Social Innovation: A Study of International Scientific Publication through Network Analysis

Abstract

Research on social innovation has grown significantly in the last decade. The objective of this study is to map the international scientific production on social innovation, in order to identify and cluster the variables of social innovation, through network analysis. The database used was Scopus, for the period ranging between 2010 and 2020. Through the analysis of the keywords of the articles, 35 categories were grouped, having as a criterion nature and the conceptual similarity, through the Node XL Software. The results demonstrate a network with four clusters: (1) Social Entrepreneurship, Social Value, and Innovation; (2) Co-creation, Technology, and Sustainability; (3) Social Innovation, Organizational Aspects, and Business Model; and (4) the Non-profit Sector, Strategy, and Learning. The most cited categories, beyond social innovation, were social entrepreneurship and organizational aspects, whose focus of analysis takes place at the organizational level, i.e., resources and capabilities needed for the process of developing social innovation. Also, research gaps have been identified, as networks of actors, community, and social innovation ecosystems.