This paper uses Tight ("High Educ Res Dev" 23(4):395-411, 2004; "High Educ Res Dev" 31(5):723-740, 2012; "High Educ Res Dev" 32(1):136-151, 2013)'s journal analysis and review framework to review a sample of 497 journal articles on researches concerning international students over the past 30 years. It was found that a majority of the articles focus on the students' in-campus, academic and social experience. Even with different conceptualisation of the terms "international student" and "international student mobility", international students undergo similar challenges throughout their sojourn duration, and much of the responsibilities in managing international students fall on universities and respective faculty members within the institutions. It might seem as if we are going in circles in terms of the issues and concerns in managing international students, but the silver lining out of this observation is the increased ethnical awareness among countries and higher education institutions in hosting and safeguarding the students throughout their international higher education experience, albeit rather slowly. The analysis brings to attention how much have we achieved in internationalisation of higher education in general and international student-related research in particular, and the potential for greater expansion and focus on managing the student population within a comprehensive "life cycle" approach.