Tools for producing indicators from a bibliometric study of scientific production: the case of fruit and vegetable publications by the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA)

Abstract

Introduction. The fruit and vegetable sector group of the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) undertook a bibliometric analysis of INRA scientific academic literature on fruits and vegetables for the 2000–2006 period. This study made it possible to produce quantitative and qualitative indicators that will shed light on the institute's scientific position in relation to the fruit and vegetable sectors. Materials and methods. Different steps were taken to constitute and process a corpus of INRA researcher publication data. The citation corpus gathering bibliographic data was constituted using the Web of Science. The Sphinx data processing program allowed the constituted databases to be structured and manipulated. Results. After the data were cleaned, there was a total of 1463 articles published by INRA authors between 2000 and 2006; this constituted the “fruit and vegetable corpus” studied, which represented 8% of the total number of INRA publications during this period. The typology of fruits and vegetables studied at INRA, the INRA research centres involved, the main subjects addressed by INRA research divisions and the national and international partnerships of INRA authors were analysed. Conclusion. The analysis presented highlights the overall magnitude of research dedicated to fruits and vegetables at INRA. This research is undertaken in the principal research centres of horticulture and/or fruit regions, with a high level of involvement of Southeast centres of France. Partnerships with other French and foreign organisations are numerous. This assessment allows an understanding of the rapid evolution of research that has occurred over the past several years in the fruit and vegetable field, notably the growing involvement of nutrition and consumer sciences. The development of multi-disciplinary and integrated approaches must also be emphasised.