Rethinking innovation narratives in mature GNSS-based deformation analysis

Novelty and innovation are frequently emphasized in scientific publishing, yet the distinction between methodological innovation and other forms of scientific contribution is often unclear. This commentary examines how innovation-oriented language is used in recent GNSS-based deformation research, considering the broader transition of GNSS from an emerging geodetic technique to a mature and established observation infrastructure. A bibliometric search of Scopus-indexed articles published between 2020 and 2025 identified 445 studies related to GNSS-based crustal deformation. Among these, 34 articles explicitly used terminology associated with novelty or innovation in their titles, abstracts, or keywords. These studies were individually analyzed and classified according to the dimension in which novelty was claimed: (A) methodological novelty; (B) integration of multiple data sources and/or methodologies; (C) new scientific application; (D) new regional case study; and (E) new dataset or observation network. Half of the identified articles were classified as presenting methodological novelty, while the remainder primarily involved new applications, geographic contexts, data integration, or observational contributions. The analysis demonstrates that methodological advances continue to emerge in GNSS-based deformation research, but also shows that novelty frequently arises through the application, extension, or combination of established methods. These contributions are scientifically valuable but conceptually distinct from methodological innovation. Greater precision in the use of terms such as “new” and “innovative” can therefore improve scientific communication, provide a more accurate representation of the maturity of GNSS-based methodologies, and promote balanced recognition of both methodological advances and incremental or applied contributions.