KTT strategies for scientific institutions: understanding the past to help build the future

Purpose – This paper aims to identify the current situation of the research that analyzes KTT strategies in scientific institutions. Design/methodology/approach – To systematize the empirical evidence that emerged from academic debates in the field, the study breaks down, through a Systematic Literature Review (SLR), 42 papers from the Web of Science database. The author divides the sample into three clusters: environmental impact, institutional effectiveness, and individual strategies, according to its unit of analysis. Findings – The findings indicate that the alignment of KTT activities with the strategic objectives of the institutions is fundamental for positive outcomes. In addition to that, the resources for obtaining relevant results are the quality and the availability of human capital in scientific institutions, public companies, and support organizations. Finally, there is a stream of research that criticizes the exclusively commercial approach of the phenomenon. Research limitations – The Web of Science database relies on being the manly coverage for scientific publications in general. So, due to the choice for composing this sample with papers written only in English, untranslated studies were excluded from this analysis. Originality/value – The contribution for Literature relies on proposing a future research agenda based on identified gaps and current topics, discussing the results of previous studies that can support the decision-making of these organizations at developing efficient KTT strategies for themselves.