The different vintages of the CIS surveys can be compared up to and including CIS2016, modulo possible changes in question wording. The evolution of adjustment methods may affect certain developments at the margin.  

However, a break in the series is to be noted from CIS2018 onwards. Indeed, following the 4th edition of the Oslo manual, only two types of innovation are now defined from CIS2018 (products or processes including organization and marketing), compared to four for CIS2016 (products, processes, organization, marketing), and some questions previously asked only to innovative companies are now asked to all companies. It is therefore necessary to be vigilant on the comparison between CIS2018 and previous surveys.