EMIRA: Creating the EMI Research Archive

The English Medium Instruction Research Archive (EMIRA) is an open dataset designed to improve access to and synthesis of research on English Medium Instruction (EMI) in higher education. In recent years, both EMI and EMI research output have grown substantially. Yet EMIs fragmented and context-dependent nature makes it difficult for researchers and educators to locate relevant studies. EMIRA V0.1 contains data1,054 peer-reviewed journal articles published up to 31/12/2023. This paper describes the creation of the archive as part of a systematic review. It also outlines how this archive is structured, its key use cases and limitations, and provides a roadmap for the archive’s future. EMIRA is intended as a transparent research infrastructure for both teachers and researchers to facilitate evidence synthesis, identify research gaps, and support inclusive global engagement with the field.