Health services research in France: bridging the gap between academia and policymaking.

Background: -We aimed to identify the knowledge producers, the knowledge that they produce and the main areas of interest for health services research (HSR) in France, which is one of the priorities for public health research planning.

Methods: -A two-phase approach comprising a bibliometric analysis and semi-structured interviews with 20 researchers and 13 staff members of public health bodies was used.

Results: -In France today, interdisciplinary research teams are being organized in the main cities despite a lack of critical mass.