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The Current Trends and Gaps in Employee Innovation Literature (A Bibliometric Study)

Introduction

The current trends and gaps in employee innovation literature (a bibliometric study). This bibliometric study maps current trends, gaps, and intellectual structure in employee innovation literature using Scopus data (2000-2025). Discover key themes, collaboration networks, and future research directions for organizations.

Abstract

Employee innovation has become an increasingly critical topic in organizational and management studies, as firms rely on the creative and proactive behaviors of their workforce to remain competitive in dynamic environments. Despite growing scholarly attention, the literature on employee innovation remains fragmented across constructs such as innovative work behavior, employee creativity, and employee-driven innovation. This study conducts a bibliometric analysis of publications indexed in Scopus between 2000 and 2025 to systematically map the intellectual structure, thematic evolution, and collaboration networks in this field. Using performance analysis and science mapping techniques with VOSviewer, the study identifies leadership, human resource management, and innovation performance as dominant research anchors, while recent trends highlight the emergence of inclusive leadership, sustainability, and psychological enablers such as self-efficacy. The collaboration networks reveal China and the United States as central hubs, with increasing contributions from Asian and European countries. The findings underscore both the maturity of core themes and the presence of underexplored areas, including employee-driven innovation and digital transformation contexts. This study contributes by clarifying research fragmentation, proposing the integration of dispersed strands into more holistic theoretical frameworks, and offering practical insights for organizations seeking to foster inclusive, sustainable, and innovation-driven work environments.

Review

The paper, "The Current Trends and Gaps in Employee Innovation Literature (A Bibliometric Study)," offers a highly relevant and timely examination of a critical area in organizational and management studies. By employing a robust bibliometric analysis of Scopus-indexed publications from 2000 to 2025, the authors systematically address the noted fragmentation in the employee innovation literature, which encompasses diverse constructs like innovative work behavior and employee creativity. This methodological approach promises a comprehensive mapping of the intellectual landscape, thematic evolution, and collaborative structures, providing much-needed clarity in a field where firms increasingly depend on their workforce's creative output for competitive advantage. The study effectively leverages performance analysis and science mapping techniques with VOSviewer to uncover significant insights. It identifies leadership, human resource management, and innovation performance as established research anchors, while also discerning crucial emerging trends such as inclusive leadership, sustainability, and psychological enablers like self-efficacy. Furthermore, the analysis of collaboration networks highlights the prominent roles of China and the United States, alongside increasing contributions from other Asian and European countries, painting a clear picture of the global research landscape. These findings not only confirm the maturity of certain core themes but, more importantly, pinpoint specific underexplored areas, notably employee-driven innovation and the implications of digital transformation. This bibliometric study makes a substantial contribution by clarifying the fragmented nature of employee innovation research and advocating for the integration of disparate theoretical strands into more cohesive frameworks. Its detailed identification of dominant themes, emerging trends, and international collaboration patterns serves as an invaluable guide for both scholars and practitioners. By signposting neglected domains like employee-driven innovation and digital contexts, the paper provides a strong impetus for future research. Moreover, the practical insights offered for fostering inclusive, sustainable, and innovation-driven work environments underscore its immediate relevance for organizations aiming to cultivate a truly innovative workforce.

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