The Evolving Scenarios of Innovation Research across Time and Space: A Comparison of China, Germany, and the U.S.

Innovation is widely recognized as a critical driver of socio-economic development, drawing sustained attention from both scholars and policymakers. Yet despite extensive research, a systematic and comparative understanding of how innovation studies have evolved across time and space remains limited. This study employs a bottom-up strategy using topic modeling to trace the thematic evolution of innovation research over the past several decades. Through a comparative analysis of China, Germany, and the US, it uncovers divergent topic trajectories and shifting patterns of scholarly attention. Particular emphasis is placed on China as a rapidly emerging contributor to global innovation scholarship. The findings not only provide new insights into the global landscape of innovation studies but also shed light on China's efforts to strengthen its international academic discourse power-demonstrating both the opportunities and challenges of translating rising research capacity into globally influential knowledge production.