Authors:
Stanislaw Kosecki National Agricultural Library, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Abraham Lincoln Building, 10301 Baltimore Avenue, Beltsville, MD 20705-2351, USA

Search for other papers by Stanislaw Kosecki in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
,
Robbin Shoemaker National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 800 Ninth St., S.W., Washington, DC 20024, USA

Search for other papers by Robbin Shoemaker in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
, and
Charlotte Kirk Baer National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 800 Ninth St., S.W., Washington, DC 20024, USA

Search for other papers by Charlotte Kirk Baer in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
Restricted access

Abstract

This article presents for the first time a portrait of intramural research conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). We describe the nature, characteristics, and use of USDA research based on scientometric indicators using patent analysis and three bibliometric methods: publication analysis, citation analysis, and science mapping. Our analyses are intended to be purely descriptive in nature. They demonstrate that USDA maintains several core scientific competencies and its research is much broader than and reaches well beyond traditional agricultural sciences for which it is best known. We illustrate the current status, recent trends, and clear benchmarks for planning and assessing future USDA research across an array of scientific disciplines.

  • Adams, J, Griliches, Z 1996 Colloquium paper: Measuring science: An exploration. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 93:1266412670 .

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Fordis, BJ, Sung, ML 1995 How to avoid patent rejection. Bio/Technology 13:4243 .

  • Fuglie, K. O., & Heisey, P. (2007). Economic returns to public agricultural research. USDA ERS. Economic Brief No. (EB-10). http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/eb10/eb10.pdf. Accessed Sep 2007.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Goldstein, H, Spiegelhalter, D 1996 League tables and their limitations: statistical issues in comparisons of institutional performance-with discussion. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A 159:385443.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Griliches, Z 1990 Patent statistics as economic indicators: A survey. Journal of Economic Literature 28 December 16611707.

  • Heisey, P. W., King, J. L., Rubenstein K.D., & Shoemaker, R. (2006). Government patenting and technology transfer. USDA-ERS Economic Research Report No. (ERR-15). http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/err15/err15d.pdf. Accessed Mar 2006.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Hoeffel, C 1998 Journal impact factors [letter]. Allergy 53 12 1225 .

  • Huffman, W, Evenson, RE 2006 Science for agriculture: A long term perspective Blackwell Oxford .

  • Jorgenson, DW, Ho, MS, Stiroh, KJ 2008 A retrospective look at the U.S. productivity growth resurgence. Journal of Economic Perspectives 22:324 .

  • King, D. A. (2004). The scientific impact of nations. Nature, 430, 311316. http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file11959.pdf. Accessed Aug 2009.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Leydesdorff, L 2006 The knowledge-based economy: Modeled, measured, simulated Universal Publishers Boca Raton, FL.

  • Monastersky, R 2005 The number that's devouring science: The impact factor, once a simple way to rank scientific journals, has become an unyielding yardstick for hiring, tenure, and grants. The Chronicle of Higher Education 52 8 A12.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • National Academies. (2008). Evaluating research efficiency in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Committee on Evaluating the Efficiency of Research and Development Programs at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Research Council, National Academies Press. http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12150. Accessed 10 Oct 2009.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • National Science Foundation. (2008). Science and engineering indicators. http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind08/. Accessed 28 Sep 2009.

  • Opthof, T 1997 Sense and nonsense about the impact factor. Cardiovascular Research 33:17 .

  • Pouris, A, Pouris, A 2009 The State of science and technology in Africa (2000–2004): A scientometric assessment. Scientometrics 79 2 297309 .

  • Price, D. J. de Solla. (1975). The productivity of research scientist. In Yearbook of science and the future. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc., University of Chicago.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Price, D. J. de Solla. (1980). The citation cycle. In B. C. Griffith (ed.), Key papers in information science (pp. 195210). White Plains, NY: Knowledge Industry Publications.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Science-Metrix. (2004). The use of bibliometrics in the social sciences and humanities. Study report for Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. http://www.science-etrix.com/pdf/SM_2004_008_SSHRC_Bibliometrics_Social_Science.pdf. Accessed May 2009.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Shane, M., Roe, T., & Gopinath, M. (1998). U.S. agricultural growth and productivity: An economywide perspective. Agricultural Economics Reports 34047, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/aer758/. Accessed 19 Sep 2009.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Solow, RM 1957 Technical change and the aggregate production function. Review of Economics and Statistics 39:312320 .

  • Thomson Reuters Essential Science Indicators. (2008). 1 January 1998-31 October 2008. http://esi-topics.com/. Accessed Feb 2009.

  • Thomson Reuters Journal Citation Reports®. (2009). Thomson Reuters. http://isiwebofknowledge.com. Accessed 10 Dec 2009.

  • U.S. Department of Agriculture. (2009). Technology Transfer Annual Reports (2001-2008). http://www.ars.usda.gov/Business/Business.htm. Accessed 10 Dec 2009.

  • U.S. Department of Agriculture Current Research Information System. (2009). http://cris.csrees.usda.gov/. Accessed 10 Dec 2009.

  • U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. (2009). http://www.uspto.gov/. Accessed 10 Dec 2009.

  • Vinkler, P 2007 Eminence of scientists in the light of the h-index and other scientometric indicators. Journal of Information Science 33:481491 .

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Collapse
  • Expand

To see the editorial board, please visit the website of Springer Nature.

Manuscript submission: http://www.editorialmanager.com/scim/

For subscription options, please visit the website of Springer Nature.

Scientometrics
Language English
Size B5
Year of
Foundation
1978
Volumes
per Year
1
Issues
per Year
12
Founder Akadémiai Kiadó
Founder's
Address
H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245.
Publisher Akadémiai Kiadó
Springer Nature Switzerland AG
Publisher's
Address
H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245.
CH-6330 Cham, Switzerland Gewerbestrasse 11.
Responsible
Publisher
Chief Executive Officer, Akadémiai Kiadó
ISSN 0138-9130 (Print)
ISSN 1588-2861 (Online)