Frugal innovation in education: a bibliometric analysis of scientific production

Abstract

Frugal innovation has emerged as a relevant approach to addressing educational challenges in contexts marked by budget constraints, socioeconomic inequalities, and infrastructure limitations. This article analyzes the scientific production on frugal innovation in education from 2013 to 2025 through a bibliometric analysis of articles indexed in the Scopus database. A quantitative and descriptive approach is adopted, using the Bibliometrix package to examine the temporal evolution of publications, leading authors, institutions, countries, funding sources, thematic areas, and scientific collaboration networks. The results reveal recent but irregular growth in scientific output, a high dispersion of authors and institutions, geographic concentration in Global North countries, and a predominance of public funding. Thematically, the literature is concentrated in the social sciences, management, engineering, and digital technologies, with an emphasis on sustainability, social innovation, and educational inclusion. It is concluded that the field is still in the process of consolidation, showing high potential for applications in educational contexts characterized by resource scarcity.

Keywords: innovation management; educational technology; bibliometrics.