Abstract:Responsible research and innovation (RRI) started from the discussion of responsible ethics in the scientific community and later permeated into the research on social development and emerging science and technology development. At present, there is a lack of systematic review of global RRI research progress and development context in China, therefore, this paper collects 1 599 relevant literature in the Web of Science core collection database from 1999 to 2022 as the research objects, uses the bibliometric method and main path analysis to clarifies the knowledge evolution of RRI from five dimensions, namely, publication trend, leading research forces, hot research topics, knowledge evolution path, and key research contents, also reveals the leading research forces and hot research themes, to provide a reference for the decision-making of science and technology policy management in China and the domestic RRI research development. It finds that: international RRI research entered a rapid development stage in 2012, currently there are more research results in the fields of history and philosophy of science, morality and ethics, management, social science, etc., and the basic knowledge structure of the research is complete and the main path is clear, and there are 10 core papers; the leading research countries are the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, and Spain, and China ranks 15th; the leading research institutions are Wageningen University, Delft University of Technology, Arizona State University, Oxford University, De Montfort University, and the core scholars include Stilgoe, Owen, Stahl, Fisher, and Blok; three major thematic clusters are formed, including research ethics and research integrity in the process of science and technology innovation, ethical risks in citizen science and emerging technologies, and innovation management systems and sustainable development. The key research contents are broadly divided into four major areas, including responsible innovation under public participation mechanisms, ethical governance of emerging technologies, responsible research on nanotechnology, and research on political corporate social responsibility. As a result, the research development of responsible research and innovation in China is suggested to strengthen the role of policy leadership, follow the international frontier hotspots and key research directions, and pay attention to empirical research.