Documentation, Analysis and Quantitative Evaluation of Iranian National Conferences of Saffron (Seven Conferences: 1988-2024)

Introduction: Scientometrics, or bibliometric analysis, is a common methods for evaluating scientific production, activities, and research management. This method is a quantitative approach for measuring scientific information across various fields of science. This method of analysis can reflect the latest scientific developments, research directions, and important research topics. By using this method, it is possible to identify influential researchers, journals, and the publication trends in any scientific field. In Iran, Primary agronomic research on saffron has a history of about 80 years. One of the most important achievements of this research history is the holding of specialized scientific conferences on saffron. So far, seven national conferences have been held on saffron production and technology, and hundreds of articles have been published in them. However, documenting and quantitatively evaluating the results of these conferences is of particular importance, and this can be done using the scientometric method.
 
Materials and Methods: In this study the documentation of national conferences of saffron and the quantitative evaluation of scientific information published in these conferences was evaluated. So far, seven national conferences on saffron have been held in Iran, the first of them was held in Qaen in 1988 and the last one was held in Birjand in 2024.
 
Results and Discussion: The provinces of South-Khorasan (three times) and Razavi-Khorasan (four times) have been the only organizers of the national conferences of saffron. So far, 98 researchers have been the members of the scientific committee of these seven conferences. Abbas Hemmati-Kakhki and Abdullah Mollafilabi have been the members of this committee in all seven conferences. During the seven sessions of this conference, 601 articles have been published, the largest number of these (239 articles) belongs to the seventh conference, which was held by the University of Birjand. The highest ratio of the number of research articles to review articles was recorded in the fourth session of the conference at Bozorgmehr University of Qaenat. In the first session of the conference, articles were received from only four provinces of the country, which reached 20 provinces in the last conference session, and in total, 27 provinces have been involved in publishing articles in these seven conferences. Researchers from Razavi-Khorasan and South-Khorasan provinces have participated in 271 and 156 articles, respectively, during the seven conference sessions as authors, and in this respect, they have a much higher share compared to the other provinces of the country. So far, researchers from 180 universities and research centers have participated as authors in all sessions of the National Conference of Saffron, the lowest and highest number of which are related to the first and seventh sessions of the conference with 9 and 100 centers, respectively. Researchers from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (111 articles), University of Birjand (95 articles), Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center of Khorasan/Khorasan Razavi (66 articles), and University of Torbat Heydarieh (63 articles) have had the most presence as authors in the articles published during the seven sessions of the Saffron Conference. During all sessions of the conference, 923 authors have been present in the articles, the seventh and fifth sessions with 405 and 201 researchers, respectively, have had the largest share. Alireza Karbasi (Ferdowsi University of Mashhad), Behzad Sadeghi (Food Science and Technology Research Institute), Hamid-Reza Fallahi (University of Birjand), and Hassan Feizi (University of Torbat Heydarieh- Saffron institute) have been the most influential researchers during the sessions of the National Conference on Saffron, with 21, 16, 16, and 15 articles, respectively.
 
Conclusion: Overall, the findings reveal a growing interest among researchers across various provinces of Iran in conducting saffron-related studies. By directing future research towards emerging topics and disseminating the outcomes of prior studies in the field, these efforts could significantly help close the yield gap in saffron production.