Scientometrics of cereal crops research in India as reflected through Indian Science Abstracts and CAB Abstracts during 1965-2010

The paper analyses publication output of India on cereal crops as reflected by its coverage in Indian Science Abstracts (ISA) and CAB Abstracts during 1965-2010.The analysis indicates that highest number of papers (43.80%) was published on rice, followed by wheat (24.28%). Agricultural universities and institutions under aegis of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) were most productive. Most of the papers were published in Indian journals with low impact factor. The highest number of papers was published in Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences, followed by Indian Journal of Agronomy, Madras Agricultural Journaland Journal of Maharashtra Agricultural University. Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi,Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatoreand Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhianacontributed about 7% of papers each. The major research was focused on ‘genetic and plant breeding’ (28.2%) followed by ‘agronomic aspects’ (27.9%) and pest, diseases and pest control (19.7%). The authorship pattern reveals that co-authored papers accounted for 90% of total output. Citation analysis of the study using Google scholar reveals that 57% of the papers remained uncited and 36.8% papersreceived citations ranging from 1 to 10.Highest number of citations were received by papers published in Indian Journal of Agronomy(1446), followed by Indian Journal of Agricultural Science (1211), Euphytica (1109) and Theoretical and Applied Genetics (1000