Mapping the Research on University-Industry Collaborative Innovation of Individuals: A Scientometric Analysis

As university-industry collaborative innovation becomes an important driving force for technological development, the role of individuals in promoting knowledge production and innovation performance is becoming increasingly prominent. Research on individuals in this field has attracted a wide range of attention from scholars, however, scientometric analysis and visualization are inadequate. This study is based on scientific publications from 2000 to 2022 obtained from the Web of Science database. The Bibliometrix-R package and VOSviewer software were used to conduct quantitative analysis and visualization of bibliometric indicators, and to explore the current progress and leading trends of research on university-industry collaborative innovation of individuals. The results show growing academic interest in this topic, with the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Italy being the most productive countries, and the geographical scope of research expanding to emerging economies. The current research focuses on the channels, attitudes, and influencing factors of different individuals in collaborative innovation as well as their relationship with scientific productivity. Through scientometric analysis, it is possible to intuitively understand scientific performance, core journals, author clusters, collaborative networks, research hotspots, and thematic evolution, which helps to systematically recognize and focus research in this field, and provides a holistic view and potential directions for future research.