University Social Responsibility, Social Change, and Innovation: A Global Bibliometric and Thematic Analysis

This study aimed to map the global intellectual structure and identify key research trends and gaps in university social responsibility (USR) on social change and innovation between 2016 and 2025. This study contributes to the literature by integrating USR into a unified global framework, offering both theoretical insights and practical implications for higher education policy and practice. Data were retrieved from the Scopus database, yielding 1,045 documents after applying the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses–based screening and refinement procedures. Bibliometric indicators and visualization techniques were employed using Bibliomagika, Bibliometrix (R), Biblium, Notepad++, OpenRefine, and VOSviewer. The key findings of this study revealed a substantial increase in scholarly output, with publications rising from 39 in 2016 to 319 in 2025, demonstrating the field’s rapid expansion and growing academic importance. The United States emerged as the most productive contributor in terms of publications, citations, and international collaboration, while Sustainability (Switzerland) was identified as the most productive research source. Keyword and thematic analyses highlighted “community engagement,” “service-learning,” “empowerment,” “sustainability,” and “social innovation” as the dominant research themes. Co-occurrence network and factorial analyses revealed strong interdisciplinary connections among community participation, public health, higher education, and sustainable development. This study further identifies emerging trends related to civic engagement, social impact, and post-COVID-19 educational transformation. This study further contributes by advancing a conceptual understanding of USR as a governance mechanism and social innovation as its operational outcome.