Nesta in the UK is a charity set up by the UK government to promote innovation and do a lot of excellent research on incubation and acceleration and provide good advice both to accelerators and incubators. Some links are: http://www.nesta.org.uk/help-startups http://www.nesta.org.uk/project/accelerating-startups http://www.nesta.org.uk/publications/startup-factories http://www.nesta.org.uk/publications/good-incubation http://www.nesta.org.uk/publications/incubation-growth http://www.nesta.org.uk/publications/startup-support-programmes-whats-difference http://www.nesta.org.uk/publications/startup-accelerator-programmes-practice-guide http://www.nesta.org.uk/publications/look-inside-accelerators