The statistical techniques and statistical accessibility were analyzed in a sample collected from the original articles published between 1996 and 2006 by two fruticulture journals: the Revista Brasileira de Fruticultura (RBF) and the French journal Fruits. A total of 986 original articles were classified in 16 classes of statistical analyses, previously ordered by increasing degree of complexity. The complexity of statistical techniques used by both journals increased in time. Along the 1996-2006 period, the articles published in the RBF journal utilized more complex statistical techniques, as well as experimental designs in randomized blocks, factorial, split plot and hierarchical arrangements, and the test of Tukey for mean comparisons. In the articles published by the Fruits journal the use of other parametrical tests and the Duncan test was more frequent. In both journals the SAS statistical software was most frequently utilized. Readers of the RBF journal required a higher level of statistical knowledge to understand the techniques utilized in the articles.
statistical analysis techniques; fruticulture publications; statistical accessibility
