University–industry linkages and agendas for future studies: a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis

PurposeThis study aims to theoretically and experimentally investigate the literature on university–industry linkages (UILs) through a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis. Seven research questions were addressed in the present study: (1) descriptive characteristics of the literature on UIL, (2) trends of annual scientific publications on UIL, (3) the most relevant and high-impact sources on UIL, (4) the most globally cited articles on UIL, (5) the most relevant countries on UIL, (6) outcomes of Bradford's Law of Scattering and Lotka's Law of scientific productivity and (7) the trending research areas and avenues for future studies on UIL.Design/methodology/approach Systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis mapping techniques were applied to the present study to analyze 907 articles extracted from the Scopus database. Analysis tools used were Biblioshiny software and VOSviewer software.Findings Findings show that the UIL is a progressively growing discipline with a record of a 5.71% average annual growth rate in scientific production each year from 1970 to 2023. The United States, China and the United Kingdom were the most productive countries in the field of UIL in terms of total scientific production and citations. Academic entrepreneurship, industrial ecology, social network analysis, active learning, engineering education, health economics, public health, university–industry relationships, communication, causal layered analysis and competitiveness are the potential avenues for future researchers in the field of UIL based on the thematic map of keywords analysis.Originality/value This study contributes to the debate on UIL by offering a comprehensive literature review. The findings of the current study will benefit graduates, universities, industries and the community at large.