Bridging the gap: Indonesia’s research trajectory and national development through a scientometric analysis using SciVal

This study examines the characteristics of Indonesia’s scholarly output and its alignment with national development goals. This research focuses on three key questions: how Indonesia’s research output can be categorized into driver, basic, specialized, and declining clusters; the extent to which these research themes align with National Research Priorities and the areas that require greater emphasis; and the correlation between Indonesia’s research themes and its economic drivers, including export commodity sectors, to identify opportunities for enhancing national advancement. To address these questions, the study employs a scientometric approach, utilizing data from SciVal and keyword analysis while integrating economic data from the Indonesian Bureau of Statistics and the Observatory of Economic Complexity to provide a comprehensive and multidimensional analysis. The study employed statistical comparisons to assess the alignment of research outputs with national priorities and economic indicators. The study reveals significant trends in Indonesia’s scholarly output across driver, basic, specialized, and declining research clusters, emphasizing the need for strengthened research efforts in sectors such as energy, business, management, and accounting, alongside targeted investments in fields like chemistry, immunology, and microbiology to bolster global competitiveness. A comparison of Indonesia’s research themes with national research priorities underscores a critical misalignment that shows the need for a recalibration towards impactful and strategic research initiatives that are better aligned with national needs and global trends. Disparities between Indonesia’s research output and economic driver sectors, such as mineral fuels and agricultural products, highlight opportunities for enhanced research investment to support better leading economic contributors and elevate scholarly impact.