Mapping the invisible colleges of R&D Management

R&D Management has consistently been considered one of the top technology and innovation management journals since its inaugural issue in 1970. The purpose of this paper is to use bibliometric techniques to examine R&D Management in four time periods, 1986-1990, 1991-1995, 1996-2000, and 2001-2005 in order to reveal changes in its intellectual base. Bibliometric research has illuminated the knowledge domains of several technology and innovation management journals including R&D Management Linton and Thongpapanl, but there has not previously been a comprehensive detailed analysis focused only on R&D Management. Using co-citation analysis, this paper identifies the invisible colleges (research networks) associated with publications in R&D Management. The results indicate that Cohen and Levinthal's absorptive capacity model dominates the final two periods. The conclusions suggest how the absorptive capacity model might be more effectively utilized in future R&D Management research.