subjects

A total of 558 journals were analyzed; however, publication language was evaluated for only 539 open access journals, as only these journals were accessible without restrictions.

Accessibility

Out of the 558 journals examined, 539 (96.6%) were freely accessible without requiring a login, thereby making them available to all researchers, lecturers, and students.

Languages

Although many Indonesian journals publish in English to reach a global audience, a significant number continue to use Indonesian for article composition. Specifically, Indonesian was the primary language for 289 journals (51.8%) (Fig. 4). English was used by 159 journals (28.5%), while 91 journals (16.3%) were bilingual.

Academic disciplines

The sample of journals using OJS in Indonesia spanned a wide range of academic disciplines, with no single discipline representing more than 20% of the sample. An analysis of article abstracts collected via Beacon data revealed that 81 journals (14.5%) focused on commerce, management, tourism, and service (Fig. 5). The next most prevalent discipline, with 72 journals (12.9%), was studies in human society.

National indexing and accreditation

Garuda, Arjuna, and Sinta are the primary characters in the Indonesian wayang (traditional shadow puppet) narrative. Garuda is depicted as a brave and powerful bird that often serves as a vehicle for the gods and is Indonesia’s state symbol. Arjuna is portrayed as a wise and conscientious leader, while Sinta is represented as a kind and gentle goddess who upholds virtue, justice, and responsibility. These three figures are echoed in the Indonesian scholarly portals managed by the Indonesian Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology.

Garuda is embodied in the Garba Rujukan Digital (Digital Reference Portal), which indexes 24,827 Indonesian scientific publications by local scholars and researchers. The government hopes that these scholarly works will significantly impact Indonesian development in the spirit of Garuda.

The Akreditasi Jurnal Ilmiah Nasional (National Scientific Journal Accreditation), known as the Arjuna system, is used to assess the quality of scientific journals and grant them official government recognition. To date, 10,482 journals are nationally accredited and ranked in Science and Technology Index (SINTA), a web-based research information system that provides rapid and comprehensive performance assessments for researchers, institutions, and scientific journals in Indonesia. According to our research, 440 of the 558 journals (78.9%) using OJS are indexed in Garuda; among these, only 111 (25.2%) have national accreditation under Arjuna, and just 6 (5.4%) are ranked as prestigious journals at the SINTA 1 or 2 level (Fig. 6).

Indexing status in international literature databases

Google Scholar indexes 534 of the 558 journals (95.7%) using OJS in Indonesia, while Dimensions covers 408 (73.1%) (Fig. 7). OpenAlex, which includes millions of scholarly works and provides extensive coverage of non-English publications, indexes 399 of the 558 journals (71.5%) using OJS.

There are three internationally recognized scholarly indexes: Scopus, Web of Science (WoS), and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). Among the 558 journals, only one is indexed in Scopus, none are found in WoS, and 56 (10.0%) are listed in DOAJ. In the broader context, among all 23,486 Indonesian journals using OJS, 134 (0.6%) are indexed in Scopus, 22 (0.1%) in WoS, and 1,004 (4.3%) in DOAJ. For journals using OJS worldwide (52,320 journals), the indexing rates are 1,646 (7.2%) in Scopus, 279 (1.2%) in WoS, and 5,312 (20.7%) in DOAJ [11].

Discussion

Key results

This study analyzed 558 Indonesian journals, finding that 96.7% are open access, with language distribution assessed for 539 journals. Among these, 51.8% use Indonesian, 28.5% use English, and 16.3% are bilingual. The disciplines are diverse, with commerce, management, tourism, and service (14.5%) and studies in human society (12.9%) being the most common. National indexing shows that 78.9% are listed in Garuda, 19.9% have Arjuna accreditation, and 5.4% achieve SINTA 1 or 2 status. Internationally, 95.7% are indexed in Google Scholar, 73.1% in Dimensions, and 71.5% in OpenAlex, with minimal representation in Scopus (one journal) and none in WoS.

Interpretation/comparison with previous studies

Accessibility

The high proportion of open access journals (539 journals, 96.6%) is a source of pride for Indonesian scholarly publishing. However, the number of Indonesian journals indexed in international literature databases remains insufficient. This finding aligns with a 2021 study that identified Indonesia as having the highest number of open access journals in the world [12]. In that study, Indonesia ranked first in the DOAJ with 2,425 entries, followed by the United Kingdom with 2,164 and Brazil with 1,583, as of January 2025.

Languages

Notably, 159 university journals are published exclusively in English. Given that English serves as the lingua franca in academic publishing—especially in science, technology, engineering, and medicine—this trend underscores these journals’ commitment to reaching a global audience. Moreover, government policies mandating the use of the Indonesian language in scholarly publications [13] and the recognition of Indonesian as an official language by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) [14] continue to encourage the use of Indonesian in academic articles. It is also noteworthy that while Indonesians speak 718 local languages [15], these languages are not used in scholarly publishing.

Disciplines

The proportion of journals in a particular field provides only a rough approximation of the number of researchers working in that area. For example, the relatively low proportion of medical and health sciences journals (6.6%) may reflect the fact that biomedical research is more commonly published by national academic societies that do not utilize OJS.

Indexing status

Indonesian scholarly portals reflect the integration of local wisdom values into national identity and serve as a guide for promoting local culture as the foundation of national and state life [16]. Authors seek to submit their manuscripts to reputable journals, which are identified by efficient submission handling, peer review processes, and publication timelines. International indexing increases article visibility and enhances reputation. Although fewer than 2% of journals using OJS worldwide appear on predatory lists, authors should remain cautious [17]. Notably, none of the 558 Indonesian journals in this study appear on major predatory journal lists, such as Beall’s list [18]. This indicates that the sample comprises journals that are genuinely published by universities and adhere to rigorous management practices. Nonetheless, it is advisable to use ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) or Crossref digital object identifiers for a more reliable assessment of journal quality rather than relying solely on predatory journal lists [17].

Google Scholar is the largest and most widely recognized scholarly indexing engine, automatically crawling the web for scholarly publications, including journals. A 2017 survey found that 90% to 95% of Indonesian lecturers are familiar with Google Scholar [19], which corresponds to the 95.7% of journals using OJS in this study indexed on the platform. Additionally, Dimensions—a linked research knowledge system that integrates publications, citations, patents, and more—enables users to access relevant research information rapidly [20].

The relatively low representation of Indonesian journals in the two leading commercial indexes (Scopus and WoS) corresponds to lower awareness among Indonesian researchers (59.8% for Scopus and 43.9% for WoS) [19]. This suggests that further efforts are needed to foster an understanding of the value of various indexes, which in turn may encourage improvements in journal quality.

Among all 23,486 Indonesian journals using OJS, 134 (0.6%) are indexed in Scopus [21], 22 (0.1%) in WoS, and 1,004 (4.3%) in DOAJ. In our sample of 558 journals, only one is indexed in Scopus, none in WoS, and 56 in DOAJ—a result that is understandable given that the sample represents only 2.4% of Indonesian journals.

Limitations

Only 558 journals were selected from the 3,651 journals published by 93 universities. Moreover, because the collection was not randomized, it may not accurately represent the current status of the entire body of university journals in Indonesia.

Suggestion for further studies

Further research is needed to explore more advanced aspects of scholarly communication that could guide Indonesian universities in enhancing their journal publishing programs. Additionally, analyzing the complete set of over 23,000 scholarly journals in Indonesia is recommended to obtain a more accurate assessment of their current status.

Implications

The results of this research are expected to encourage other universities to improve both the quantity and quality of their scholarly publications. Furthermore, this study may serve as an inspiration for other countries to learn from Indonesia’s success in developing a national research program focused on disseminating findings globally.

Conclusions

This study demonstrates that Indonesian university journals using OJS are predominantly open access and primarily publish in Indonesian, although a significant portion publish exclusively in English to target a global audience. The diverse range of disciplines and national indexing profiles reflect government-driven efforts to improve the quality and accessibility of scholarly publishing. However, the limited international indexing indicates a need for greater global integration and higher journal standards. These findings provide valuable insights for policymakers and academic institutions seeking to advance scholarly communication in Indonesia effectively.

Notes

Conflict of Interest

No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Funding

The authors received no financial support for this article.

Data Availability

Dataset files are available from the Harvard Dataverse at https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/HTWNWC.

Dataset 1. Research data of 558 journals published by 93 universities in Indonesia based on the 2023 data.

Dataset 2. Data for figure generation.

kcse-367-dataset.xlsx

Supplementary Materials

Fig. 1.

Distribution of the sample journals that use Open Journal Systems among Indonesian regions (n=558).

Fig. 2.

Active journals that use Open Journal Systems in Indonesia 2010–2023 (numbers prior to 2016 are projections).

Fig. 3.

Top 10 universities that use Open Journal Systems in Indonesia according to the number of journals (n=936).

Fig. 4.

Languages of 539 journals that use Open Journal Systems.

Fig. 5.

Distribution of academic disciplines among the Indonesian journals that use Open Journal Systems (n=558).

Fig. 6.

Distribution of the 558 Indonesian journals that use Open Journal Systems (OJS) in the Garuda Indexer with Arjuna accreditation. SINTA, Science and Technology Index.

Fig. 7.

Indexing status of 558 journals that use Open Journal Systems in Indonesia. DOAJ, Directory of Open Access Journals.

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Figure & Data

References

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