Technological innovation is accelerating advancements in artificial intelligence, 5G networks and biotechnology, driven by significant R&D investment and strong government support in emerging Asian countries. This study uses bibliometric analysis to conduct a critical review of technological innovation research in East Asia (China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan), revealing its development, trends and significant issues and research tendencies. We use a sample of 3925 Scopus-indexed documents from 1982 to 2022 to explore a wide bibliometric analysis and network-clusters analysis of emerging research, as well as to examine future research directions using multiple softwares such as R-Studio, VOSviewer, Biblioshiny and BibTex. The study reveals that technological innovation in East Asia has increased rapidly since 2012, with the most influential and contributing authors being Lee N., Trung T., Lin B., Khan Z. and Murshed M. (37% of 20 most cited authors) and China and South Korea being the most contributing countries. Additionally, the Beijing Institute of Technology (China), Sungkyunkwan University (South Korea), The University of Kitakyushu (Japan) and China Medical University (Taiwan) were found to be the top institutions in regarding research productivity. While the keywords "technological development" and "environmental regulation" have been growing steadily since 2012, "Industrial technology", technology innovation capacity," "information technology" and "technology diffusion" have gained popularity over the past decade. However, we find a paucity of research in this field in Taiwan. Our results suggest that research in these areas is growing, with new approaches and directions emerging, but there are significant gaps, particularly in innovation management, technology policy and product development. This study has significant policy implications for technological innovation management critical for national innovation systems, as well as a collaborative opportunity for academia to understand future trends.

Generative Networks commonly referred to as GANs or “Generative Adversarial Networks”, are a category of multi-layer perceptron that has emerged in recent years based on unsupervised type of machine learning. Since their conception, they have been widely studied all over the world due to their vast potential in multiple fields; image synthesis, computer vision, data augmentation and natural language processing, to name a few. It is an ongoing research topic with new network architectures being proposed for various purposes despite the existence of a variety of publications. Generative networks have been widely studied and the research in this field continues to evolve. This study aimed to provide an in-depth analysis of the present state of generative networks for image generation. The analysis is based on a thorough examination of publications, authors, funding sponsors and affiliated institutions from reputable databases like “Scopus” and “Web of Science”. Additionally, the study explored network characteristics such as co-authorship patterns, collaborations between countries, contributions, citations and keywords for a thorough analysis. This analysis revealed the substantial involvement of East Asian countries, notably China, within the realm of generative networks. The primary funding sponsors for this research predominantly hailed from East Asian countries, particularly China, South Korea and Japan. Additionally, the largest volume of documents and authors also originated from China.

This study examines the research funding in South Korea's academic system. It centers on the funding distribution activities of the National Research Foundation, stressing the need to strike a balance between funding that is motivated by research quality or excellence and the equal distribution of resources. To do this, the study analyzes data spanning five years, from 2017 to 2021, and finds differences in research output and funding allocation based on organizational and individual factors. The findings show that although funding opportunities have improved over the past five years, the disparity has worsened. Research productivity appears to be positively correlated with funding levels at the individual level. Except for 2021, we see an overall rising trend in funding and publication inequality. Research productivity at the university level, except for medical and pharmaceutical science, often follows the same trend as funding allocation. A comparable pattern regarding funding inequality has been noted about publishing inequality across disciplines. Fascinatingly, university financing inequality has a pattern comparable to that of publishing inequality, except for capital-area universities in 2021. Finally, we propose various policy implications for the academic system based on the outcomes of this investigation.

How do intelligent technology innovation systems develop? How do institutional factors influence the development of innovation systems? This study adopted the National/Sectoral Innovation System as the main framework to study the dynamics of intelligent technology innovation system in Taiwan. Combining scientometric mapping, social network analysis, Multi Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM), and 33 interviews to understand the interactions between key stakeholders and the institutions in the intelligent technology sector in Taiwan. The results show that a relatively large proportions of foreign technologies are widely adopted into the system through international business networks. Regarding commercial applications, firms prefer to introduce foreign technology through international business networks. This illustrates the needs of commercializations of domestic technological research and development. The future policy should promote academia-industry collaborations to enhance the commercializations of scientific research outcomes. This research contributes to enhance the knowledge flow in the innovation system, thus, to upgrade the national capabilities of small emerging economies in East Asia.

This study develops a diagnostic toolkit designed to evaluate innovation systems in developing nations, featuring 17 indicators across six categories based on national innovation systems theories and the system failure framework, with a focus on reflexivity and demand articulation issues. The toolkit was tested in three ASEAN countries—Cambodia, Indonesia, and Thailand— using China and Korea as benchmarks. Its innovative approach lies in offering benchmarks and targets through comparisons with peer countries' positions and outlining potential pathways. The research utilizes a heatmap dashboard to contrast the innovation performance of each country against the average of its income group, integrating these findings into a country gap profile. This profile aids in crafting innovation policy recommendations tailored to a country’s specific developmental needs and innovation system characteristics. The study significantly contributes to scientometric literature by introducing a practical, theory-based indicator system for innovation policy aimed at developing countries and enhances understanding of national innovation systems, particularly in the under-researched ASEAN context.

Open Access publishing offers increased visibility, accessibility and quality assurance, promoting transparency in research. Governments worldwide are increasingly promoting open access to research findings, recognizing its importance in advancing knowledge and innovation. They are mandating open access publication of research findings, often funding Article Processing Charges (APCs) on behalf of authors. The study aims to examine the impact of Gold Open Access in ASEAN countries, analyzing research output and OA publishing culture across all fields of knowledge. It has investigated funding sources for APCs, average APCs in different fields and top journals for ASEAN researchers. This research will provide valuable insights for policymakers, funding agencies and institutions, supporting evidence-based strategies for a more equitable and sustainable open access landscape in ASEAN. Gold open access publishing, by providing unrestricted access to scientific research, fosters knowledge dissemination, accessibility, visibility, transparency and inclusivity and collaboration within the National Innovation System. This accessibility accelerates the exchange of ideas, promotes interdisciplinary research and facilitates innovation across academia, industry and government. The present study analyzed 1303 articles published under the Gold Open Access publishing model. The University of Putra, Malaysia, was the top contributor; the journal Sustainability, with an Impact Factor (IF) of 3.9, published 233 articles that accrued 3563 citations. The published research focused on various themes and subthemes pertaining to Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2023.

In an era marked by rapid economic growth, the nations of East Asia and the ASEAN stand at the forefront of innovation and sustainable development. Despite their significant progress, the depth of their research and innovation contributions has not been fully explored. This study aims to fill this gap by examining a comprehensive collection of 33,685 publications that have contributed to 21% of the global research efforts related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) since 2015. Focusing on China’s leadership in SDG 7, “Affordable and Clean Energy,” and the substantial efforts of countries such as Japan, Indonesia, the United States, South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and Singapore, this research provides a detailed view of the innovation landscape in these regions. By utilizing advanced methods such as bibliometrics and BERTopic analyses, this study offers macroscopic as well as microscopic insights into innovation systems in the combined region of East Asia and ASEAN, thereby making it the first of its kind. As our study revealed an ongoing shift toward Industry 5.0, technological clusters related to key technologies such as digital twins, blockchain, network robotics, 3D printing or additive manufacturing will be game-changing technologies, while strategies based on digital and ICTs will be the key for marketing and managerial roadmaps of the region. By proposing evidence-based policy recommendations and highlighting the importance of embracing technologies crucial for Industry 5.0, this research presents valuable insights for building a more inclusive and sustainable future and for strengthening the innovation ecosystems of constituent countries. This study not only enriches the academic discussion on sustainable development and innovation but also provides practical guidance for policymakers, researchers and stakeholders across East Asia and the ASEAN, aiming to enhance the impact and effectiveness of their research and innovation ecosystems.

As global interest in ESG has skyrocketed, research on the impact of ESG on firm risk and financial performance has also emerged as a trending area of investigation. The aim of this study is to furnish a thorough overview of existing research on the impact of ESG on firm risk and financial performance. We present a systematic literature review of recent published articles. To this end, 35 articles on ESG and firm risk and 120 articles on ESG and financial performance from January 2013 to September 2023 were reviewed. Findings reveal, first, research on the impact of ESG on firm risk and financial performance is increasingly gaining attention. Second, most of the research themes focus on idiosyncratic risk, systematic risk, stock price crash risk and default risk, while market-based and accounting-based financial performance is almost evenly split. Third, scholars have used diverse research methods but most of them use fixed effects of panel model. Moreover, scholars have not reached a consensus conclusion on this topic. For East Asia and ASEAN countries, the research methods employed are not yet sufficiently diverse. This paper comprehensively summarizes the research methods and subdivisions on this topic. This explores research gaps and provides insights for future research. In addition, this study provides a reference for East Asia and ASEAN countries to achieve sustainable economic growth and development.

This study aims to facilitate a comprehensive investigation into the scientific activities of the ASEAN Plus Three countries in the field of academic entrepreneurship. Through careful selection of the relevant literature using multidisciplinary database, Web of Science and R packages for bibliometric analysis, this study present insights into the thematic and conceptual structure of the domain. The findings highlight the growth of publications in 2022, attributed to research in the field of academic entrepreneurship in developing economies. The findings highlight underdeveloped themes such as academic capitalism, entrepreneurial intentions and entrepreneurial education, which have the potential to advance future research and boost economic growth in these Southeast Asian developing economies. To encapsulate the country and institutional dimensions, the VOSviewer software was used. China, South Korea and Malaysia are among the top contributing nations, whereas Tsinghua University, Jilin University and University of Tokyo are the top institutions contributing to the domain literature, indicating the popularity of the concept in these regions. Considering the crucial nature of academic entrepreneurship, this study attempts to provide an effective source of reference for stakeholders, such as researchers, decision-making authorities and organizations involved in nurturing the National Innovation System through entrepreneurship in higher educational setting.

The rapid proliferation of Fintech innovations has revolutionized financial services, presenting both opportunities and challenges. In this context, ensuring web accessibility of these innovative systems becomes paramount to ensure inclusive access for diverse user demographics. As financial technology continues to revolutionize the global payment landscape, ensuring web accessibility for diverse users becomes increasingly paramount. This paper presents a Scientometric analysis of the current state of web accessibility in Fintech payment systems, focusing on the inclusivity of diverse users’ groups. In recent times, this scientometric analysis has been emerging as an engaging approach to assess the efficacy of specific areas of study, offering dynamic visualizations and figures across various dimensions of information retrieval. It serves as a valuable tool for consolidating literature-based evidence from diverse scientific databases. Notably, the Web of Science and Scopus databases have been used to collect publications till 2023, facilitating research into Web accessibility in South Asian Nations. The findings reveal a notable trajectory in web accessibility research in recent years. The research aims to assess the current landscape of web accessibility research based in South Asian nations using the scientometric analysis. The analysis revealed a significant upward trend in publications on web accessibility, with the number of papers increasing in 2023. A total of 38 authors in Scopus and 41 authors in Web of Accessibility actively contributed to the research. Furthermore, the publications garnered 144 citations in Web of Science and 27citations in Scopus and also fetched the top cited papers on the mentioned topic. The overall research presented that web accessibility for diverse users within the South Asian Nations is a burgeoning field with considerable potential for future exploration. The paper also tries to establish that ensuring web accessibility in fintech payment system for various users in the South Asian nations aligns with the Sustainable Development Goal 10 (Reduced Inequalities), by promoting inclusive and equitable access to financial services, thus contributing to the overarching goal of reducing disparities within and among countries.