Implementation of Imitation Strategies in the Innovative Behavior of Companies: Bibliometric Analysis

The article presents the results of a study of the evolution of key patterns of scientific publications dedicated to the use of imitation strategies by companies.Achieving the set goal is ensured by solving two interdependent tasks: forming a relevant sample of scientific articles (759 publications on selected issues, indexed by the scientometric database Web of Science, for the period 1986-2025) and analyzing the coincidence of keywords to characterize the current state of the research field and modern trends.The chosen keywords are the combinations "imitation strategy, innovation" or "innovation, imitation, strategy".Bibliometric analysis and visualization of its results were carried out using the software product VOSviewer v1.6.20.Based on the visualization maps, seven clusters were identified based on the coincidence of the content of keywords in the articles and five stages of evolutionary development of the issue of innovative behavior of companies.The results obtained can be used in the study of various aspects of the implementation of imitation strategies by companies.