Innovation is a key aspect for the sustainability and competitiveness of organisations, and
of the economy in general. In recent years, Open Innovation (OI) has burst onto the scene as a more
open approach, in which the sources and exchange of knowledge are extended beyond organisational
borders. One of the main actors and providers of knowledge is the University. The literature related
to OI and the University is very prolific, but at the same time dispersed. This paper aims to expand
on the trend in research on OI and University. To do this, bibliometric techniques have been used to
analyse a sample of 349 articles from journals indexed in the Web of Science (WoS) between 2005 and
2020. The results suggest that there is a high level of interest in research on this subject and that it is in
full swing. The focus of the research is on topics such as collaboration, business–industry, R&D, networks,
performance or knowledge-transfer. Emerging themes such as knowledge-spillover or absorptive-capacity
appear, which are related to the research sensitivity on the true use of the knowledge generated. In
recent years, there has been a trend towards research into entrepreneurship, key aspects of R&D
such as strategy and cooperation, or education management. With regard to research related to
University–Enterprise cooperation, the focus has been on SMEs, Helix models, entrepreneurship, or
commercialisation. Finally, there are areas of research that require greater development related to
family businesses and SMEs. This work sheds light on the state of the literature related to OI and
University and is very useful for the orientation of future work in the field of research.
