Article Sidebar

Download
Download Article

Main Article Content

Abstract

Public sector innovation has become an increasingly important topic in public administration due to the growing demand for adaptive governance, digital transformation, and improved public service delivery. However, the rapid expansion of the literature has made it difficult to identify the intellectual structure, major trends, and emerging themes within the field. This study aims to map the evolution of public sector innovation research through a bibliometric analysis of 534 Scopus-indexed publications published between 2015 and 2025. The analysis was conducted using VOSviewer to examine publication trends, influential authors, countries, affiliations, citations, and keyword networks. The results reveal a substantial growth in public sector innovation research over the last decade, with significant contributions from the United States, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. Co-creation, collaborative innovation, governance, and digital transformation emerged as the most influential themes, while recent studies increasingly focus on digital governance, technology adoption, transparency, and collaborative approaches. This study contributes by providing a systematic overview of the field’s intellectual landscape and identifying emerging research directions that can inform future studies and public sector innovation policies.

Keywords

Public Sector Innovation Bibliometric Analysis Governance Digital Transformation

Article Details

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

How to Cite
Perdana, G. N. R., Jayanti, N. W. D. B., Laily, Y. M., & Yaqin, M. K. A. (2026). Global Trends and Emerging Themes in Public Sector Innovation Research: A Bibliometric Analysis. Golden Ratio of Data in Summary, 6(3), 194 – 207. https://doi.org/10.52970/grdis.v6i3.2331
Download Citation
Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)
BibTeX

References

  1. Agostino, D. et al. (2021). New development: COVID-19 as an accelerator of digital transformation in public service delivery. Public Money & Management, 41(1), 69–72. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540962.2020.1764206
  2. Baas, J. et al. (2020). Scopus as a curated, high-quality bibliometric data source for academic research in quantitative science studies. Quantitative Science Studies, 1(1), 377–386. https://doi.org/10.1162/qss_a_00019
  3. Bekkers, V. et al. (2011). Linking Innovation to the Public Sector: Contexts, Concepts and Challenges BT - Innovation in the Public Sector: Linking Capacity and Leadership (V. Bekkers et al. (eds.); pp. 3–32). Palgrave Macmillan UK. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230307520_1
  4. Bloch, C., & Bugge, M. M. (2013). Public sector innovation—From theory to measurement. Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, 27, 133–145. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.strueco.2013.06.008
  5. Cinar, E. et al. (2024). Public sector innovation in context: A comparative study of innovation types. Public Management Review, 26(1), 265–292. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2022.2080860
  6. Criado, J. I. et al. (2025). Two decades of public sector innovation: building an analytical framework from a systematic literature review of types, strategies, conditions, and results. Public Management Review, 27(3), 623–652. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2023.2254310
  7. Crosby, B. C. et al. (2017). Public value creation through collaborative innovation. Public Management Review, 19(5), 655–669. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2016.1192165
  8. de Vries, Hanna et al. (2018). A stakeholder perspective on public sector innovation: why position matters. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 84(2), 269–287. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020852317715513
  9. De Vries, H. et al. (2015). Innovation in the Public Sector: A Systematic Review and Future Research Agenda. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2638618
  10. De Vries, H. et al. (2016). Innovation in the public sector: A systematic review and future research agenda. Public Administration, 94(1), 146–166.
  11. Demircioglu, M. A., & Audretsch, D. B. (2017). Conditions for innovation in public sector organizations. Research Policy, 46(9), 1681–1691. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2017.08.004
  12. Demircioglu, M. A., & Audretsch, D. B. (2019). Public sector innovation: the effect of universities. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 44(2), 596–614. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10961-017-9636-2
  13. Donthu, N. et al. (2021). How to conduct a bibliometric analysis: An overview and guidelines. Journal of Business Research, 133(March), 285–296. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.04.070
  14. Fred, Mats, & Mukhtar-Landgren, Dalia. (2026). Promoting public sector innovation: who does what, when and how? Public Policy and Administration, 41(2), 180–201. https://doi.org/10.1177/09520767241271848
  15. Héder, M. (2017). From NASA to EU: the evolution of the TRL scale in Public Sector Innovation. Innovation Journal, 22, 1.
  16. Houtgraaf, G. et al. (2023). Public sector creativity as the origin of public sector innovation: A taxonomy and future research agenda. Public Administration, 101(2), 539–556. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12778
  17. Kuziemski, M., & Misuraca, G. (2020). AI governance in the public sector: Three tales from the frontiers of automated decision-making in democratic settings. Telecommunications Policy, 44(6), 101976. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2020.101976
  18. Lewis, Jenny M et al. (2018). How innovation drivers, networking and leadership shape public sector innovation capacity. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 84(2), 288–307. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020852317694085
  19. Lopes, André Vaz, & Farias, Josivania Silva. (2022). How can governance support collaborative innovation in the public sector? A systematic review of the literature. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 88(1), 114–130. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020852319893444
  20. Mariani, I., & Bianchi, I. (2023). Conceptualising Digital Transformation in Cities: A Multi-Dimensional Framework for the Analysis of Public Sector Innovation. In Sustainability (Vol. 15, Issue 11, p. 8741). https://doi.org/10.3390/su15118741
  21. McGann, M. et al. (2018). The rise of public sector innovation labs: experiments in design thinking for policy. Policy Sciences, 51(3), 249–267. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11077-018-9315-7
  22. Meijer, A., & Bekkers, V. (2015). A metatheory of e-government: Creating some order in a fragmented research field. Government Information Quarterly, 32(3), 237–245. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2015.04.006
  23. Nalau, J. et al. (2015). Is adaptation a local responsibility? Environmental Science & Policy, 48, 89–98. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2014.12.011
  24. Öztürk, O. et al. (2024). How to design bibliometric research: an overview and a framework proposal. Review of Managerial Science, 18(11), 3333–3361. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11846-024-00738-0
  25. Permana, D. (2023). Dynamics of Public Policy in the Digital Era: A Case Study of e-Government Implementation in Indonesia. INFLUENCE: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENCE REVIEW, 5(3 SE-Articles), 163–174. https://influence-journal.com/index.php/influence/article/view/193
  26. Pessin, V. Z. et al. (2022). Smart bibliometrics: an integrated method of science mapping and bibliometric analysis. Scientometrics, 127(6), 3695–3718. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-022-04406-6
  27. Scupola, A., & Zanfei, A. (2016). Governance and innovation in public sector services: The case of the digital library. Government Information Quarterly, 33(2), 237–249. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2016.04.005
  28. Srivastava, A. K. (2025). Journal of the Society for Information Display. Information Display, 41(3), 59. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1002/msid.1583
  29. Stewart-Weeks, M., & Kastelle, T. (2015). Innovation in the Public Sector. Australian Journal of Public Administration, 74(1), 63–72. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8500.12129
  30. Supadi Supadi et al. (2025). Building Competitive Advantage in Public Sector Management: Innovation in Governance and Policy. Jurnal Pendidikan Bisnis Dan Manajemen, 2(2 SE-Articles), 19–36. https://doi.org/10.63760/jupebima.v2i2.93
  31. Voorberg, W. H. et al. (2015). A Systematic Review of Co-Creation and Co-Production: Embarking on the social innovation journey. Public Management Review, 17(9), 1333–1357. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2014.930505
  32. Weber, K. M., & Rohracher, H. (2012). Legitimizing research, technology and innovation policies for transformative change: Combining insights from innovation systems and multi-level perspective in a comprehensive ‘failures’ framework. Research Policy, 41(6), 1037–1047. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2011.10.015
  33. Wibisono, H. A. et al. (2026). E-Government and Artificial Intelligence in Electronic Administration: A Normative Legal Analysis of Modern Government Digitalization. Journal of Law and Digital Civilization, 1–17

Similar Articles

<< < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.