University to startup: a bibliometric analysis of research on university incubators and innovation hubs

ABSTARCTThis study presents a bibliometric analysis of research on university incubators and innovation hubs, mapping the intellectual structure and thematic concentrations of a field that has grown substantially since 1990. Despite increasing scholarly attention, existing bibliometric studies remain thematically narrow, analytically limited and skewed toward advanced economies. This study applies dual bibliometric methods to 438 peer-reviewed articles from the Web of Science Core Collection (1990–2025). Bibliographic coupling of 60 highly-cited documents identifies four established research clusters: university-based incubation support, technology transfer mechanisms, entrepreneurship education and business incubation performance assessment. A co-word analysis of 1,921 author-designated keywords reveals three thematic clusters: university-based innovation and entrepreneurial knowledge systems, entrepreneurship education and student impact in innovation hubs and entrepreneurial university models and technology-driven growth. Findings point to configurational approaches as a potential direction for future research, recognizing that effective entrepreneurship support depends on local institutional arrangements and regional conditions. These findings offer systematic evidence for institutional leaders and policymakers designing context-specific entrepreneurship support strategies, particularly in emerging economies and demonstrate the analytical value of combining bibliographic coupling and co-word analysis within a single study.