The intellectual and scientific basis of science,technology and innovation research

There has been a considerable increase in the literature devoted to innovation in the past few decades. This research area is characterized by prolific interdisciplinary connections and no single domain is able to embrace all aspects of science, technology and innovation. By analyzing nearly 60,000 references included in the 1442 articles published between 1974 and 2007 in the area's seed journal, Research Policy (RP), we have uncovered the following patterns: (1) the most important sources of knowledge are associated with “core” economics (mostly mainstream) and management sources, even though the importance of innovation-related sources has been rising; (2) the degree of autonomy of science, technology and innovation research is still weak, revealing its incipience and lack of a unified theoretical framework; (3) the most influential authors and studies follow heterodox approaches, namely the evolutionary approach (e.g. Richard R. Nelson) and the European approach to innovation (e.g. Keith Pavitt and Chris Freeman), although it is rather surprising that one of the most widely recognized founding fathers of innovation-related studies, Joseph Schumpeter, is absent from the top-10 cited authors list; and (4) the ranking of the most influential studies highlights the relevance of the evolutionary paradigm, with its focus on the capabilities and routines of firms, and the policy-driven nature of topics, evidencing the pervasiveness of the literature on the National System of Innovation.