The main topics covered in the CIS2018 survey are as follows:
- Strategy;
- Co-creation (active participation of the user in the development of a product) and customization (adaptation of a product at the request of users);
- Intellectual property rights (patent filing, design registration etc.);
- Presence of innovation by type of innovation (products, processes);
- Turnover share from product or service innovations introduced between 2016 and 2018;
- Expenditure associated with product and process innovation activities;
- Public funding (European and national);
- Forms of cooperation for the development of innovations;
- Factors hampering innovation over the 2016-2018 period.

The main areas of dissemination are the activity sector of the company described according to the Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community (NACE Rev. 2) and the size of the enterprise.

The companies belong to NACE Rev.2 divisions 05 to 81 (except for 75: Veterinarians). Legal category 7353 (Syndicat intercommunal à vocation unique (SIVU)) is excluded.

Within Section K of NAF rev2 (divisions 64, 65 and 66), the scope of mutuals was limited since CIS 2010.  For the 2018 CIS, only the local units of certain banks, i.e. legal categories 5195 and 6595, are excluded.

The boundary between technological and non-technological innovations is increasingly being held. As a result, the 4th edition of the Oslo Manual (October 2018) now includes only the following two types of innovation:
- product innovation: the introduction on the market of a new or significantly improved good or service compared to the products previously developed by the company. It includes significant design changes and digital goods or services, and excludes the resale in the same condition as new goods or services and changes of an aesthetic nature;
- process innovation: the implementation in the company of a new or significantly improved process compared to the processes previously used by the company. It concerns production and development methods, logistics and distribution, information and communication system, administrative tasks and accounting, organisation of procedures, management of relations with suppliers, work organisation, decision-making processes, human resources, marketing, packaging, pricing and after-sales service.
In the 3rd edition of the Oslo Manual, i. e. for CIS surveys from 2008 to 2016, 4 types of innovation were distinguished:
- product innovations, i.e. the introduction on the market of a new or significantly improved good or service compared to the products previously developed by the company in terms of its essential characteristics, its user-friendliness (ease of use), its components (or its use) and the integrated elements;
- process innovation, i.e. the implementation of a new or significantly improved production process, distribution method or support activity or support. Innovations related only to organization or marketing were excluded;
- organisational innovation: a new way of operating the company (including knowledge management), a new way of organising work or its external relations that was not previously used in the company;
- Marketing innovation: this refers to the implementation of new concepts or new sales strategies that differ significantly from existing sales methods in the company and that have not been used before. It includes changes in the design, packaging or presentation of a good or service, its positioning, promotion or price if they have a significant impact.

The interrogation unit is the legal unit, identified by its SIREN number, with the exception of 12 units which are interrogated in profiled companies.

The legal units surveyed are units established on French territory (metropolitan France and overseas departments including Mayotte), active on 31/12/2018 having had at least 6 months of activity, merchants, operators with 10 or more employees (in FTE).  
The companies belong to divisions 05 to 81 of the Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community (NACE rev.2, with the exception of 75: veterinary surgeons).  Within Section K of NACE rev.2 (Divisions 64, 65 and 66), sections 5195, 6595 are excluded.  

2016 to 2018 depending on the questions