Purpose -The paper aims to explore and identify the contributions to the literature available about trends in science and technology research at various levels. Design/methodology/approach -A deep scan of literature was carried out in an attempt to identify considerable works that have been published concerning various facets related to science and technology research. Varied search terms like "research", "research and research output", "science and technology research", "research collaboration", "research in universities", "importance of science and technology research", "issues in research", etc. were used for retrieving the literature from a range of online scholarly databases, search engines and allied web sources. Findings -The literature review reveals that a considerable amount of literature has been published related to science and technology research. However, keeping in view immense advancements and innovations in science and technology, scholarly output is still in its emergent phase. Practical implications -It is apparent from the study of existing literature that there is still vast scope for advanced exploration on the topic and the study paves the way for the concerned organizations and institutions (like universities, libraries and publishers) at national and international level to take substantial measures to boost research in the field of science and technology. Originality/value -The paper is the first ordered and makes an endeavour to review the literature and provides a summary of emerging trends in science and technology research.