EU27 and USA leadership in fruit and vegetable research: a bibliometric study from 2000 to 2009 Marie-Violaine Tatry • Dominique Fournier • Benoı ˆt Jeannequin • Franc ¸oise Dosba Received: 19 August 2013 / Published online: 7 November 2013 Ó Akade ´miai Kiado ´, Budapest, Hungary 2013 Abstract We performed an analysis of published literature related to fruit and vegetable and indexed in the Web of Science Ò , covering the period 2000–2009. The EU27 and the USA are the two leading actors in terms of number of fruit and vegetable articles pub- lished. This paper compares their publication outputs using bibliometric methods. We assessed the fruit and vegetable species, topics (from Web of Science Ò categories), countries and institutions involved. The top species, topics and institutions are ranked according to their number of publications. Collaboration networks between countries were mapped to visualize the intensity of the relationships involved in international fruit and vegetable research and to obtain an overall picture of the fruit and vegetable research landscape. These results can be useful for policy makers. Keywords Fruit Á Vegetable Á Bibliometrics Á Research collaboration Á Europe Á USA Introduction The production of fruits and vegetables (F&V) is a key agricultural activity and plays an important economic role in many countries. In the European Union (EU27), F&V accounts M.-V. Tatry (&) Inra, UMR AGAP, Bat. 8, 2 Place Viala, 34060 Montpellier Cedex 2, France e-mail: [email protected]D. Fournier Inra, UAR378, SDAR ERIST, 34060 Montpellier, France e-mail: [email protected]B. Jeannequin Inra, UE0411 Alenya Roussillon, Le Mas Blanc, 66200 Alenya, France e-mail: [email protected]F. Dosba Montpellier SupAgro, UMR AGAP, TA-A 108/03 Av. Agropolis, 34398 Montpellier Cedex 5, France e-mail: [email protected]123 Scientometrics (2014) 98:2207–2222 DOI 10.1007/s11192-013-1160-z
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EU27 and USA Leadership in Fruit and Vegetable Research- A Bibliometric Study From 2000 to 2009
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EU27 and USA leadership in fruit and vegetableresearch: a bibliometric study from 2000 to 2009
blueberry, cranberry, raspberry, blackberry, litchi, black currant, quince, red currant,cornelian cherry
Vegetablespecies
Artichoke and cardoon (26); asparagus (21); brassicas (7); carrot and turnip (13); commonbean (16); cucumber (10); eggplant (11); garlic (17); ginger (25); gumbo (22); leek (24);lentil (23); lettuce, chicory et al. (14); manioc (3); melon and watermelon (5); onion (8);pea (20); pepper and sweet pepper (12); potato (2); spinach (18); squashes et al. (15);sweet corn et al. (1); sweet potato (6); taro (19); tomato (4); yam (9)
radish, faba bean, beet, shallot, chives and chervil
For the main economic species identified by FAOSTAT, their rank in terms of world production (tons in2008) is in brackets. Additional species are written in italics
With an F&V SI lower than 1, the USA focuses its research on scientific fields other
than F&V. In contrast, the EU27 has an F&V specialisation index above 1. This finding
shows that F&V research represents an important part of the scientific research in the
EU27.
Main F&V species and specialization index
The following results are related to the main F&V species, which account for more than
2 % of the F&V corpus.
Figures 2 and 3 provide information about the main species and their specialization
index for the USA and EU27. The horizontal axis measures share of publications for Fruit
(F) or Vegetable (V) species and the vertical axis measures the specialization index. These
figures allow the weight of EU27 and USA research carried on the different F&V species
to be estimated.
Figure 2 shows that with more than 10 % of F publications, olive, apple and fruits
(corresponding to cases where no particular fruit species is specified) are the major species
studied in the EU27. Apple, citrus and fruits are the major species studied in the USA.
Unlike the USA, EU27 research is highly specialized in olive; this can be explained by
its ancient local domestication and diffusion around the Mediterranean Basin. EU27
research is also specialized in cherry and wild cherry. Of all of the fruits, the EU27 is least
specialized in mango and blueberry.
USA research is highly specialized in four fruit species (blueberry, walnut, fruits, and
citrus) and weakly specialized in olive, kiwi, mango, banana and plantain.
Table 2 Percentage of publications in the F&V corpus and name of major countries (publishing at least2 % of F&V corpus) for the seven geographical areas of OST (in bold) (OST 2010)
Geographical area (OST) Percentage ofF&V corpus
Major countries (at least 2 % of F&V corpus)
Europe 40.6
EU 27 35.8 Spain (1st), Italy (2nd), UK (3rd),Germany (4th), France (5th), Netherlands (6th)
Other European countries 5.7 Turkey (1st)
North America 28.0 USA (1st), Canada (2nd)
Asia 21.3
Southeast Asia 16.0 Japan (1st), China (2nd), South Korea (3rd)
South Asia 5.4 India (1st)
Central and South America 8.0
South America 7.5 Brazil (1st)
Central America and Carribean 0.5
Africa 4.4
Sub-Saharan Africa 3.1
North Africa 1.3
Oceania 3.9
Australia and New Zealand 3.8 Australia (1st)
Other countries from Oceania 0.1
Near and Middle East 3.2
Scientometrics (2014) 98:2207–2222 2211
123
Figure 3 provides data for V species and shows that tomato, potato and vegetables
(corresponding to cases where no particular vegetable species is specified) are the major
vegetable species studies in the EU27 and the USA, representing over 10 % of V
publications.
EU27 research is highly specialized in pea (unlike the USA) and specialized in carrot
(unlike the USA), potato and tomato. EU27 research is not specialized in sweet potato
(unlike the USA) and garlic.
USA research is specialized in sweet corn et al., melon and watermelon, squashes et al.
and sweet potato, while the EU27 has a weak specialization in these species.
Fig. 1 Number of publications in the F&V corpus for European countries without Russia (WoS�
2000–2009)
Table 3 Number of publications and F&V specialization index for the F&V corpus (world), EU27 andUSA
Number of publications2000–2009
Share (%) Evolution between2000 and 2009 (%)
F&V specializationindex (SI)
World 90,751 – ?52.2 1.0
EU27 32,519 35.8 ?131.5 1.1
USA 20,838 23 ?38.0 0.7
2212 Scientometrics (2014) 98:2207–2222
123
Other species of world interest (such as manioc and mango) are studied relatively little
in Europe and USA. Research on these two species is conducted in Nigeria (manioc), India
(mango) and Brazil (both species) (data not shown).
Main WoS� categories and specialization index
Like numerous other bibliometric studies, we explored research fields through WoS�
categories.
The disciplinary profile of the F&V corpus is composed of 221 WoS� categories,
showing that F&V research covers a large range of disciplines and topics. However, 11
WoS� categories account for more than 2,000 publications in the F&V corpus. Plant
Sciences, Horticulture, Agronomy and Food Science and Technology encompass at least
15,000 publications of the F&V corpus (Table 4).
These four WoS� categories are also the main WoS� categories of the EU27 and the
USA, but not in the same order. For the EU27, Food Science and Technology is the third
WoS� category, followed by Agronomy and Chemistry, Applied. For the USA, Horti-
culture is the first WoS� category and Entomology is ranked fifth (compared to ninth in the
F&V corpus). The SI for the EU27 and the USA are calculated for these main WoS�
categories.
For the EU27, the highest SIs are identified for Chemistry, Applied (1.4), Genetics and
Heredity (1.4), Nutrition and Dietetics (1.3) and Food Science and Technology (1.2). In
contrast, the EU27 is not specialized in Entomology (0.7). For the USA, the highest SIs are
identified for Entomology (1.7) and Horticulture (1.1).
Main institutions and their specificities (WoS� categories and species)
Table 5 ranks the main research organizations and universities within the EU27 and the
USA which published over 400 papers between 2000 and 2009.
Fig. 2 Specialization index (SI) and percentage of fruit publications for the main fruit species (2 % of theworld fruit corpus) for the EU27 (black triangle) and the USA (white square) If SI [ 1, research is morespecialized than the world average
Scientometrics (2014) 98:2207–2222 2213
123
With 4,262 papers, USDA–ARS is the most active research organization in the F&V
field. The Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), French National Institute for
Agricultural Research (Inra), Wageningen University & Research Center (WUR) and
Italian National Research Council (CNR) are the most active European research institu-
tions and universities. Among the 26 main institutions, 15 are American and 18 are
universities showing that EU27 and USA F&V research landscape is mainly dominated by
Fig. 3 Specialization index (SI) and percentage of vegetable publications for the main vegetable species(2 % of the world vegetable corpus) for the EU27 (black triangle) and the USA (white square) If SI [ 1,research is more specialized than the world average
Table 4 Number of publication and specialization index for the EU27 and the USA for the main WoS�
categories, at least 2,000 publications in the F&V corpus
WoS� category Number of publicationsin F&V corpus
EU27 SI EU27 USA SI USA
Plant Sciences 22,163 8,505 1.1 5,118 1.0
Horticulture 21,711 7,145 0.9 5,575 1.1
Agronomy 15,334 5,838 1.1 2,827 0.8
Food Science and Technology 15,199 6,659 1.2 2,595 0.7
universities. For the EU27, Table 5 lists three Spanish institutions (CSIC, Polytech
Valencia and Ivia), three Italian institutions (CNR, CRA, University Bologna), two French
institutions (Inra and Cirad) and one university from United Kingdom (University
Warwick).
In countries where F&V research is conducted by numerous, different organizations, no
one organization may be ranked among the top. This is the case of Germany, which ranks
4th in terms of number of publications, although no German institution is ranked in
Table 5. In contrast, we note a Belgium university (Catholic University Leuven) in Table 5
although Belgium is ranked 8th among European countries with 1,299 F&V publications.
Table 5 provides additional information about the research fields (WoS� categories)
and main species studied by the EU27 and USA institutions which have published more
than 400 papers in the F&V corpus.
For 14 institutions, the main WoS� categories are Plant Sciences, Horticulture and
Agronomy. Nine institutions publish on Food Science and Technology, Plant Sciences,
Horticulture, and CSIC publishes on Food Science and Technology, Plant Sciences and
Chemistry, Applied. Only one American university (University California Riverside)
publishes in Plant Sciences, Entomology and Horticulture.
Tomato, potato and apple are the most studied species of the main institutions in
Table 5. They are species of agronomic interest and also model plants.
Some institutions listed in Table 5 studied fruit species (e.g. CRA, University Bologna,
Cirad and Ivia) while others studied vegetable species (WUR, University Wisconsin).
Among the American institutions listed in table 5, some conduct specific studies on
species of great economic interest for the state where the research is conducted. For
example, citrus is studied by University Florida, and Florida is the world’s leading pro-
ducer of grapefruit and second leading producer for oranges. The University of Georgia
works on blueberry, and Georgia was ranked 4th in the world for blueberry production in
2008. North Carolina State University studies sweet potato, and North Carolina is the
leading American state for sweet potato production. University of Wisconsin publishes
works on carrot and Wisconsin is ranked third among US states for carrot production.
For EU27 countries, Spanish institutions published works on olive (CSIC) and citrus
(University Polytech Valencia and Ivia). These two species are of economic interest for
Spain and University Polytech Valencia and Ivia are established in the province of
Valencia which is an area of citrus production.
Due to their historical heritage, some EU27 institutions also publish works on tropical
species: banana and plantain and coconut for Cirad (French research centre working with
developing countries) and banana and plantain for Laboratory of Tropical Crop
Improvement of Catholic University Leuven (Belgium).
Table 6 lists institutions from the USA and the EU27 which published more than 1,000
publications in the F&V corpus. SI were calculated for the main WoS� categories of the
F&V corpus (Table 4) and are shown only if superior to 1.
In the USA, USDA ARS and University of Florida are highly specialized in Ento-
mology. For EU27 countries, the highest SIs were identified for CSIC (Chemistry, Applied
and Food Science and Technology) and Inra (Genetics & Heredity). Some of the higher SIs
were for WoS� categories which are not in the main publishing WoS� categories.
International collaborations
We considered a paper to be an international co-publication when more than one country
was provided in the author address field. In the F&V corpus, almost 15.5 % of the
Scientometrics (2014) 98:2207–2222 2217
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publications result from international collaborations. The percentage of international col-
laborations is higher for the EU27 (26.2 %) and the USA (23.8 %) compared to the rest of
the world, which confirms the importance of international collaboration in F&V research.
Figure 4 shows the collaboration network of the EU27 and the USA, which involves
countries with whom they have published at least 100 papers from 2000 to 2009. The main
EU27 partnerships are with the USA (5.1 % of EU27 publications), China and Brazil. The
main USA partnerships are with the EU27 (7.9 % of USA publications), Mexico and
Canada.
Both the EU27 and USA collaborate with large advanced economies as well as with
new emerging and developing countries, but the EU27 works with a wider range of
partners than the USA. Indeed, the EU27 has co-published at least 100 papers with 23
different countries, including those in Africa (Tunisia, Morocco, Uganda, Nigeria), South
America (Chili, Argentina, Columbia), non EU27 members in Europe (Switzerland,
Norway and Russia), and India. Tunisia and Switzerland rank among the 10 main EU27
partners.
The USA has nine main partners with whom it have published at least 100 papers.
Turkey, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, Israel, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and China are
by far the most important USA partners.
At least 10 % of EU27 publications involve two or more EU27 countries. These
intra-EU27 collaborations are shown in Fig. 5. Many international collaborations involve
the six highest publishing EU27 countries (Spain, Italy, UK, Germany, France and
Netherlands), which publish together and with the USA as is shown on the network by
the width of the links. It is interesting to note important collaborations between Spain
and Portugal.
Table 6 Specialization indexes in the main WoS� categories of the F&V corpus for the USA and EU27institutions publishing more than 1,000 publications on F&V
Main USA and EU27 institutions,ISO alpha-2 code
Number of publications SI [ 1
USDA ARS, USA 4,262 Entomology (2.8)Horticulture (1.1)
CSIC, ES 2,129 Chemistry, Applied (3.2)Food Science and Technology (2.0)Agriculture, Multidisciplinary (1.9)Nutrition and Dietetics (1.3)Plant Sciences (1.1)
Univ Florida, USA 1,907 Entomology (2.3)Horticulture (1.5)
Inra, FR 1,613 Genetics and Heredity (2.7)Plant Sciences (1.2)Agronomy (1.1)Biotechnology and Applied
Microbiology (1.1)
Univ Calif Davis, USA 1,340 Entomology (1.1)Genetics and Heredity (1.1)
Wageningen Univ and Res Ctr, NL 1,302 Genetics and Heredity (1.5)
Cornell Univ, USA 1,177 Genetics and Heredity (1.5)
2218 Scientometrics (2014) 98:2207–2222
123
Fig. 4 Collaboration network between the EU27 and main countries (with more than 100 co-publications)performed by Gephi using Force Atlas 2 layout. The size of the nodes shows the number of F&Vpublications of each country (WoS�, 2000–2009). Links widths are proportional to number of collaborations
Fig. 5 Collaboration network between the USA and the main EU27 countries (with more than 50 co-publications), performed by Gephi using Force Atlas 2 layout. The size of the nodes shows the number ofF&V publications of each country (WoS�, 2000–2009). Links widths are proportional to number ofcollaborations
Scientometrics (2014) 98:2207–2222 2219
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Discussion
Our study identifies the most important countries in terms of their share in producing
the world’s scientific research papers related to fruit and vegetables. The EU27 and the
USA have produced respectively 35.8 and 23.0 % of the F&V publications. Several
studies have shown that the USA is the leader of the world’s scientific community
(National Science Board 2012), followed by the UK, China and Germany, but few
bibliometric studies consider the EU27 as a whole. Several reports indicate that
Europe has overtaken the USA as the world’s leader in scientific publications
(National Science Board 2012). Indeed, the EU27 is a political structure with an
objective of ‘‘strengthening its scientific and technological bases by achieving a
European research area’’. Our study confirms that the EU27 is the major scientific
actor in terms of F&V publications and Spain ranks 1st in the EU27. The principal
EU27 publishing countries are also the main F&V producers, as also has been shown
by Dalla Via and Baric (2012) for fruit publications.
From 2000 to 2009, the increase of F&V publications is comparable with the increase of
scientific publications in the WoS�. Although this increase may be explained by a larger
coverage of this database (Michels and Schmoch 2012), numerous studies consider that an
increase of research activity can be linked to a growing number of scientific publications
(Gupta et al. 1997). The increase of EU27 F&V publications is higher than that of world
F&V publications, suggesting that this field of research is very active in EU27 countries, in
contrast with the USA.
We identified the main organisations in terms of F&V publications in the EU27 and the
USA which are structuring the F&V research landscape. Depending on the country, F&V
research is performed by universities and/or research organisations.
We identified the F&V species studied by the main institutions in the EU27 and the
USA. Numerous papers deal with species which are studied for both their agronomic
interest and as model plants, such as apple, tomato and potato. Several institutions conduct
studies on species with a high regional economical weight, such as Citrus in Florida (USA)
and Valencia (Spain). These findings highlight the link between research and stakeholders
in agricultural production, as was pointed out in Germany by Dalla Via and Baric (2012).
Like numerous bibliometric studies, we explored research fields through WoS� cate-
gories. Our study shows that F&V research is at the convergence of several different
disciplines, topics and applied fields, including Plant Sciences, Horticulture, Agronomy
and Food Science and Technology.
Our data confirm the internationalization of research collaboration. Almost 15.5 % of
the F&V publications were produced through international collaborations, but this share is
higher for the EU27 and the USA at respectively 26.2 and 23.8 %. Collaboration between
EU27 and American institutions is strong; the two are each other’s major scientific partner
in the F&V field. The EU27 promotes international collaboration, but in the F&V field, our
data shows that only 10 % of publications involve at least two or more EU27 countries.
Mattsson et al. (2008) has shown that intra-EU co-publication patterns depend on scientific
research fields and has pointed out that agriculture and biology are among the research
fields with the least international collaboration.
The EU27 is opening up to the rest of the world, working not only with traditional,
large, advanced economies but also with emerging and developing countries. With a high
level of international collaborations, the EU27 plays an active role in global F&V scientific
research.
2220 Scientometrics (2014) 98:2207–2222
123
Conclusion
Our study provides a map of fruit and vegetable research based on the scientific publi-
cations indexed in the WoS� from 2000 to 2009. We chose to compare the EU27 with the
USA. We observed similarities and specialities in the fields and species studied and
highlighted the importance of scientific collaborations between the EU27 and USA. We
identified some significant points in F&V research where the EU27 predominate in terms
of F&V papers, followed by the USA. We can therefore conclude that the progressive
consolidation of the 27 European countries in the EU during the first decade of the 21st
century has had an effect on the development of intra-EU partnerships, including both EU
member countries and joint international programs. Existing scientific forces also are an
important element in decision support tools in terms of a potential mobilization of orga-
nizations sufficiently large to induce shifts in research topics, resources used, and partic-
ipation in major international programs.
Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank Christian Huyghe (Agriculture Scientific Direction,French National Institute for Agricultural Research (Inra)) for his encouragements and effective search forsources of funding.
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