Global Research on International Students’ Intercultural Adaptation in a Foreign Context: A Visualized Bibliometric Analysis of the Scientific Landscape

As the volume of research on intercultural adaptation of international students (IAIS) increases significantly over the past decades, a systematic review of the diverse literature on a global scale and its development process becomes essential. This study conducted a thorough bibliometric analysis for the knowledge domain of IAIS research using relevant articles ( N = 1,126) from 1990 to 2022 in Thompson Reuter’s Web of Science (WoS) database-Core Collection. This work aims to analyze the advances and trends on the subject using a set of bibliometric analytical tools, including Bibliometrix, VOSviewer, and BibExcel. The research findings demonstrate that the number of published articles projects an ostensible upward trend in terms of temporal distribution, especially since 2007. The USA occupies a leading position in terms of the largest publication output and a greater influence therewith. The most productive journal, author(s), and institution(s) are International Journal of Intercultural Relations, Brown L and Wang KT, and the University of Hong Kong and the University of Queensland, respectively. Collaboration in this field has become mainstream but still needs to be enhanced among researchers and at national and institutional levels. The frequency and co-occurrence analysis of keywords reveals that the main keywords for discussion include international students, adjustment, acculturation, adaptation, acculturative stress, identity, social support, stress, experiences, and depression, while cultural intelligence and intercultural sensitivity, culture shock and intercultural challenges, and integration and migration serve as the emerging themes. The study would aid academic researchers and policymakers in understanding the intricacies of IAIS and identifying areas that require further investigation.