This January commemorates the anniversary of the untimely loss of our friend and colleague, long-time member of the Editorial Board of Scientometrics, Hariolf Grupp. His oeuvre and personality was duly recaptured by his closest associates, Ulrich Schmoch and Anthony F. J. Van Raan in their Obituary published in Scientometrics, Vol. 80, No. 2 (2009) 305–306. The present issue of the journal is dedicated to the memory of Professor Grupp by collecting a set of papers recently submitted to Scientometrics in the topic closest to him: scientometric analysis of innovation and development. We sincerely hope that this collection can be considered a modest contribution to keep the legacy of Hariolf Grupp alive.