Megatrends in science and technology parks and areas of innovation: co-citation clustering

Purpose Science and technology parks (STPs) and areas of innovation (AOIs), among the entrepreneurial ecosystem’s main actors, significantly contribute to economic development derived from technology development and commercialization worldwide. In light of this, the study aims to identify the megatrends in this domain, using bibliometric analysis and co-citation clustering. Design/methodology/approach For this purpose, all the relevant documents on the Web of Science, as a citation database, were retrieved and analyzed. The study findings helped provide detailed information about the lead authors, the most influential countries, highly cited institutions and the top-used keywords in this field. Besides, the trend of using the given keywords over time and the megatrends in this line were established. Findings Upon clustering the articles, 11 clusters were identified, including 6 dense clusters, STPs, technology business incubators (TBIs), university STPs, university–industry collaboration, innovation and startup services and triple/quadruple helix, which were then completely analyzed to develop a big picture for future research. Originality/value Using bibliometric coupling and co-citation clustering in the field of science and technology parks and areas of innovation for making a big picture for directing future research.