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What is a Good H-index?

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You have finally overcome the exhausting process of a successful paper publication and are just thinking that it’s time to relax for a while. Maybe you are right to do so, but don’t take very long…you see, just like the research process itself, pursuing a career as an author of published works is also about expecting results. In other words, today there are tools that can tell you if your publication(s) is/are impacting the number of people you believed it would (or not). One of the most common tools researchers use is the H-index score.

Knowing how impactful your publications are among your audience is key to defining your individual performance as a researcher and author. This helps the scientific community compare professionals in the same research field (and career length). Although scoring intellectual activities is often an issue of debate, it also brings its own benefits:

• Inside the scientific community: A standardization of researchers’ performances can be useful for comparison between them, within their field of research. For example, H-index scores are commonly used in the recruitment processes for academic positions and taken into consideration when applying for academic or research grants. At the end of the day, the H-index is used as a sign of self-worth for scholars in almost every field of research.
• In an individual point of view: Knowing the impact of your work among the target audience is especially important in the academic world. With careful analysis and the right amount of reflection, the H-index can give you clues and ideas on how to design and implement future projects. If your paper is not being cited as much as you expected, try to find out what the problem might have been. For example, was the research content irrelevant for the audience? Was the selected journal wrong for your paper? Was the text poorly written? For the latter, consider Elsevier’s text editing and translation services in order to improve your chances of being cited by other authors and improving your H-index.

What is my H-index?

Basically, the H-index score is a standard scholarly metric in which the number of published papers, and the number of times their author is cited, is put into relation. The formula is based on the number of papers (H) that have been cited, and how often, compared to those that have not been cited (or cited as much). See the table below as a practical example:

In this case, the researcher scored an H-index of 6, since he has 6 publications that have been cited at least 6 times. The remaining articles, or those that have not yet reached 6 citations, are left aside.

A good H-index score depends not only on a prolific output but also on a large number of citations by other authors. It is important, therefore, that your research reaches a wide audience, preferably one to whom your topic is particularly interesting or relevant, in a clear, high-quality text. Young researchers and inexperienced scholars often look for articles that offer academic security by leaving no room for doubts or misinterpretations.

What is a good H-Index score journal?

Journals also have their own H-Index scores. Publishing in a high H-index journal maximizes your chances of being cited by other authors and, consequently, may improve your own personal H-index score. Some of the “giants” in the highest H-index scores are journals from top universities, like Oxford University, with the highest score being 146, according to Google Scholar.

Knowing the H-index score of journals of interest is useful when searching for the right one to publish your next paper. Even if you are just starting as an author, and you still don’t have your own H-index score, you may want to start in the right place to skyrocket your self-worth.

See below some of the most commonly used databases that help authors find their H-index values:

• Elsevier’s Scopus : Includes Citation Tracker, a feature that shows how often an author has been cited. To this day, it is the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature.
• Clarivate Analytics Web of Science : a digital platform that provides the H-index with its Citation Reports feature
• Google Scholar : a growing database that calculates H-index scores for those who have a profile.

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What is a good H-index for each academic position?

Navigating the complex landscape of academia often involves decoding a series of metrics and benchmarks.

Among these, the h-index stands out as a critical measure of a scholar’s productivity and influence.

But what exactly constitutes a “good” h-index? And how does it vary across different academic positions and disciplines—from PhD students to full professors in fields as diverse as Life Sciences, Engineering, and Humanities?

On average and good H-index for a PhD student is between 1 and 5, a postdoc between 2 and 17, an assistant professor between 4 – 35 and a full professor typically about 30+.

Our comprehensive blog delves into the nuances of the h-index, its relevance in academic promotions, and the challenges it presents. 

Here is a quick summary of h-indexes that could be considered typical in different fields:

What is the h-index metric?

The h-index is a metric designed to quantify the productivity and impact of a researcher, and increasingly, groups or journals.

Developed by physicist Jorge Hirsch, this index is computed as the number of papers (number of publications) with citation numbers larger or equal to ‘h.’

For instance, if a researcher has four papers cited at least four times each, their h-index is 4.

The metric comes in handy when comparing scholars within the same field but has limitations when used across disciplines. This is due to factors such as the average number of references per paper, the typical productivity of researchers in the field, and the field’s overall size.

Several databases, like Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Scopus, offer h-index calculations. However, it’s crucial to note that your h-index may vary between platforms due to differences in their database’s scope and what papers they include.

The h-index has become a crucial factor in academia for promotions, with assistant professors often striving for a ‘good h-index’ to become a full professor.

The h-index is not without its challenges:

• it may not accurately reflect the impact of scholars with fewer but highly cited publications. In such cases, the h-index may paint an incomplete picture of an author’s impact, favoring those who publish more frequently regardless of the quality or impact of their work.
• it is heavily influenced by the field’s norms. For example, in disciplines where papers usually have fewer citations, even established researchers may have a relatively low h-index.

Despite its limitations, the h-index remains a widely-used metric for assessing the influence and productivity of researchers, offering a more nuanced picture than simply counting the number of papers published or the number of citations.

How to calculate your h-index score

Calculating your h-index is a straightforward process, especially if you use academic databases that track citations. Here’s a simple step-by-step guide:

Manual Calculation

• List Your Publications : Make a list of all your academic publications that have been cited.
• Count Citations : For each publication, find out the number of times it has been cited. You can use Google Scholar, Web of Science, or Scopus for this, or you can manually check academic journals.
• Sort by Citation Count : Arrange the list of publications in descending order based on the number of citations each paper has received.
• Find the H-Index : Start from the top of the sorted list and look for the last publication where the number of citations is greater than or equal to the position in the sorted list. That position number is your h-index.

For example, if you have papers cited 10, 8, 5, 4, and 2 times, then your h-index would be 4 because you have 4 papers that have been cited at least 4 times.

Using Google Scholar

• Create/Log into Account : Go to Google Scholar and create an account if you haven’t. If you already have one, log in.
• Add Publications : You’ll be prompted to add your publications to your Google Scholar profile.
• View H-Index : Once your publications are added, Google Scholar automatically calculates your h-index and displays it on your profile.

Using Web of Science

• Access the Database : Go to Web of Science and log in or access it via your institution.
• Search for Author : Search for your name in the author search.
• Check H-Index : Your h-index will be displayed along with other citation metrics.

Using Scopus

• Access and Search : Go to Scopus and use the author search to find your profile.
• Locate H-Index : Your profile will display your h-index along with other metrics.

Calculating your h-index is an essential part of understanding your academic impact, and these steps should help you determine yours.

What is a good h-index for a PhD student?

determining what constitutes a “good” h-index for a Ph.D. student can vary greatly depending on the academic field, the number of years the student has been in the program, and other factors like collaborative work and the prominence of the journals where they’ve published.

Here’s a table that attempts to provide some generalized benchmarks:

It’s worth noting that while a “good” h-index can be indicative of a productive and impactful research career, it’s not the only metric to consider. Quality of research, contribution to the field, and other factors like teaching and community service are also important.

What is a good h-index for a Postdoc?

A “good” h-index for a Postdoc will typically be higher than for a PhD student, given the additional years of research and publications.

Again, the numbers can vary depending on the field, the productivity of the researcher, and other variables like the rate of collaboration and the types of journals in which they’ve published.

Here’s a generalized table:

Remember that while the h-index is a useful metric, it’s not the end-all measure of academic success. Qualities like the impact and innovation of one’s research, mentorship, and broader contributions to science and the academic community are also vital aspects of a successful Postdoc experience.

What’s a good h-index for an assistant professor academic position?

The h-index for an Assistant Professor would usually be higher than for a PhD student or Postdoc due to more years of research and publications.

Like in previous cases, the “good” h-index varies significantly based on academic field, years in the role, and other variables such as the type of institution, rate of collaboration, and types of journals in which the researcher has published.

It’s worth mentioning that although a “good” h-index is beneficial for career advancement, including promotions to Associate or Full Professor roles, it’s not the only metric of importance.

Peer review, teaching effectiveness, and service to the academic community are also critical factors in evaluating an Assistant Professor’s performance.

What is a good h-index for an associate professor?

The h-index for an Associate Professor would typically be higher still, given the further years of research and publishing, as well as the likelihood of having guided PhD students and Postdocs, which often results in collaborative publications.

Again, while a strong h-index is beneficial for career advancement and often required for promotion to Full Professor, it is not the sole indicator of academic success.

Qualities like innovative research, excellence in teaching, and meaningful service to the academic community are also critical in evaluating an Associate Professor’s overall performance.

H-index required for an academic position – Full professor? 

A Full Professor is generally expected to have a high h-index, reflecting a long career with significant contributions to research.

It’s important to recognize that the h-index will vary by academic field and will often be influenced by a range of factors such as international collaborations, research funding, and the impact factor of journals where the work is published.

Here’s a generalized table for what might be considered a “good” h-index for a Full Professor:

A Full Professor’s career is also evaluated based on other achievements, such as securing research grants, publishing influential works beyond journal articles, mentorship, administrative roles, and service to the academic and broader community.

Wrapping up – what h-index is considered good?

The quest to quantify academic productivity and influence has led to the widespread adoption of the h-index as an evaluative metric.

While this index offers a useful, albeit simplified, snapshot of a researcher’s impact, it’s crucial to understand its nuances and limitations.

Notably, what constitutes a “good” h-index can vary dramatically depending on several factors, including the academic discipline, stage of career, and other variables such as types of publications and rate of collaboration.

This blog has provided a comprehensive guide to the h-index, outlining its significance, methodology for calculation, and what might be considered typical scores across various academic stages and fields.

The h-index should not be viewed in isolation.

Other qualitative factors like the quality of research, peer review, teaching effectiveness, and service to the academic community are equally vital in evaluating an academic’s overall performance.

The h-index faces challenges such as not accounting for the quality or societal impact of a researcher’s work and not translating well across different disciplines.

As a result, while the h-index can serve as a useful tool in academic evaluations, it should be used in conjunction with other metrics and qualitative assessments for a more rounded understanding of a scholar’s contributions.

So, whether you are a PhD student or a full professor, it’s important to not only be aware of your h-index but also to engage in a broader reflection of your academic goals and contributions. 

Dr Andrew Stapleton has a Masters and PhD in Chemistry from the UK and Australia. He has many years of research experience and has worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow and Associate at a number of Universities. Although having secured funding for his own research, he left academia to help others with his YouTube channel all about the inner workings of academia and how to make it work for you.

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Explainer: what is an H-index and how is it calculated?

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A previously obscure scholarly metric has became an item of heated public debate. When it was announced that Bjorn Lomborg, a researcher who is sceptical about the relative importance of climate change, would be heading a research centre at the University of Western Australia, the main retort from most scientists was “just look at the guy’s H-index!”

Many scientists who were opposed to Lomborg’s new research centre pointed out that his H-index score was 3 . Usually, someone appointed to a professorship in the natural sciences would be expected to have an H score about ten times that.

For people outside of academia this measure probably makes little sense. So what exactly is an H-index and why should we use it to judge whether someone should be appointed to lead a research centre?

What is the H-index and how is it calculated?

The H-Index is a numerical indicator of how productive and influential a researcher is. It was invented by Jorge Hirsch in 2005, a physicist at the University of California. Originally, Professor Hirsch wanted to create a numerical indication of the contribution a researcher has made to the field.

At the time, an established measure was raw citation counts. If you wanted to work out how influential a researcher was, you would simply add up the number of times other research papers had cited papers written by that researcher.

Although this was relatively straightforward, researchers quickly discovered a significant problem with this score – you could get a huge citation count through being the scientific equivalent of a one-hit wonder.

If you published one paper that was widely cited and then never published a paper again after that, you would technically be successful. In such situations, outliers would have an undue and even distorting effect on our overall evaluation of a researcher’s contribution.

To rectify this problem, Hirsch suggested another approach for calculating the value of researchers, which he rather immodestly called the H-index (H for Hirsch of course). This is how he explains it:

A scientist has index h if h of his/her Np papers have at least h citations each, and the other (Np−h) papers have no more than h citations each.

To put it in a slightly more simple way - you give an H-index to someone on the basis of the number of papers (H) that have been cited at least H times. For instance, according to Google Scholar, I have an H-index of 28. This is because I have 28 papers that are cited at least 28 times by other research papers. What this means is that a scientist is rewarded for having a range of papers with good levels of citations rather than one or two outliers with very high citations.

It also means that if I want to increase my H-index, it is best to focus on encouraging people to read and cite my papers with more modest citation levels – rather than having them focus on one or two well-known papers which are already widely cited.

The influence of the H-index

While the H-index might have been created for the purpose of evaluating researchers in the area of theoretical physics, its influence has spread much further. The index is routinely used by researchers in a wide range of disciplines to evaluate both themselves and others within their field.

For instance, H-indexes are now a common part of the process of evaluating job applicants for academic positions. They are also used to evaluate applicants for research grants. Some scholars even use them as a sign of self-worth.

Calculating a scholar’s H-index has some distinct advantages. It gives some degree of transparency about the influence they have in the field. This makes it easy for non-experts to evaluate a researcher’s contribution to the field.

If I was sitting on an interview panel in a field that I know nothing about (like theoretical physics), I would find it very difficult to judge the quality of their research. With an H-index, I am given a number that can be used to judge how influential or otherwise the person we are interviewing actually is.

This also has the advantage of taking out many of the idiosyncratic judgements that often cloud our perception of a researcher’s relative merits. If for instance I prefer “salt water” economics to “fresh water” economics, then I am most likely to be positively disposed to hiring the salt water economist and coming up with any argument possible to not accept the fresh water economist.

If however, we are simply given an H-index, then it it becomes possible to assess each scholar in a slightly more objective fashion.

The problems with the H-index

There are some dangers that come with the increasing prevalence of H-scores. It is difficult to compare H-scores across fields. H-scores can often be higher in one field (such economics) than another field (such as literary criticism).

Like any citation metric, H-scores are open to manipulation through practices like self-citation and what one of my old colleagues liked to call “citation soviets” (small circles of people who routinely cite each other’s work).

The H-index also strips out any information about author order. The result is that there is little information about whether you published an article in a top journal on your own or whether you were one member of a huge team.

But perhaps the most worrying thing about the rise of H-scores, or any other measure of research productivity or influence for that matter, is they actually strip out the ideas. They allow us to talk about intellectual endeavour without any reference at all to the actual content.

This can create a very strange academic culture where it is quite possible to discuss academic matters for hours without once mentioning an idea. I have been to meetings where people are perfectly comfortable chatting about the ins and outs of research metrics at great length. But little discussion is had about the actual content of a research project.

As this attitude to research becomes more common, aspirational academics will start to see themselves as H-index entrepreneurs. When this happens, universities will cease to be knowledge creators and instead become metric maximisers.

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What is the h-index?

A simple definition of the h-index

Step-by-step outline: how to calculate your h-index, why it is important for your career to know about the h-index, can all your academic achievements be summarized by a single number, frequently asked questions about h-index, related articles.

An h-index is a rough summary measure of a researcher’s productivity and impact. Productivity is quantified by the number of papers, and impact by the number of citations the researchers' publications have received.

The h-index can be useful for identifying the centrality of certain researchers as researchers with a higher h-index will, in general, have produced more work that is considered important by their peers.

The h-index was originally defined by J. E. Hirsch in a Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences article as the number of papers with citation number ≥ h . An h-index of 3 hence means that the author has published at least three articles, of which each has been cited at least three times.

The h-index can also simply be determined by charting the article's citation counts. The h-index is then determined by the interception of the chart's diagonal with the citation data. In this case, there are 3 papers that are above the diagonal, and hence the h-index is 3.

The definition of the h-index comes with quite a few desirable features:

• First, it is relatively unaffected by outliers. If e.g. the top-ranked article had been cited 1,000 times, this would not change the h-index.
• Second, the h-index will generally only increase if the researcher continues to produce good work. The h-index would increase to 4 if another paper was added with 4 citations, but would not increase if papers were added with fewer citations.
• Third, the h-index will never be greater than the number of papers the author has published; to have an h-index of 20, the author must have published at least 20 articles which have each been cited at least 20 times.
• Step 1 : List all your published articles in a table.
• Step 2 : For each article gather the number of how often it has been cited.
• Step 3 : Rank the papers by the number of times they have been cited.
• Step 4 : The h-index can now be inferred by finding the entry at which the rank in the list is greater than the number of citations.

Here is an example of a table where articles have been ranked by their citation count and the h-index has been inferred to be 3.

Luckily, there are services like Scopus , Web of Science , and Google Scholar that can do the heavy lifting and automatically provide the citation count data and calculate the h-index.

The h-index is not something that needs to be calculated on a daily basis, but it's good to know where you are for several reasons. First, climbing the h-index ladder is something worth celebrating. If it's worth opening a bottle of champagne or just getting a cafe latte, that's up to you, but seriously take your time to celebrate this achievement (there aren't that many in academia). But more importantly, the h-index is one of the measures funding agencies or the university's hiring committee calculate when you apply for a grant or a position. Given the often huge number of applications, the h-index is calculated in order to rank candidates and apply a pre-filter.

Of course, funding agencies and hiring committees do use tools for calculating the h-index, and so can you.

It is important to note that depending on the underlying data that these services have collected, your h-index might be different. Let's have a look at the h-index of the well-known physicist Stephen W. Hawking to illustrate it:

So, if you are aware of a number of citations of your work that are not listed in these databases, e.g. because they are in conference proceedings not indexed in these databases, then please state that in your application. It might give your h-index an extra boost.

➡️ Learn more: What is a good h-index?

Definitely not! People are aware of this, and there have been many attempts to address particular shortcomings of the h-index, but in the end, it's just another number that is meant to emphasize or de-emphasize certain aspects of the h-index. Anyway, you have to know the rules in order to play the game, and you have to know the rules in order to change them. If you feel that your h-index does not properly reflect your academic achievements, then be proactive and mention it in your application!

An h-index is a rough summary measure of a researcher’s productivity and impact . Productivity is quantified by the number of papers, and impact by the number of citations the researchers' publications have received.

Google Scholar can automatically calculate your h-index, read our guide How to calculate your h-index on Google Scholar for further instructions.

Even though Scopus needs to crunch millions of citations to find the h-index, the look-up is pretty fast. Read our guide How to calculate your h-index using Scopus for further instructions.

Web of Science is a database that has compiled millions of articles and citations. This data can be used to calculate all sorts of bibliographic metrics including an h-index. Read our guide How to use Web of Science to calculate your h-index for further instructions.

The h-index is not something that needs to be calculated on a daily basis, but it's good to know where you are for several reasons. First, climbing the h-index ladder is something worth celebrating. But more importantly, the h-index is one of the measures funding agencies or the university's hiring committee calculate when you apply for a grant or a position. Given the often huge number of applications, the h-index is calculated in order to rank candidates and apply a pre-filter.

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H-Index Overview

The h-index, or Hirsch index, measures the impact of a particular scientist rather than a journal. "It is defined as the highest number of publications of a scientist that received h or more citations each while the other publications have not more than h citations each." 1  For example, a scholar with an h-index of 5 had published 5 papers, each of which has been cited by others at least 5 times. The links below will take you to other areas within this guide which explain how to find an author's h-index using specific platforms. 

NOTE: An individual's h-index may be very different in different databases. This is because the databases index different journals and cover different years. For instance, Scopus only considers work from 1996 or later, while the Web of Science calculates an h-index using all years that an institution has subscribed to. (So a Web of Science h-index might look different when searched through different institutions.)  

1  Schreiber, M. (2008). An empirical investigation of the g-index for 26 physicists in comparison with the h-index, the A-index, and the R-index.   Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology , 59(9), 1513.

• Find an Individual Author's h-index Using the Citation Analysis Report in Web of Science
• Find an Individual Author's h-index Using the Author Profile in Scopus
• Find an Individual h-index Using Publish or Perish

Finding an Individual h-index Using Publish or Perish

  Finding h-Index using Publish or Perish

1.  The Publish or Perish site uses data from Google Scholar.  An explanation of citation metrics is available here .

2.  Publish or Perish is available in Windows and Linux formats and can be downloaded at no cost from the Publish or Perish website.

3.  Once you have downloaded the application, you can use Publish or Perish to find h-Index by entering a simple author search.  You can exclude names or deselect subject areas to the right of the search boxes to help with disambiguation of authors.

4.  The h-Index will display on the results page.

5.  You can narrow your search results further by deselecting individual articles.  The h-Index will update dynamically as you do this.

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Understanding the H-index: A Comprehensive Guide

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Research metrics play a crucial role in evaluating a researcher's impact and contributions. One such metric gaining prominence is the H-index. But what exactly is the H-index, and why does it matter in academic circles?

Let's dive into the details to unravel the mysteries surrounding this metric.

What is h-index?

The h-index, also known as the Hirsch index or Hirsch number, is a metric that attempts to measure the productivity and citation impact of a scientist or researcher. It was introduced by physicist Jorge E. Hirsch in 2005 as a tool for determining theoretical physicists' relative quality and is now used in all disciplines. But what exactly is the h-index, and how is it calculated? Let’s unveil!

The h-index is an author-level metric that measures researchers' productivity and citation impact of their publications. The h-index is calculated based on the range of the researcher's most cited papers and the number of citations they have acquired in other publications.

The h-index can also be applied to the productivity and impact of a scholarly journal as well as a group of scientists, such as a department, university, or country.

How to calculate the h-index?

The h-index is derived by counting the number of scientific publications for which an author has garnered citations from other authors, at least an equal number of times. For example, an h-index of 28 means that the scientist has published at least 28 papers that have each been cited at least 28 times.

Suppose a researcher has the following number of citations for each of their papers, in decreasing order: 10, 8, 5, 4, 3, and 1. The h-index is 4 because the researcher has 4 papers with at least 4 citations. The fifth paper only has 3 citations, so it does not meet the h-index criteria.

Tools for Calculating the h-index

Several databases and tools can calculate an author's h-index. Google Scholar is a popular choice because it automatically calculates the h-index of the authors and includes citations from a wide variety of sources. Other databases that can calculate the h-index include Scopus, SciSpace, and Web of Science.

It's important to note that the calculated h-index can vary significantly between different databases. This is because the databases may not include all the same journals or conference proceedings, and they may calculate citations differently.

Advantages of the h-index

The h-index has several advantages over other bibliometric measures. It combines the effect of the number of publications with the number of citations per publication, so it gives more weight to sustained contributions over time. Here are the prominent advantages of the h-index metric.

Peer Recognition

The H-index reflects peer recognition, as a higher index indicates sustained impact and acknowledgment within the academic community.

Measurement of Research Impact

In addition to recognizing a researcher's impact, the H-index measures the reach and influence of their work, providing a quantitative assessment of scholarly contributions.

Academic Promotions

Comparing H-indices allows institutions to evaluate and compare researchers objectively, aiding in hiring decisions and academic promotions.

Balanced measure

Another advantage is that the h-index is not influenced by one or two highly cited papers, which can significantly increase the citation count. Similarly, the h-index is not affected by a large number of poorly cited papers. This makes it a more balanced measure than simply counting the number of publications or citations.

Limitations of the h-index

Despite its advantages, the h-index also has several limitations. The following are some of them:

Overemphasis on Quantity

Critics argue that the H-index may prioritize quantity over quality, potentially encouraging researchers to focus on prolificacy rather than the depth of their contributions.

Disciplinary Variations

The H-index's effectiveness can vary across disciplines, posing challenges in creating a universally applicable metric for academic evaluation.

Manipulation Possibilities

Some researchers may attempt to manipulate their H-index by self-citations or collaborative strategies, raising ethical concerns in academic evaluations.

Alternatives to the h-index

Given the limitations of the h-index, several alternative metrics have been proposed. These include the g-index, the e-index, the i10-index, and the m-quotient.

The g-index is an index that gives more weight to highly cited articles. The e-index complements the h-index by differentiating scientists with the same h-index but different citation distributions. The i10-index is the number of publications with at least 10 citations. The m-quotient is the h-index divided by the number of years since the first published paper by the scientist.

Choosing the Right Metric

Choosing the right metric depends on the context and the specific needs of the evaluation. The h-index and its alternatives each have their strengths and weaknesses, and they provide different perspectives on an author's impact and productivity. Therefore, it is often helpful to consider multiple metrics when evaluating a researcher's output.

In conclusion, the h-index is a useful tool for measuring the productivity and impact of a researcher's work. While it has its limitations and critics, it provides a more balanced measure than simply counting publications or citations. As with any metric, it should be used in conjunction with other measures to provide a comprehensive view of a researcher's contributions to their field.

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• Your H-Index

What is an H-Index?

The h-index captures research output based on the total number of publications and the total number of citations to those works, providing a focused snapshot of an individual’s research performance. Example: If a researcher has 15 papers, each of which has at least 15 citations, their h-index is 15.

• Comparing researchers of similar career length.  
• Comparing researchers in a similar field, subject, or Department, and who publish in the same journal categories.  
• Obtaining a focused snapshot of a researcher’s performance.

Not Useful For

• Comparing researchers from different fields, disciplines, or subjects.  
• Assessing fields, departments, and subjects where research output is typically books or conference proceedings as they are not well represented by databases providing h-indices.

1  Working Group on Bibliometrics. (2016). Measuring Research Output Through Bibliometrics. University of Waterloo. Retrieved from https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/handle/10012/10323/Bibliometrics%20White%20Paper%20 2016%2 0Final_March2016.pdf?sequence=4&isAllowed=y  

2  Alakangas, S. & Warburton, J. Research impact: h-index. The University of Melbourne. Retrieved from http://unimelb.libguides.com/c.php?g=402744&p=2740739  

Calculate Manually

To manually calculate your h-index, organize articles in descending order, based on the number of times they have been cited.

In the below example, an author has 8 papers that have been cited 33, 30, 20, 15, 7, 6, 5 and 4 times. This tells us that the author's h-index is 6.

• An h-index of 6 means that this author has published at least 6 papers that have each received at least 6 citations.

More context:

• The first paper has been cited 33 times, and gives us a 1 (there is one paper that has been cited at least once).
• The second paper has been cited 30 times, and gives us a 2 (there are two papers that have been cited at least twice).
• The third paper gives us a 3 and all the way up to 6 with the sixth highest paper.
• The final two papers have no effect in this case as they have been cited less than six times (Ireland, MacDonald & Stirling, 2012).

1 Ireland, T., MacDonald, K., & Stirling, P. (2012). The h-index: What is it, how do we determine it, and how can we keep up with it? In A. Tokar, M. Beurskens, S. Keuneke, M. Mahrt, I. Peters, C. Puschmann, T. van Treeck, & K. Weller (Eds.), Science and the internet (pp. 237-247). D ü sseldorf University Press.

Calculate Using Databases

• Given Scopus  and Web of Science 's citation-tracking functionality, they can also calculate an individual’s h-index based on content in their particular databases.  
• Likewise, Google Scholar collects citations and calculates an author's h-index via the Google Scholar Citations Profile feature.

Each database may determine a different h-index for the same individual as the content in each database is unique and different. 

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Q. What is an h-index? How do I find the h-index for a particular author?

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Answered By: Laurissa Gann Last Updated: May 16, 2024     Views: 443664

The h-index is a number intended to represent both the productivity and the impact of a particular scientist or scholar, or a group of scientists or scholars (such as a departmental or research group). 

The h-index is calculated by counting the number of publications for which an author has been cited by other authors at least that same number of times.  For instance, an h-index of 17 means that the scientist has published at least 17 papers that have each been cited at least 17 times.  If the scientist's 18th most cited publication was cited only 10 times, the h-index would remain at 17.  If the scientist's 18th most cited publication was cited 18 or more times, the h-index would rise to 18.

Part of the purpose of the h-index is to eliminate outlier publications that might give a skewed picture of a scientist's impact.  For instance, if a scientist published one paper many years ago that was cited 9,374 times, but has since only published papers that have been cited 2 or 3 times each, a straight citation count for that scientist could make it seem that his or her long-term career work was very significant.  The h-index, however, would be much lower, signifying that the scientist's overall body of work was not necessarily as significant.

The following resources will calculate an h-index:

Web of Science

Pure (MD Anderson Faculty and Fellows listed)

Keep in mind that different databases will give different values for the h-index.  This is because each database must calculate the value based on the citations it contains.  Since databases cover different publications in different ranges of years, the h-index result will therefore vary.   You should also keep in mind that what is considered a "good" h-index may differ depending on the scientific discipline.  A number that is considered low in one field might be considered quite high in another field.

A note about Google Scholar

Google Scholar usually provides the highest h-index compared to other sources. This is because Google Scholar indexes web pages not organized collections of article citations, like databases. This means Google Scholar:

• Counts all publications, including books
• Counts all versions of a paper it finds, including preprints
• Counts self-citations 
• Counts citations added manually, but not necessarily verified by a publisher or other source

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The h-Index: Understanding its predictors, significance, and criticism

Himel mondal.

1 Department of Physiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Deoghar, Jharkhand, India

Kishore Kumar Deepak

2 Centre for Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, India

Manisha Gupta

3 Department of Physiology, Santosh Medical College, Santosh University, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India

Raman Kumar

4 National President and Founder, Academy of Family Physicians of India, India

The h-index is an author-level scientometric index used to gauge the significance of a researcher's work. The index is determined by taking the number of publications and the number of times these publications have been cited by others. Although it is widely used in academia, many authors find its calculation confusing. There are websites such as Google Scholar, Scopus, Web of Science (WOS), and Vidwan that provide the h-index of an author. As this metrics is frequently used by recruiting agency and grant approving authority to see the output of researchers, the authors need to know in-depth about it. In this article, we describe both the manual calculation method of the h-index and the details of websites that provide an automated calculation. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the h-index and the factors that determine the h-index of an author. Overall, this article serves as a comprehensive guide for novice authors seeking to understand the h-index and its significance in academia.

Introduction

The h-index is a commonly used metric to measure the productivity and impact of academic researchers. It was first introduced in 2005, and since then, the h-index has become an important tool for evaluating researchers, departments, and institutions.[ 1 ] The calculation of the h-index is relatively simple, yet it confuses novice authors. There are several websites where researchers can find their h-index autocalculated. While the h-index has several advantages, such as providing a simple and objective measure of a researcher's impact, there are also some limitations to its use. For example, the h-index does not take into account the quality of the publications or the context in which they were cited.[ 2 ]

In this study, we will explore the calculation of the h-index, the websites where it is available, and the advantages and disadvantages of using this metric, and it is predictors that increase the h-index of an author. By examining the strengths and weaknesses of the h-index, we hope to provide a comprehensive understanding of this important tool for evaluating scientific impact.

Calculation Method

The h-index is defined as the “highest number h, such that the individual has published h papers that have each been cited at least h times.”[ 3 ] For example, if an author has 10 papers and seven of those have been cited at least seven times each, then the h-index for that individual is 7. To make it more easy, we are presenting an example of how an author can calculate the h-index manually [ Table 1 ]. To calculate the h-index, we first sort the papers in descending order based on their citation counts. Then, we count the number of papers that have at least as many citations as their position in the list. The table footnote describes situations where the h-index would be 8 or 9 in future.

h-index of an author who has 10 papers

The h-index of the author is 7. A total of seven of the papers got at least seven citations each. Eight of the papers have not received at least eight citations. The author's h-index will be 8 when “Paper 8” gets additional three or more than three citations. The author's h-index will be 9 when “Paper 7” gets additional one or more than one, “Paper 8” gets additional four or more than four, and “Paper 9” gets additional five or more than five citations

Where to Get h-Index?

There are databases that provide the h-index information for authors for free. Some of the most commonly used websites that calculate the h-index of an author are listed as follows. The website titles, links, and services that are freely available are shown in Table 2 .

Websites that calculate the h-index of an author

WOS: Web of Science

Google Scholar

Perhaps it is the most commonly used website by scholars around the world. Google Scholar provides h-index information for authors based on the citations of their papers as indexed by Google Scholar.[ 4 ] It is a free service provided by Google Scholar, and any researcher can open an account. However, if the researcher has an institutional email address, then the account can be made public after verifying the email. The authors can observe the year-wise citation count for a quick idea about the trend of citations over the years. An example is shown in Figure 1 a.

Examples of h-index of an author found in (a) Google Scholar, (b) Scopus, (c) Web of Science, and (d) ResearchGate showing discordance in h-index

This database, provided by Elsevier, is another popular citation database that provides h-index information and other metrics, such as total citations and year-wise citations.[ 5 ] Researchers can search for any name from the home page by clicking on “View your author profile” and searching by surname and name. However, we suggest creating a free account to track your own articles and citations. An example is shown in Figure 1 b. From the same homepage, the authors can also check the articles published and citation count of any journal by clicking on “View journal rankings.”

Web of Science

This database is maintained by Clarivate, and it is one of the most widely used citation databases. Previously, Researcher ID was provided by Thomson Reuters.[ 6 ] Now, the Researcher ID is provided by Web of Science (WOS) that is maintained by the parent company Clarivate. The creation of an account is free in WOS. After creating the account, an author can view own details and also search for other researchers in the database. In the profile, WOS provides h-index information and other metrics, such as total citations, number of WOS-indexed articles, and number of citing articles. An example is shown in Figure 1 c.

ResearchGate

This social networking site for researchers provides h-index information and other metrics, such as total citations and year-wise citations. To get the h-index in ResearchGate, one needs to create an account.[ 7 ] Only published authors or invitee can create an account. Although ResearchGate suggests using the institutional email address, without it authors can open an account too. The authors need to send proof of publication for the creation of an account by a noninstitutional email address. In addition, those who are already in ResearchGate can send invitation to others to open an account. After logging in, the h-index is shown along with other metrics as shown in Figure 1 d.

The Vidwan Expert Database and National Researcher's Network is a comprehensive platform designed to connect and showcase the expertise of scholars and researchers across various fields. It is a service provided by the Information and Communications Technology of Ministry of Education, India. The database is developed and maintained by the Information and Library Network Centre (INFLIBNET). This service is not open to all authors. Any recipient of national or internal award, any postgraduate with 10 years of professional experience, postdoctoral fellow, research scholar, professor (full, associate, or assistant), senior scientist, or having equivalent reaching or research post can open an account. This website shows the h-index along with total articles, year-wise articles, type of publication, total citations, citations available from Crossref ( https://www.crossref.org ), number of coauthors, coauthor network, and Altmetric ( https://www.altmetric.com ) scores. A part of the Vidwan profile with the h-index of a researcher is shown in Figure 2 .

A part of a Vidwan profile showing the h-index and other metrics of the second author

Why h-Index Differ?

The h-index can differ between different sites. One can see her/his h-index higher in Google Scholar than in Scopus or WOS.[ 8 ]

Different databases may have different coverage and indexing policies. Some databases may include more or fewer journals, conference proceedings, or other sources of academic literature. This can affect the number of citations that are included in the h-index calculation.

Different databases may have different time lags in their citation data, meaning that citations may not be indexed at the same time or may be indexed differently based on the date of publication. This can affect the h-index calculation for a temporary period, especially if a researcher has recently published a highly cited paper that has not yet been indexed by a particular database.

In addition to the above factors, there may be errors or inconsistencies in the citation data used to calculate the h-index, which can lead to differences in the resulting h-index across different databases.

Therefore, it is important to use multiple sources of h-index information and to be aware of the potential differences between different sites. Google Scholar uses maximum sources to calculate the h-index. Hence, the h-index in Google Scholar may be the highest among the h-index provided by other databases. One question may still ponder: Which to take as the final h-index of an author? Although there is no simple answer to this question, Google Scholar may be considered the provider of the most comprehensive h-index. The impact of research is now not limited to citation in a journal article indexed by a single bibliographic database.

Advantages of h-Index

The h-index has several advantages as a measure of research productivity and impact. The h-index takes into account both the number of publications and the number of citations those publications have received. This helps to balance the impact of quantity (by number of publications) and quality of publications (by number of citations it received) on the researcher's overall research output. The h-index can be easily calculated using citation databases, such as Google Scholar. Being a free service, any author can get the h-index automatically calculated in Google Scholar. Scopus and WOS also provide their services free of charge for getting the h-index. We can use the h-index to compare the productivity and impact of researchers across different disciplines. The h-index is less affected by outliers. The h-index is less sensitive to individual highly cited papers or lowly cited papers, as it considers the total number of papers a researcher has published that have been cited a certain number of times. It provides a long-term measure of research impact, as it takes into account the entire career of the researcher rather than just a single paper or a recent burst of activity.[ 9 ]

Limitation of h-Index

Despite these advantages, the h-index is not without limitations. The h-index is criticized for favoring researchers who have been in the field for a longer period of time, as they have had more time to publish and accumulate citations. This can disadvantage early-career researchers. The h-index does not account for differences in citation practices between different fields or subfields, which can lead to unfair comparisons between researchers in different areas. The h-index relies on citation databases, which may not include all relevant citations. This can result in an inaccurate representation of a researcher's impact. However, this is common for all online calculated indices. The h-index includes citations to a researcher's own work, which can inflate the researcher's impact and may not accurately reflect their influence on the field. The h-index can be manipulated by self-citing excessively to increase the number of citations. The h-index does not take into account other important factors, such as the quality of publications, the impact of a researcher's work beyond citations, or their contributions to teaching and service.[ 10 ]

Hence, the h-index should be used in conjunction with other metrics and qualitative evaluations to get a comprehensive assessment of a researcher's productivity and impact.

Usage of h-Index in Academia

There is no thumb rule of the level of h-index for hiring professionals or promotion of faculties. However, this index can be used by the universities for comparison of impact among the candidates for hiring or promotion. In addition, universities are commonly interested in recruiting a researcher with higher publication impact as the impact would be a feather to the crown of the university. A study by Wang et al .[ 11 ] in the Department of Surgery, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States, found that a faculty has a median h-index of 6 at hiring, 11 during the promotion from assistant to associate professor, and 17 during the promotion from associate to full professor. In addition, Schreiber and Giustini studied 14 disciplines in North American medical schools and found that assistant professors have an h-index of 2 to 5, associate professors have 6 to 10, and full professors have an index of 12 to 24.[ 12 ] A study by Kaur from India showed that top publishing authors in the medical field from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, and Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, have the h-index of 15 and 21, respectively.[ 13 ] Nowak et al .[ 14 ] analyzed 13 medical specialties and found that the median h-index was 19.5. There is a need for further research and reviews to get a generalizable result. Till we get that, the rule is “the more the merrier!”

Other Numbers and Indices Used in Academia

There are other author-level metrics that are used by various universities to evaluate research productivity and impact.

Some universities still use the total number of publications as a criterion for promotion. In addition, the total number of citations is also considered an indicator of research impact. This metric counts the total number of times an author's papers have been cited, regardless of the number of papers they have published. Furthermore, the average number of citations per paper for an author, which can provide insight into the overall quality and impact of their work, is sometimes considered. Table 3 shows the various other calculations and indices that are used.

Other calculations and indices (calculated from data in Table 1 )

The i10-index is another simple measure that indicates the number of papers that have received 10 citations each. It is shown in a Google Scholar profile along with the h-index of an author [ Figure 1 a].

The g-index is another metric that is not readily found calculated in the above database websites, but one can manually calculate the g-index of an author. It gives more weight to highly cited papers. It is calculated by finding the largest number of g such that the top g papers have a total of at least g 2 citations. For example, in Table 1 , the author had a g-index of 10 as cumulative citations on the 10 th paper are more than 10 2 [ Table 2 ]. If the author had a 11 th paper with even 0 citations, the g-index would be 11 (as cumulative citations are more than 11 2 ). However, if the author had a 12 th paper with 0 citations, the g-index could be 11 as cumulative citations were below 12 2 .[ 3 ]

The m-index is a metric that takes into account the h-index and years of activity of an author.[ 15 ] Its calculation is simple. For example, if the author is publishing the papers shown in Table 1 for the last 5 years, the m-value or m-index would be 1.4 (7/5) [ Table 3 ].

It is important to note that no single metric can provide a comprehensive evaluation of a researcher's productivity and impact, and these metrics should be used in combination with other qualitative evaluations. Furthermore, no index is still there in academia that is capable of judging the quality of a research paper.

Factors that Influence h-Index

Achieving a high h-index can be a long-term process that requires sustained research productivity and impact.[ 16 ] Here are some factors that have the potential to influence the h-index.

Publish in high-impact journals

Publishing in high-impact journals can help to increase the visibility and impact of one's research, leading to more citations and a higher h-index. High-impact journals are typically those with a large readership and reputation for publishing groundbreaking research. Articles published in these journals tend to be highly cited and can have a significant impact on their respective fields.[ 17 ]

Make research openly accessible

Making research freely and openly accessible can increase the visibility and impact of one's work, leading to more citations and a higher h-index. Open-access articles can reach a wider audience and potential readership, including researchers who might not have access to the article through traditional subscription-based methods. Additionally, open-access articles can be easily shared on social media platforms, blogs, and other online forums, which can increase their reach and promote their visibility.[ 18 ]

Collaborate with other researchers

Collaborating with other researchers can lead to more publications and citations, as well as exposure to new research ideas and methods. Collaboration can bring together researchers with different areas of expertise and skill sets, resulting in more comprehensive and impactful research. Collaborating with other researchers can increase the visibility of the research. Collaborators are likely to share the research with their networks, potentially increasing the readership and citations of the work.[ 19 ]

Balance quality and quantity

While the quantity of publications is important, it is more important to focus on producing high-quality research that is impactful and well-regarded in the field. Higher-quality articles are more likely to be cited by other researchers, which can further increase their impact and visibility.[ 20 ] However, the number is also important. For example, if an author has five papers with a huge 50000 citations, the h-index would be 5 only.

Stay active in the field

Attending conferences can provide opportunities to meet other researchers and learn about new research in the field. By presenting one's own research at a conference, researchers can receive feedback and ideas from other scholars, which can lead to new collaborations and research opportunities. Attending conferences also provides opportunities to network with other researchers. Delivering talks or lectures can also increase visibility and impact. Participating in scholarly discussions, such as by commenting on blogs or participating in online forums, can also increase visibility, which increases the chances of higher citations.[ 21 ]

Promote your research

Promoting research can be an effective strategy for increasing citations. There are several ways to promote research, including sharing it on social media, collaborating with other researchers, and seeking media coverage. Sharing research on social media can be an effective way to increase visibility and reach a wider audience. Researchers can share their work on their personal or professional social media accounts or on specialized platforms, such as ResearchGate or Academia.edu.[ 22 ] Seeking media coverage can also be an effective way to promote research and increase citations. Media coverage can increase the visibility of the research and attract the attention of other researchers who may be interested in citing the work. Researchers can also promote the articles on their own websites for a higher reach in the field, which lead to more citations and a higher h-index.[ 21 ]

Conduct timely research

By working on influential research and trending topics, researchers can increase the likelihood that their work will be cited by other researchers in the field. To conduct timely research, researchers need to stay up-to-date on the latest developments and emerging trends in their field. This may involve reading relevant literature, attending conferences, and collaborating with other researchers. By staying current with the latest research, researchers can identify gaps in the field and opportunities for making meaningful contributions.[ 23 ]

It is important to note that these strategies should not be used to game the system or artificially inflate one's h-index, but rather as ways to increase the impact and visibility of one's research in a genuine and sustainable way.

Institutional Level Data

The institutional h-index is not readily available in Google Scholar. However, one can manually search the total publications from the institution and citation to the published article from the institutional repository (if available) to calculate the h-index of the institution. The calculation method remains the same. Institutions that do not have their own repository can collect data from Google Scholar about publications and citations. If the institution provides an email address to the employee, and teachers or researchers verify the email address, the data can be collected from Google Scholar from the following method. The website https://scholar.google.com/citations?mauthors=aiimsdeoghar.edu.in&hl=en&view_op=search_authors is opened if the institution has the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) as aiimsdeoghar.edu.in. All the authors who verified their accounts would be shown with their papers and citations.[ 24 ] These data can be used to calculate the central tendencies of the h-index of the authors in that institution. A similar method can be used to extract data from other databases, such as Scopus, to compute the institution-level h-index.[ 25 ] Institutions may also open a user account as a researcher in Google Scholar as shown in Figure 3 and add the published “Add article manually” (after clicking the addition “+” button) to get institutional level h-index.

A profile of an institution in Google Scholar

The h-index of global institutions can also be found at https://exaly.com/institutions/citations . This website hosts data of 53,307 institutions along with their h-index. Exaly is a nonprofit initiative aimed at filling the gap of lacking an inclusive and accessible collection of academic papers and scientometric information. It is referred to as a project rather than an organization to ensure independence from commercial motives. Indian regional data are available on a website https://www.indianscience.net/list_inst.php that provides data till 2019 . This website extracted data from Dimensions ( https://www.dimensions.ai ) and Altmetric ( https://www.altmetric.com ).[ 26 ]

In conclusion, the h-index is a widely used metric for measuring the productivity and impact of researchers. While it has some limitations, such as its inability to capture the quality of publications and the potential for manipulation, the h-index remains a useful tool for evaluating the performance of individual authors and comparing researchers and institutions. Hence, the potential predictors of the index were discussed along with its calculation methods. The h-index in conjunction with other metrics and factors for evaluating research productivity and impact was also highlighted.

Self-Assessment Multiple-Choice Questions

Five questions are available in Table 4 for self-assessment of your learning from this article.

Self-assessment multiple-choice questions

Q1: The correct answer is D. Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science show the h-index of an author

Q2: The correct answer is D. We need the total papers and their citations to be arranged in higher to lower order for ease of identification of the h-index.

Q3: The correct answer is C. Three papers of the author have received at least three citations each.

Q4: The correct answer is B. Six papers of the author have received at least six citations each.

Q5: The correct answer is D. The h-index only takes papers and their citations. m-value considers the years of activity of an author

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Measuring your research impact: H-Index

Getting Started

Journal Citation Reports (JCR)

Eigenfactor and Article Influence

Scimago Journal and Country Rank

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Web of Science Citation Tools

Google Scholar Citations

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Publish or Perish

• Author disambiguation
• Broadening your impact

Table of Contents

Author Impact

Journal Impact

Tracking and Measuring Your Impact

Author Disambiguation

Broadening Your Impact

Other H-Index Resources

• An index to quantify an individual's scientific research output This is the original paper by J.E. Hirsch proposing and describing the H-index.

H-Index in Web of Science

The Web of Science uses the H-Index to quantify research output by measuring author productivity and impact.

H-Index = number of papers ( h ) with a citation number ≥ h .  

Example: a scientist with an H-Index of 37 has 37 papers cited at least 37 times.  

Advantages of the H-Index:

• Allows for direct comparisons within disciplines
• Measures quantity and impact by a single value.

Disadvantages of the H-Index:

• Does not give an accurate measure for early-career researchers
• Calculated by using only articles that are indexed in Web of Science.  If a researcher publishes an article in a journal that is not indexed by Web of Science, the article as well as any citations to it will not be included in the H-Index calculation.

Tools for measuring H-Index:

• Web of Science
• Google Scholar

This short clip helps to explain the limitations of the H-Index for early-career scientists:

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Measuring Research Impact and Quality

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h-index for journals

H-index for institutions, computing your own h-index, ways to increase your h-index, limitations of the h-index, variations of the h-index.

• Using Scopus to find a researcher's h-index
• Additional resources for finding a researcher's h-index
• Journal Impact Factor & other journal rankings
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• Impact by discipline
• Researcher Profiles

h-index for researchers-definition

• The h-index is a measure used to indicate the impact and productivity of a researcher based on how often his/her publications have been cited.
• The physicist, Jorge E. Hirsch, provides the following definition for the h-index:  A scientist has index h if  h of his/her N p  papers have at least h citations each, and the other (N p  − h) papers have no more than h citations each. (Hirsch, JE (15 November 2005) PNAS 102 (46) 16569-16572)
• The h -index is based on the highest number of papers written by the author that have had at least the same number of citations.
• A researcher with an h-index of 6 has published six papers that have been cited at least six times by other scholars.  This researcher may have published more than six papers, but only six of them have been cited six or more times. 

Whether or not a h-index is considered strong, weak or average depends on the researcher's field of study and how long they have been active.  The h-index of an individual should be considered in the context of the h-indices of equivalent researchers in the same field of study.

Definition :  The h-index of a publication is the largest number h such that at least h articles in that publication were cited at least h times each. For example, a journal with a h-index of 20 has published 20 articles that have been cited 20 or more times.

Available from:

• SJR (Scimago Journal & Country Rank)

Whether or not a h-index is considered strong, weak or average depends on the discipline the journal covers and how long it has published. The h-index of a journal should be considered in the context of the h-indices of other journals in similar disciplines.

Definition :  The h-index of an institution is the largest number h such that at least h articles published by researchers at the institution were cited at least h times each. For example, if an institution has a h-index of 200 it's researchers have published 200 articles that have been cited 200 or more times.

Available from: exaly

In a spreadsheet, list the number of times each of your publications has been cited by other scholars. 

Sort the spreadsheet in descending order by the number of  times each publication is cited.  Then start counting down until the article number is equal to or not greater than the times cited.

Article                   Times Cited

1                              50          

2                              15          

3                              12

4                              10

5                              8

6                              7              == =>h index is 6

7                              5             

8                              1

How to successfully boost your h-index (enago academy, 2019)

Glänzel, Wolfgang On the Opportunities and Limitations of the H-index. , 2006

• h -index based upon data from the last 5 years
•  i-10 index is the number of articles by an author that have at least ten citations. 
•  i-10 index was created by Google Scholar .
• Used to compare researchers with different lengths of publication history
• m-index =   ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­___________ h-index _______________                      # of years since author’s 1 st publication

Using Scopus to find an researcher's h-index

Additional resources for finding a researcher's h-index.

Web of Science Core Collection or Web of Science All Databases

• Perform an author search
• Create a citation report for that author.
• The h-index will be listed in the report.

Set up your author profile in the following three resources.  Each resource will compute your h-index.  Your h-index may vary since each of these sites collects data from different resources.

• Google Scholar Citations Computes h-index based on publications and cited references in Google Scholar .
• Researcher ID
• Computes h-index based on publications and cited references in the last 20 years of Web of Science .
• << Previous: Times cited counts
• Next: Journal Impact Factor & other journal rankings >>
• Last Updated: Jul 23, 2024 10:54 AM
• URL: https://libraryguides.missouri.edu/impact

What is the h-index?

• Research Process

In this article, we explain where the h-index comes from and how it is calculated. You will be ready to put the h-index into context and discuss what it means to you as a researcher, where you can find it, and why it is important.

Updated on November 3, 2022

Knowing your h -index is an essential step to measuring the impact your research is having on your field and discipline. In this article, you will learn the basics of the h -index and how it applies to your research career.

You are getting your research out into the world, preprints, presentations, publications. People are reading it, discussing it, citing it. And you know this is important, not only for current projects but also for all those in the future.

How do you measure and share this exciting progress?

With so many metrics used to assess the quality and impact of your research, it can be hard to

tell them apart. The h -index deserves some undivided attention, though. It is often used to rank candidates for grant funding, fellowships and other research positions.

In this article, we will talk about where the h -index comes from and how it is calculated. And with that background, we will be ready to put the h -index into context and discuss what it means to you as a researcher, where you can find it when you need it, and why it is important to seriously consider.

Background of the h -index

J.E. Hirsch first proposed the h -index in 2005 in his article An index to quantify an individual's scientific research output. He argued that two individuals with similar hs would be comparable in terms of their overall scientific impact, even if their total number of papers or their total number of citations were very different (Hirsch, 2005). Making the metric an equalizer of sorts.

In practice, the total number of citations and papers are plotted on a graph like this (Wikimedia Commons, 2008). The h -index, then, is defined as the maximum value of h such that the given author or journal has published at least h papers that have each been cited at least h times (McDonald, 2005). Making an author's greatest possible h -index limited to their total number of papers. As shown by the green square that is intersected by the dashed line on the graph.

In other words, an author with 1 paper that has 1 or more citations can have a maximum h -index of 1. In the same way, an author with several papers that each have 1 citation would also have a h -index of 1.

How do you calculate the h -index?

We can start by looking at the h -index in the simplest terms. If an author has 10 papers where each has at least 10 citations, then their h -index is 10. If, however, an author has five papers with 12, 6, 5, 2, and 1 citations respectively, then the author's h -index is 3. This is because the author has only three papers with 3 or more citations. So, the h -index of 3 is where the h citations and the h papers would meet at the top corner of the green square in the graph we looked at above.

If you want to calculate an h -index manually, make a table with two columns. In the left column, assign ascending numbers beginning with 1 and going all the way to account for the author's total number of papers. In the right column, arrange the number of citations for the author's papers in descending order, where the biggest number is paired with the 1st paper.

Next, you move down the list until the paper number on the left is greater than the citation number on the right. Draw a line just above this position to look like the table below (MUHC Libraries, 2015). The h -index then equals the paper number just above the line. In this case the h -index is 8 because 8 articles have been cited at least 8 or more times. The remaining articles have been cited 8 times or less.

In this way, the h -index provides a more comprehensive view of the productivity and impact of a researcher's work than the simpler metrics of the total number of papers or the total number of citations. And, at the same time, the h -index simplifies the same information by converting it into one easy to digest number.

h -index tools and resources

While knowing your h -index is useful, gathering all the data and calculating it yourself can be a pain. Fortunately, many of the resources you are already using to promote and track research papers offer convenient tools for generating h -index metrics.

• Google Scholar -  Finding  h -index in Google Scholar - Ask Us
• Publish or Perish-  Results pane from Publish or Perish 4.22 onward
• Web of Science -  Tutorial:  h -index in Web of Science - Evaluating scholarly publications - LibGuides at Tritonia
• Scopus -  Tutorial:  h -index in Scopus - Evaluating scholarly publications - LibGuides at Tritonia
• Pure -  Pure | The world’s leading RIMS or CRIS | Elsevier Solutions

It is a good idea to periodically check and compare your h -index from each of these resources. Chances are, the results will not match.

Each database calculates the h -index based only on the citations it contains. In the same way, software programs like Publish or Perish and management systems like Pure use a limited amount of citation data.

No single system retrieves and analyzes all citation information from all sources. This results in dissimilar h -index values. The databases also cover different journals over different ranges of years, which makes the h -index results vary.

Looking at how individual sources calculate your h -index and how it changes over time will help you recognize which of these is more accurate for your personal research career, field, and situation.

What is a good h -index?

Just as your h -index may vary from source to source, its weight and value are also on a sliding scale. An h -index number that is considered good in one area of research may only be subpar in another.

This is because every organization, institution, funding group, and hiring committee has its own set of requirements for any given research project or position. So, the idea of an acceptable or competitive h -index will change accordingly.

Many agree, however, that a satisfactory h -index will closely mirror the number of years a person has been working in their field. For example, h -index scores between 3 and 5 are common for new assistant professors, scores between 8 and 12 are standard for promotion to tenured associate professor, and scores between 15 and 20 are appropriate for becoming a full professor (Tetzner, 2021).

This is not a set guideline by any means. Rather a general explanation to use when setting your professional goals. That being said, you need to also stay current with your field's practices regarding the h -index. And, always thoroughly check the h -index requirements for all applications you submit.

What are the pros and cons of the h -index?

Some people appreciate the h -index, some loathe it, and others have no opinion at all. Most who are familiar with the h -index, though, have a healthy level of respect while understanding that, like all metrics, it is imperfect.

Even at the dawn of its creation, Hirsch recognized the following advantages and disadvantages of his h -index (Hirsch, 2005):

• It combines a measure of quantity (publications) and impact (citations).
• It allows us to characterize the scientific output of a researcher with objectivity.
• It performs better than other single-number criteria used to evaluate the scientific output of a researcher (impact factor, total number of documents, total number of citations, citation per paper rate and number of highly cited papers).
• The h -index can be easily obtained by anyone.
• There are inter-field differences in typical h values due to differences among fields in productivity and citation practices.
• The h -index depends on the duration of each scientist's career because the pool of publications and citations increases over time.
• There are also technical limitations, such as the difficulty to obtain the complete output of scientists with very common names, or whether self-citations should be removed or not.
• “A single number can never give more than a rough approximation to an individual's multifaceted profile, and many other factors should be considered in combination in evaluating an individual (Hirsch, 2005).”

Final thoughts

During your research career, there will be many circumstances when you will inevitably have to interact with the h -index. Having a foundation of knowledge before that time comes is key to ensuring that your h -index is an asset and not a liability.

The information in this article will help you start laying the groundwork for clearly understanding the h -index. Where it comes from, how it is calculated, where to find it, and how it impacts your research career. It is one more vital step to ensuring that your valuable research finds its way out into the world.

• Hirsch, J. E. (2005). An index to quantify an individual's scientific research output. PNAS, 102(46), 16569-72. PMC. Retrieved Oct 26, 2022, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1283832/
• McDonald, K. (2005, November 8). Physicist Proposes New Way to Rank Scientific Output. Phys.org. Retrieved October 26, 2022, from https://phys.org/news/2005-11-physicist-scientific-output.html
• MUHC Libraries. (2015, Jul 01). What's your impact? Calculating your h-index | McGill University Health Centre Libraries. MUHC Libraries. Retrieved October 26, 2022, from https://www.muhclibraries.ca/training-and-consulting/guides-and-tutorials/whats-your-impact-calculating-your-h-index/
• Tetzner, R. (2021, September 3). What Is a Good h-Index Required for an Academic Position? Journal-Publishing.com. Retrieved October 27, 2022, from https://www.journal-publishing.com/blog/good-h-index-required-academic-position/
• Wikimedia Commons. (2008, Feb 01). File:h-index-en.svg. Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved October 26, 2022, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:h-index-en.svg

Charla Viera, MS

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Explaining H-index, i10-index, G-index & other research metrics

This blog post aims to explain various  research metrics like the h-index, i-10 index, and g-index . Moreover, we will also be explaining how you can increase these research metrics .

Page Contents

Measuring your research impact

Researchers use different metrics to measure the quality of published papers in journals . It basically gives an idea of the impact of any research paper . These metrics can be applied to any publication on any subject across the world. Through research metrics, one can monitor and quantify published articles. These citation metrics ultimately help in getting a university’s ranking .

Research metrics are one of the most established ways to measure the quality of research work. It tells the importance of particular research. Nowadays, H-index, impact factor , G-index, i-10 index are commonly used research metrics. These metrics help in measuring how much a researcher’s article is cited by the co-researchers. It helps in increasing the impact of the research work.  Researchers can use these metrics for availing various fellowships and scholarships, and gaining job opportunities across the world. 

Also, read the following articles:

Difference between SCI, SCIE, and ESCI journals

Difference between Scopus and Web of Science (WoS)

What is the h-index?

It is commonly known as the Hirsch number or Hirsch index. It was developed by American physicist Jorge E. Hirsch in 2005. h-index can be defined as for a given value of h, the researchers should h number of published articles that are cited at least by h-times. Suppose the author has an h-index of 25, which means that each of his published articles is cited at least 25 times by other researchers. It mainly gives an idea of the quality of the research papers. Generally, the higher the h-index, the greater the impact of a research paper will be. Thus, the h-index can be used to measure the quality and quantity of the research paper simultaneously. The h-index for any author can be determined manually with the help of any citation database. Using Scopus or Web of Science data, the h-index can also be calculated.

What is the i-10 index?

It is another commonly used research metric by the authors/researchers. i-10 index is provided by Google Scholar . It can define as a measure of having publications with at least 10 citations. For example, if an author/researcher’s i-10 index is 6, it indicates that six of his/her publications are cited 10 times. i-10 index also helps in increasing the weightage of any student profile. The main advantage of the i-10 index is that it can be calculated very easily. Google Scholar provides easy and free access to find out these metrics. 

Charles Robert Darwin, a renowned scientist, has the highest number of citations to date. This scientist has 156678 citations with an h-index of 106 and an i-10 index of 526. This means this researcher has received at least 10 citations for each of the 526 published articles. An h-index of 106 means that, out of his total publications, his 106 articles have been cited at least 106 times by different researchers.

What is G-index?

It is another level of measuring research metrics. It was suggested by Leo Egge in 2006. In general, the h-index does include a citation count of highly cites papers. But g-index helps in boosting the profile of a researcher by giving preference to highly cited papers. G-index is basically an advanced version of the h-index.  G-index measures the citation performance for a set of articles. A g-index of 20 indicates that the top 20 publications in a researcher/author profile are cited by 400 times (20 2 ). Similarly, a g-index of 10 indicates that the top 10 publications in a researcher profile are cited by 100 times (10 2) . 

How to increase the h-index? 

In the present scenario, the quality of any published article is measured by the number of citations he/she received, research metrics like the impact factor of the journal he/she has published, and the h-index of any author profile. Generally, during the entire research career, if the researcher receives of h-index of 25 or more, it is considered to be an excellent researcher’s profile. However, on average most of the researchers have an h-index between 10-15.

• In order to increase the h-index, one must publish papers of high quality. The researcher should ensure that he/she has not published any article in predatory/fake journals . The researcher should publish more and more original research articles . Although, sometimes publishing more review articles receives a greater number of citations , that ultimately increases the h-index in a profile.  
• Secondly, another way of increasing the h-index is through proper communication of the published article. He/she can advertise through various social media platforms such as Twitter , and ResearchGate, and continuously update the Google scholar profile. This will mainly help in increasing the visibility of published articles. 
• Thirdly, the researchers while writing the manuscript , he/she should ensure that the title of the paper is simple, clear, short, and concise. He/she should use a maximum of 5-6 appropriate keywords in the abstract. The abstract should be written in a very informative manner. It should briefly describe the research study. The research paper should always explain the novelty/newness of his/her article. Usually, the first sentence of the article appears in the all-search engines. So, it should be written in a very attractive manner. The abstract should be written in a such way it gives an overall summary of the research findings. 
• Fourthly, if it is possible, the researcher should publish in open-access journals . OA journals also undergo a peer-review process. Generally, these journals are available on online platforms which are easy to access and free of charge. Through open-access journals, readers can get full-text access to published articles easily. It will ultimately draw the attention of more audiences, which will ultimately help in gaining citations, thus increasing the h-index. 

What is considered to be a good i-10 index? 

Similar to the h-index, if the author/researcher has an i-10 index of 25 or more, it is considered an excellent research profile. An i-10 index of 25 means that, out of total publications, the researcher has received at least 10 citations for every 25 published articles. The i-10 index differs from researcher to researcher. It mainly depends on the subject area and sub-section of the research area. Generally, publishing more articles related to solving practical problems receives a greater number of citations. Professors with arts and humanities backgrounds may not have a higher i-index as compared to professors with science backgrounds. However, the i-10 index is the second-well-recognized research metric after the h-index.

I Hope, this blog post will help you to understand various research metrics used in research.

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Do researchers know what the h-index is? And how do they estimate its importance?

• Open access
• Published: 26 April 2021
• Volume 126 , pages 5489–5508, ( 2021 )

Cite this article

You have full access to this open access article

• Pantea Kamrani   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-8880-8105 1 ,
• Isabelle Dorsch   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7391-5189 1 &
• Wolfgang G. Stock   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2697-3225 1 , 2  

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The h-index is a widely used scientometric indicator on the researcher level working with a simple combination of publication and citation counts. In this article, we pursue two goals, namely the collection of empirical data about researchers’ personal estimations of the importance of the h-index for themselves as well as for their academic disciplines, and on the researchers’ concrete knowledge on the h-index and the way of its calculation. We worked with an online survey (including a knowledge test on the calculation of the h-index), which was finished by 1081 German university professors. We distinguished between the results for all participants, and, additionally, the results by gender, generation, and field of knowledge. We found a clear binary division between the academic knowledge fields: For the sciences and medicine the h-index is important for the researchers themselves and for their disciplines, while for the humanities and social sciences, economics, and law the h-index is considerably less important. Two fifths of the professors do not know details on the h-index or wrongly deem to know what the h-index is and failed our test. The researchers’ knowledge on the h-index is much smaller in the academic branches of the humanities and the social sciences. As the h-index is important for many researchers and as not all researchers are very knowledgeable about this author-specific indicator, it seems to be necessary to make researchers more aware of scholarly metrics literacy.

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Introduction

In 2005, Hirsch introduced his famous h-index. It combines two important measures of scientometrics, namely the publication count of a researcher (as an indicator for his or her research productivity) and the citation count of those publications (as an indicator for his or her research impact). Hirsch ( 2005 , p. 1569) defines, “A scientist has index h if h of his or her N p papers have at least h citations each and the other ( N p   –   h ) papers have <  h citations each.” If a researcher has written 100 articles, for instance, 20 of these having been cited at least 20 times and the other 80 less than that, then the researcher’s h-index will be 20 (Stock and Stock 2013 , p. 382). Following Hirsch, the h-index “gives an estimate of the importance, significance, and broad impact of a scientist’s cumulative research contribution” (Hirsch 2005 , p. 16,572). Hirsch ( 2007 ) assumed that his h-index may predict researchers’ future achievements. Looking at this in retro-perspective, Hirsch had hoped to create an “objective measure of scientific achievement” (Hirsch 2020 , p. 4) but also starts to believe that this could be the opposite. Indeed, it became a measure of scientific achievement, however a very questionable one.

Also in 2005, Hirsch derives the m-index with the researcher’s “research age” in mind. Let the number of years after a researcher’s first publication be t p . The m-index is the quotient of the researcher’s h-index and her or his research age: m p  =  h p / t p (Hirsch 2005 , p. 16,571). An m -value of 2 would mean, for example, that a researcher has reached an h-value of 20 after 10 research years. Meanwhile, the h-index is strongly wired in our scientific system. It became one of the “standard indicators” in scientific information services and can be found on many general scientific bibliographic databases. Besides, it is used in various contexts and generated a lot of research and discussions. This indicator is used or rather misused—dependent on the way of seeing—in decisions about researchers’ career paths, e.g. as part of academics’ evaluation concerning awards, funding allocations, promotion, and tenure (Ding et al. 2020 ; Dinis-Oliveira 2019 ; Haustein and Larivière 2015 ; Kelly and Jennions 2006 ). For Jappe ( 2020 , p. 13), one of the arguments for the use of the h-index in evaluation studies is its “robustness with regards to incomplete publication and citation data.” Contrary, the index is well-known for its inconsistencies, incapability for comparisons between researchers with different career stages, and missing field normalization (Costas and Bordons 2007 ; Waltman and van Eck 2012 ). There already exist various advantages and disadvantages lists on the h-index (e.g. Rousseau et al. 2018 ). And it is still questionable what the h-index underlying concept represents, due to its conflation of the two concepts’ productivity and impact resulting in one single number (Sugimoto and Larivière, 2018 ).

It is easy to identify lots of variants of the h-index concerning both, the basis of the data as well as the concrete formula of calculation. Working with the numbers of publications and their citations, there are the data based upon the leading general bibliographical information services Web of Science (WoS), Scopus, Google Scholar, and, additionally, on ResearchGate (da Silva and Dobranszki 2018 ); working with publication numbers and the number of the publications’ reads, there are data based upon Mendeley (Askeridis 2018 ). Depending of an author’s visibility on an information service (Dorsch 2017 ), we see different values for the h-indices for WoS, Scopus, and Google Scholar (Bar-Ilan 2008 ), mostly following the inequation h( R ) WoS  < h( R ) Scopus  < h( R ) Google Scholar for a given researcher R (Dorsch et al. 2018 ). Having in mind that WoS consists of many databases (Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Science Citation Index, Arts & Humanities Citation Index, Emerging Sources Citation Index, Book Citation Index, Conference Proceedings Citation Index, etc.) and that libraries not always provide access to all (and not to all years) it is no surprise that we will find different h-indices on WoS depending on the subscribed sources and years (Hu et al. 2020 ).

After Hirsch’s publication of the two initial formulas (i.e. the h-index and the time-adjusted m-index) many scientists felt required to produce similar, but only slightly mathematically modified formulas not leading to brand-new scientific insights (Alonso et al. 2009 ; Bornmann et al. 2008 ; Jan and Ahmad 2020 ), as there are high correlations between the values of the variants (Bornmann et al. 2011 ).

How do researchers estimate the importance of the h-index? Do they really know the concrete definition and its formula? In a survey for Springer Nature ( N  = 2734 authors of Springer Nature and Biomed Central), Penny ( 2016 , slide 22) found that 67% of the asked scientists use the h-index and further 22% are aware of it but have not used it before; however, there are 10% of respondents who do not know what the h-index is. Rousseau and Rousseau ( 2017 ) asked members of the International Association of Agricultural Economists and gathered 138 answers. Here, more than two-fifth of all questionees did not know what the h-index is (Rousseau and Rousseau 2017 , p. 481). Among Taiwanese researchers ( n  = 417) 28.78% self-reported to have heard about the h-index and fully understood the indicator, whereas 22.06% never heard about it. The remaining stated to hear about it and did not know its content or only some aspects (Chen and Lin 2018 ). For academics in Ireland ( n  = 19) “journal impact factor, h-index, and RG scores” are familiar concepts, but “the majority cannot tell how these metrics are calculated or what they represent” (Ma and Ladisch 2019 , p. 214). Likewise, the interviewed academics ( n  = 9) could name “more intricate metrics like h-index or Journal Impact Factor, [but] were barely able to explain correctly how these indicators are calculated” (Lemke et al. 2019 , p. 11). The knowledge about scientometric indicators in general “is quite heterogeneous among researchers,” Rousseau and Rousseau ( 2017 , p. 482) state. This is confirmed by further studies on the familiarity, perception or usage of research evaluation metrics in general (Aksnes and Rip 2009 ; Derrick and Gillespie 2013 ; Haddow and Hammarfelt 2019 ; Hammarfelt and Haddow 2018 ).

In a blog post, Tetzner ( 2019 ) speculates on concrete numbers of a “good” h-index for academic positions. Accordingly, an h-index between 3 and 5 is good for a new assistant professor, an index between 8 and 12 for a tenured associate professor, and, finally, an index of more than 15 for a full professor. However, these numbers are gross generalizations without a sound empirical foundation. As our data are from Germany, the question arises: What kinds of tools do German funders, universities, etc. use for research evaluation? Unfortunately, there are only few publications on this topic. For scientists at German universities, bibliometric indicators (including the h-index and the impact factor) are important or very important for scientific reputation for more than 55% of the questionees (Neufeld and Johann 2016 , p.136). Those indicators have also relevance or even great relevance concerning hiring on academic positions in the estimation of more than 40% of the respondents (Neufeld and Johann 2016 , p.129). In a ranking of aspects of reputation of medical scientists, the h-index takes rank 7 (with a mean value of 3.4 with 5 being the best one) out of 17 evaluation criteria. Top-ranked indicators are the reputation of the journals of the scientists’ publications (4.1), the scientists’ citations (4.0), and their publication amount (3.7) (Krempkow et al. 2011 , p. 37). For hiring of psychology professors in Germany, the h-index had factual relevance for the tenure decision with a mean value of 3.64 (on a six-point scale) and ranks on position 12 out of more than 40 criteria for professorship (Abele-Brehm and Bühner 2016 ). Here, the number of peer-reviewed publications is top-ranked (mean value of 5.11). Obviously, these few studies highlight that the h-index indeed has relevance for research evaluation in Germany next to publication and citation numbers.

What is still a research desideratum is an in-depth description of researchers’ personal estimations on the h-index and an analysis of possible differences concerning researchers’ generation, their gender, and the discipline.

What is about the researchers’ state of knowledge on the h-index? Of course, we may ask, “What’s your knowledge on the h-index? Estimate on a scale from 1 to 5!” But personal estimations are subjective and do not substitute a test of knowledge (Kruger and Dunning 1999 ). Knowledge tests on researchers’ state of knowledge concerning the h-index are—to our best knowledge—a research desideratum, too.

In this article, we pursue two goals, namely on the one hand—similar to Buela-Casal and Zych ( 2012 ) on the impact factor—the collection of data about researchers’ personal estimations of the importance of the h-index for themselves as well as their discipline, and on the other hand data on the researchers’ concrete knowledge on the h-index and the way of its calculation. In short, these are our research questions:

RQ1: How do researchers estimate the importance of the h-index?

RQ2: What is the researchers’ knowledge on the h-index?

In order to answer RQ1, we asked researchers on their personal opinions; to answer RQ2, we additionally performed a test of their knowledge.

Online survey

Online-survey-based questionnaires provide a means of generating quantitative data. Furthermore, they ensure anonymity, and thus, a high degree of unbiasedness to bare personal information, preferences, and own knowledge. Therefore, we decided to work with an online survey. As we live and work in Germany, we know well the German academic landscape and thus restricted ourselves to professors working at a German university. We have focused on university professors as sample population (and skipped other academic staff in universities and also professors at universities of applied sciences), because we wanted to concentrate on persons who have (1) an established career path (in contrast to other academic staff) and (2) are to a high extent oriented towards publishing their research results (in contrast to professors at universities of applied science, formerly called Fachhochschulen , i.e. polytechnics, who are primarily oriented towards practice).

The online questionnaire (see Appendix 1 ) in German language contained three different sections. In Sect.  1 , we asked for personal data (gender, age, academic discipline, and university). Section  2 is on the professors’ personal estimations of the importance of publications, citations, their visibility on WoS, Scopus, and Google Scholar, the h-index on the three platforms, the importance of the h-index in their academic discipline, and, finally, their preferences concerning h-index or m-index. We chose those three information services as they are the most prominent general scientific bibliographic information services (Linde and Stock 2011 , p. 237) and all three present their specific h-index in a clearly visible way. Section  3 includes the knowledge test on the h-index and a question concerning the m-index.

In this article, we report on all aspects in relation with the h-index (for other aspects, see Kamrani et al. 2020 ). For the estimations, we used a 5-point Likert scale (from 1: very important via 3: neutral to 5: very unimportant) (Likert 1932 ). It was possible for all estimations to click also on “prefer not to say.” The test in Sect.  3 was composed of two questions, namely a subjective estimation of the own knowledge on the h-index and an objective knowledge test on this knowledge with a multiple-choice test (items: one correct answer, four incorrect ones as distractors, and the option “I’m not sure”). Those were the five items (the third one being counted as correct):

h is the quotient of the number of citations of journal articles in a reference period and the number of published journal articles in the same period;

h is the quotient of the general number of citations of articles (in a period of three years) and the number of citations of a researcher’s articles (in the same three years);

h is the number of articles by a researcher, which were cited h times at minimum;

h is the number of all citations concerning the h-index, thereof subtracted h 2 ;

h is the quotient of the number of citations of a research publication and the age of this publication.

A selected-response format for the objective knowledge test was chosen since it is recommended as the best choice for measuring knowledge (Haladyna and Rodriguez 2013 ). For the development of the knowledge test items we predominantly followed the 22 recommendations given by Haladyna and Rodriguez ( 2013 , in section II). Using a three-option multiple-choice should be superior to the four- or five-option for several reasons. However, we decided to use five options because our test only contained one question. The “I’m not sure” selection was added for the reason that our test is not a typical (classroom) assessment test. We, therefore, did not want to force an answer, for example through guessing, but rather wanted to know if participants do not know the correct answer. Creating reliable distractors can be seen as the most difficult part of the test development. Furthermore, validation is a crucial task. Here we tested and validated the question to the best of our knowledge.

As no ethical review board was involved in our research, we had to determine the ethical harmlessness of the research project ourselves and followed suggestions for ethical research applying online surveys such as consent, risk, privacy, anonymity, confidentiality, and autonomy (Buchanan and Hvizdak 2009 ). We found the e-mail addresses of the participants in a publicly accessible source (a handbook on all German faculty members, Deutscher Hochschulverband 2020 ); the participation was basically voluntary, and the participants knew that their answers became stored. At no time, participants became individually identifiable through our data collection or preparation as we strictly anonymized all questionnaires.

Participants

The addresses of the university professors were randomly extracted from the German Hochschullehrer-Verzeichnis (Deutscher Hochschulverband 2020 ). So, our procedure was non-probability sampling, more precisely convenience sampling in combination with volunteer sampling (Vehovar et al. 2016 ). Starting with volume 1 of the 2020 edition of the handbook, we randomly picked up entries and wrote the e-mails addresses down. The link to the questionnaire was distributed to every single professor by the found e-mail addresses; to host the survey we applied UmfrageOnline . To strengthen the power of the statistical analysis we predefined a minimum of 1000 usable questionnaires. The power tables provided by Cohen ( 1988 ) have a maximum of n  = 1000 participants. Therefore, we chose this value of the sample size to ensure statistically significant results, also for smaller subsets as single genders, generations, and disciplines (Cohen 1992 ). We started the mailing in June 2019 and stopped it in March 2020, when we had response of more than 1000 valid questionnaires. All in all we contacted 5722 professors by mail and arrived at 1081 completed questionnaires, which corresponds to a response rate of 18.9%.

Table 1 shows a comparison between our sample of German professors at universities with the population as one can find it in the official statistics (Destatis 2019 ). There are only minor differences concerning the gender distribution and also few divergences concerning most disciplines; however, Table 1 exhibits two huge differences. In our sample, we find more (natural) scientists than in the official statistics and less scholars in the humanities and the social sciences.

In our analysis, we distinguished always between the results for all participants, and, additionally, the results by gender (Geraci et al. 2015 ), generation (Fietkiewicz et al. 2016 ), and the field of knowledge (Hirsch and Buela-Casal 2014 ). We differentiated two genders (men, women) (note the questionnaire also provided the options “diverse” and “prefer not to say,” which were excluded from further calculations concerning gender), four generations: Generation Y (born after 1980), Generation X (born between 1960 and 1980), Baby Boomers (born after 1946 and before 1960), Silent Generation (born before 1946), and six academic disciplines: (1) geosciences, environmental sciences, agriculture, forestry, (2) humanities, social sciences, (3) sciences (including mathematics), (4) medicine, (5) law, and (6) economics. This division of knowledge fields is in line with the faculty structure of many German universities. As some participants answered some questions with “prefer not to say” (which was excluded from further calculations), the sum of all answers is not always 1081.

As our Likert scale is an ordinal scale, we calculated in each case the median as well as the interquartile range (IQR). For the analysis of significant differences we applied the Mann–Whitney u-test (Mann and Whitney 1947 ) (for the two values of gender) and the Kruskall–Wallis h-test (Kruskal and Wallis 1952 ) (for more than two values as the generations and academic disciplines). The data on the researchers’ knowledge on the h-index are on a nominal scale, so we calculated relative frequencies for three values (1: researcher knows the h-index in her/his self-estimation and passed the test; 2: researcher does not know the h-index in her/his self-estimation; 3: researcher knows the h-index in her/his self-estimation and failed the test) and used chi-squared test (Pearson 1900 ) for the analysis of differences between gender, knowledge area, and generation. We distinguish between three levels of statistical significance, namely *: p  ≤ 0.05 (significant), **: p  ≤ 0.01 (very significant), and ***: p  ≤ 0.001 (extremely significant); however, one has to interpret such values always with caution (Amrhein et al. 2019 ). All calculations were done with the help of SPSS (see a sketch of the data analysis plan in Appendix 2 ).

Researchers’ estimations of the h-index

How do researchers estimate the importance of the h-index for their academic discipline? And how important is the h-index (on WoS, Scopus, and Google Scholar) for themselves? In this paragraph, we will answer our research question 1.

Table 2 shows the different researcher estimations of the importance of the h-index concerning their discipline. While for all participants the h-index is “important” (2) for their academic field (median 2, IQA 1), there are massive and extremely significant differences between the single disciplines. For the sciences, medicine, and geosciences (including environmental sciences, agriculture, and forestry) the h-index is much more important (median 2, IQA 1) than for economics (median 3, IQA 1), humanities and social sciences (median 4, IQA 2), and law (median 5, IQA 0). The most votes for “very important” come from medicine (29.1%), the least from the humanities and social sciences (1.0%) as well as from law (0.0%). Conversely, the most very negative estimations (5: “very unimportant”) can be found among lawyers (78.6%) and scholars from the humanities and social sciences (30.4%). There is a clear cut between sciences (including geosciences, etc., and medicine) on one hand and humanities and all social sciences (including law and economics) on the other hand—with a stark importance of the h-index for the first-mentioned disciplines and a weak importance of the h-index for the latter.

In Tables 3 , 4 and 5 we find the results for the researchers’ estimations of the importance of their h-index on WoS (Table 3 ), Scopus (Table 4 ), and Google Scholar (Table 5 ). For all participants, the h-index on WoS is the most important one (median 2; however, with a wide dispersion of IQR 3), leaving Scopus and Google Scholar behind it (median 3, IQR 2 for both services). For all three bibliographic information services, the estimations of men and women do not differ in the statistical picture. For scientists (including geoscientists, etc.), a high h-index on WoS and Scopus is important (median 2); interestingly, economists join scientists when it comes to the importance of the h-index on Google Scholar (all three disciplines having a median of 2). For scholars from humanities and social sciences, the h-indices on all three services are unimportant (median 4), for lawyers they are even very unimportant (median 5). For researchers in the area of medicine there is a decisive ranking: most important is their h-index on WoS (median 2, IQR 2, and 41.5% votes for “very important”), followed by Scopus (median 2, IQA 1, but only 18.4% votes for “very important”), and, finally, Google Scholar (median 3, IQR 1, and the modus also equals 3, “neutral”). For economists, the highest share of (1)-votes (“very important”) is found for Google Scholar (29.9%) in contrast to the fee-based services WoS (19.7%) and Scopus (12.2%).

Similar to the results of the knowledge areas, there is also a clear result concerning the generations. The older a researcher, the less important is his or her h-index for him- or herself. We see a declining number of (1)-votes in all three information services, and a median moving over the generations from 2 to 3 (WoS), 2 to 4 (Scopus), and 2 to 3 (Google Scholar). The youngest generation has a preference for the h-index on Google Scholar ((1)-votes: 34.9%) over the h-indices on WoS ((1)-votes: 25.9%) and Scopus ((1)-votes: 19.8%).

A very interesting result of our study are the impressive differences of the importance estimations of the h-index by discipline (Fig.  1 ). With three tiny exceptions, the estimations for the general importance and the importance of the h-indices on WoS, Scopus, and Google Scholar are consistent inside each scientific disciplines. For the natural sciences, geosciences etc., and medicine, the h-index is important (median 2), for economics, it is neutral (median 3), for the humanities and social sciences it is unimportant (median 4), and, finally, for law this index is even very unimportant (median 5).

Researchers’ estimations of the h-index by discipline (medians). N  = 1001 (general importance), N  = 961 (WoS), N  = 946 (Scopus), N  = 966 (Google Scholar); Scale: (1) very important, (2) important, (3) neutral, (4) unimportant, (5) very unimportant

We do not want to withhold a by-result on the estimation on a modification of the h-index by the time-adjusted m-index. 567 participants made a decision: for 50.8% of them the h-index is the better one, 49.2% prefer the m-index. More women (61.1%) than men (47.3%) choose the m-index over the original h-index. All academic disciplines except one prefer the m-index; scientists are the exception (only 42.8% approval for the m-index). For members of Generation Y, Baby Boomers, and Silent Generation the m-index is the preferable index; Generation X prefers mainly (54.3%) the h-index. Inside the youngest generation, Generation Y (being discriminated by the h-index), the majority of researchers (65.5%) likes the m-index more than the h-index.

Researchers’ state of knowledge on the h-index

Answering our research question 2, the overall result is presented in Fig.  2 . This is a combination of three questions, as we initially asked the researchers regarding their personal estimations of their general familiarity (Appendix 1 , Q10) and calculation knowledge (Q13) on the h-index. Only participants who confirmed that they have knowledge on the indicators’ calculation (Q10 and Q13) made the knowledge test (Q14). About three fifths of the professors know the h-index in their self-estimations and passed the test, one third of all answering participants does not know the h-index following their self-estimations, and, finally, 7.2% wrongly estimated their knowledge on the h-index, as they failed the test but meant to know it.

Researchers’ state of knowledge on the h-index: The basic distribution. N  = 1017

In contrast to many of our results concerning the researchers’ estimation of the importance of the h-index we see differences in the knowledge on the h-index by gender (Table 6 ). Only 41.6% of the women have justified knowledge (men: 64.6%), 50.0% do not know the definition or the formula of the h-index (men: 28.7%), and 8.3% wrongly estimate their knowledge as sufficient (men: 6.9%). However, these differences are statistically not significant.

In the sciences (incl. geosciences, etc.) and in medicine, more than 70% of the participants do know how to calculate the h-index. Scientists have the highest level of knowledge on the h-index (79.1% passed the knowledge test). Participants from the humanities and social sciences (21.1%) as well as from law (7.1%) exhibit the lowest states of knowledge concerning the h-index. With a share of 48.3%, economists take a middle position between the two main groups of researchers; however, there are 13.8% of economists who wrongly overestimate their knowledge state.

We found a clear result concerning the generations: the older the researcher the less is the knowledge on the h-index. While 62.9% of the Generation X know the calculation of the h-index, only 53.2% of the Baby Boomers possess this knowledge. The differences in the states of the researchers’ knowledge on the h-index within the knowledge areas and generations are extremely significant each.

Main results

Our main results are on the researchers’ estimations of the h-index and their state of knowledge on this scientometric indicator. We found a clear binary division between the academic knowledge fields: For the sciences (including geosciences, agriculture, etc.) and medicine the h-index is important for the researchers themselves and for their disciplines, while for the humanities and social sciences, economics, and law the h-index is considerably less important. For the respondents from the sciences and medicine, the h-index on WoS is most important, followed by the h-index of Google Scholar and Scopus. Surprisingly, for economists Google Scholar’s h-index is very attractive. We did not find significant differences between the estimations of the importance of the h-index between men and women; however, there are differences concerning the generations: the older the participants the less important they estimate the importance of the h-index.

Probably, for older professors the h-index has not the same significance as for their younger colleagues, as they are not so much in need to plan their further career or to apply for new research projects. On average, for researchers aged 60 and more, their productivity declines in contrast to younger colleagues (Kyvik 1990 ). And perhaps some of them simply do not know the existence of more recent services and of new scientometric indicators. Younger researchers are more tolerant of novelty in their work (Packalen and Bhattachrya 2015 ), and such novelty includes new information services (as Scopus and Google Scholar) as well as new indicators (as the h-index). It is known that young researchers rely heavily on search engines like Google (Rowlands et al. 2008 ), which partly may explain the high values for Google Scholar especially from Generation Y. Furthermore, the increasing publication pressure and the h-index utilization for decisions about early career researchers’ work-related paths thus also impact the importance of the indicator for those young professors (Farlin and Majewski 2013 ).

All in all, two fifths of the professors do not know the concrete calculation of the h-index or—which is rather scary—wrongly deem to know what the h-index is and failed our simple knowledge test. The women do even worse, as only about two fifths really know what the h-index is and how it is defined and calculated, but we should have in mind that this gender difference is statistically not significant. The older the researcher, the higher is the share of participants who do not know the definition and calculation of the h-index. The researchers’ knowledge on the h-index is much smaller in the academic disciplines of the humanities and the social sciences.

The h-index in the academic areas

Especially the obvious differences between the academic areas demand further explanation. Participants from the natural sciences and from medicine estimate the importance of the h-index as “important” or even “very important,” and they know details on this indicator to a high extend. The participants from the humanities, the social sciences, economics, and law are quite different. They estimate the h-index’ importance as “neutral,” “unimportant,” or even as “very unimportant,” and the share of researchers with profound knowledge on the h-index is quite low. Haddow and Hammarfelt ( 2019 ) also report a lower use of the h-index within these fields. Similar to our study, especially researchers in the field of law ( n  = 24) did not make use of the h-index. All researchers publish and all cite, too. There are differences in their publication channels, as scientists publish mostly in journals and researchers from the humanities publish in monographs and sometimes also in journals (Kulczycki et al. 2018 ), but this may not explain the differences concerning the importance of and the knowledge state on the h-index. Furthermore, more information on how such researchers’ h-index perceptions through different disciplines comply with the h-index (mis)usage for research evaluation within those disciplines would add another dimension to this topic.

The indeed very large general information services WoS and Scopus are, compared to personal literature lists of researchers, quite incomplete (Hilbert et al. 2015 ). There is also a pronounced unequal coverage of certain disciplines (Mongeon and Paul-Hus 2016 ) and many languages (except English) (Vera-Baceta et al. 2019 ). Perhaps these facts, in particular, prevent representatives of the disadvantaged disciplines and languages (including German—and we asked German professors) from a high estimation of the relevance of their h-index as important on these platforms. Then, however, the rejection of the h-index of Google Scholar, which can also be seen, is surprising, because this information service is by far the most complete (Martin-Martin et al. 2018 ). However, economists are very well informed here, as they—as the only academic representatives—highly value their h-index at Google Scholar. On the other hand, the use of Google Scholar for research evaluation is discussed in general. Although its coverage is usually broader than those provided by more controlled databases and steadily expanding its collection, there exist widely known issues, for example, its low accuracy (Halevi et al. 2017 ). Depending on a researcher’s own opinion on this topic, this could be a reason for seeing no importance in the h-index provided by Google Scholar as well.

Another attempt for an explanation may be the different cultures in the different research areas. For Kagan ( 2009 , p. 4), natural scientists see their main interest in explanation and prediction, while for humanists it is understanding (following Snow 1959 and Dilthey 1895 , p. 10). The h-index is called an indicator allowing explanation and prediction of scientific achievement (Hirsch 2007 ); it is typical for the culture of natural sciences. Researchers from the natural science and from medicine are accustomed to numbers, while humanists seldom work quantitatively. In the humanities, other indicators such as book reviews and the quality of book publishers are components for their research evaluation; however, such aspects are not reflected by the h-index. And if humanities scholars are never asked for their h-index, why should they know or use it?

Following Kagan ( 2009 , p. 5) a second time, humanists exhibit only minimal dependence on outside support and natural scientists are highly dependent on external sources of financing. The h-index can work as an argument for the allocation of outside support. So for natural scientists the h-index is a very common fabric and they need it for their academic survival; humanists are not as familiar with numerical indicators and for them the h-index is not so much-needed as for their colleagues from the science and medicine faculties. However, this dichotomous classification of research and researchers may be an oversimplifying solution (Kowalski and Mrdjenovich 2016 ) and there is a trend in consulting and using such research evaluation indicators in the humanities and social sciences, too. For preparing a satisfying theory of researchers’ behavior concerning the h-index (or, in general, concerning scientometric indicators)—also in dependence on their background in an academic field—more research is needed.

Limitations, outlook, and recommendations

A clear limitation of the study is our studied population, namely university professors from Germany. Of course, researchers in other countries should be included in further studies. It seems necessary to broaden the view towards all researchers and all occupational areas, too, including, for instance, also lecturers in polytechnics and researchers in private companies. Another limitation is the consideration of only three h-indices (of WoS, Scopus, and Google Scholar). As there are other databases for the calculation of an h-index (e.g., ResearchGate) the study should be broadened to all variants of the h-index.

Another interesting research question may be: Are there any correlations between the estimations of the importance of the h-index or the researcher’s knowledge on the h-index and the researcher’s own h-index? Does a researcher with a high h-index on, for instance, WoS, estimate the importance of this indicator higher than a researcher with a low h-index? Hirsch ( 2020 ) speculates that people with high h-indexes are more likely to think that this indicator is important. A more in-depth analysis on the self-estimation of researchers’ h-index knowledge might also consider the Dunning-Kruger effect, showing certain people can be wrongly confident about their limited knowledge within a domain and not having the ability to realize this (Kruger and Dunning 1999 ).

As the h-index has still an important impact on the evaluation of scientists and as not all researchers are very knowledgeable about this author-specific research indicator, it seems to be a good idea to strengthen their knowledge in the broader area of “metric-wiseness” (Rousseau et al. 2018 ; Rousseau and Rousseau 2015 ). With a stronger focus on educating researchers and research support staff in terms of the application and interpretation of metrics as well as to reduce misuse of indicators, Haustein ( 2018 ) speaks about better (scholarly) “metrics literacies.” Following Hammarfelt and Haddow ( 2018 ), we should further discuss possible effects of indicators within the “metrics culture.” Likewise, this also applies to all knowledgeable researchers as well as research evaluators who also may or may not be researchers by themselves. Here, the focus rather lies to raise awareness for metrics literacies and to foster fair research evaluation practices not incorporating any kind of misuse. This leads directly to a research gap in scientometrics. Further research on concrete data about the level of researchers’ knowledge not only concerning the h-index, but also on other indicators such as WoS’s impact factor, Google’s i-10 index, Scopus’ CiteScore, the source normalized impact per paper (SNIP), etc., also in a comparative perspective would draw a more comprehensive picture on the current indicator knowledge. All the meanwhile “classical” scientometric indicators are based upon publication and citation measures (Stock 2001 ). Alternative indicators are available today, which are based upon social media metrics, called “altmetrics” (Meschede and Siebenlist 2018 ; Thelwall et al. 2013 ). How do researchers estimate the importance of these alternative indicators and do they know their definitions and their formulae of calculation? First insights on this give Lemke et al. ( 2019 ), also in regard to researchers’ personal preferences and concerns.

Following Hirsch ( 2020 ), the h-index is by no means a valid indicator of research quality; however, it is very common especially in the sciences and medicine. Probably, it is a convenient indicator for some researchers who want to avoid the hassle of laborious and time-consuming reviewing and scrutinizing other researchers’ œuvre. Apart from its convenience and popularity, and seen from an ethical perspective, one should consider what significance a single metric should have and how we—in general—want to further shape the future of research evaluation.

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Kamrani, P., Dorsch, I. & Stock, W.G. Do researchers know what the h-index is? And how do they estimate its importance?. Scientometrics 126 , 5489–5508 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-021-03968-1

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Research impact is a term used to describe the influence of a scholar’s work. Research impact metrics are quantitative methods used to measure the research impact of individual researchers, a group of scholars, or that of a scientific journal. Examples of impact metrics include citation count, journal impact factors , the h-index, and others.

The primary purpose of the h-index is to evaluate the cumulative impact of an individual’s scholarly work. It compares author’s publications to citations, measuring quantity with quality. This article outlines all there is to know about the h-index.

What Is H-Index?

The h-index was invented by Jorge E. Hirsch, an Argentine American physics professor at the University of California. The term was first used in the official journal of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S. in 2005.

Hirsch believed that the relevance and impact of Nobel prize winners was unquestionable. Hence, he was looking for ways to quantify the cumulative impact and relevance among the rest of the scholars.

That’s when he came up with the h-index. The h-index is a quantitative research impact metric based on publication data analysis. The analysis relies on publications and citations and aims to analyze the significance and impact of an author’s cumulative research contributions.

To calculate the h index, we take into account the number of articles (h) with at least h citations. As an example, a researcher with an h-index of 14 has written at least 14 papers, each having received at least 14 citations.

The advantage of the h-index is that it combines the measure of quantity and impact in one indicator. It’s also more efficient than other one-dimensional criteria for evaluating a researcher’s scientific input (number of citations, impact factor, number of highly cited papers).

Here are more details on how to calculate the h-index.

Calculating H-Index

To calculate the h-index of an author, their publications are ordered by the number of citations they have received. The order goes from most to least cited. Imagine a researcher has published seven articles, cited as follows:

This researcher has an h-index of 4, because four or more articles received four or more citations. However, you may notice that the mean number of citations is higher. The h-index reduces the weight of highly cited papers.

The h-index of a journal listed in Scimago, for example, is also relevant.

Where to Find the H-Index Online?

There are plenty of online resources where you can calculate your h-index:

• Google Scholar provides this metric for researchers who create a profile on the platform.
• Publish or Perish analyzes Google Scholar citations and offers h-index metrics as well. It’s also good software for finding the h-index if you don’t have a Google Scholar profile.
• Scopus has a citation tracker tool that generates the h-index for publications from 1970 to current.
• Web of Science generates h-index metrics for works from 1970 to current with their “Create Citation Report” tool.

Ever since it was introduced, the h-index has been the subject of widespread interest. Other research impact metrics such as g-index and i10-index were introduced as a result.

The g-index gives more weight to the highly-cited papers of a researcher compared to the h-index. It’s also among the most complex metrics to calculate.

This metric is calculated when the top g articles (ranked by citations) from a specific author receive at least g 2 (g squared) citations. For example, an author with a g-index of 15 indicates that their top 15 publications have been cited at least 225 times (15 2 ). Or an author with a g-index of 30 means their top 30 publications have been cited at least 900 times (30 2 ).

The i-10 index is the most recent research impact metric introduced by Google Scholar. It measures the number of publications that received at least ten citations. It’s the most straightforward metric to understand and calculate. However, it’s only used for works in Google Scholar.

What Is a Good H-Index?

A good h-index value varies from field to field.

Surveys among academic physicians show that assistant professors have an average h-index of two to five, associate professors six to ten, while full professors have an h-index from 12 to 24.

The world’s highest h-index scores come from researchers from top universities like Oxford or Harvard.

Scientists with High H-Indexes

At the time of writing, the highest score recorded by Google Scholar is 300, by researcher Ronald C Kessler from Harvard University. JoAnn E Manson from Brigham and Women’s Hospital takes second place with a score of 294. The third place goes to Graham Colditz from Washington University in Saint Louis with an h-index of 293.

Google Scholar’s list features over 4,700 researchers with an h-index of at least 100.

Nobel Prize winners are also among the most-cited researchers, but the number of citations among them varies. For example, the 2012 Nobel Prize winner in chemistry, Robert J. Lefkowitz, has an h-index of 237 on Google Scholar. The 2012 economic science Nobel Prize winner Alvin E. Roth has a score of 103 on the same platform.

Building a Good H-Index

Building a good h-index takes time and effort. However, you can follow the tips below to get there faster:

• The most important tip to building a good H-index is to produce top-quality research of high significance.
• Collaborate with experienced researchers. Studies show that articles with renowned first authors receive more citations. This tip is especially useful for those who are only starting their careers.
• Pick the right journal. Publishing in established journals will attract more readers, leading to more citations.
• Go open access. Open access journals receive more citations due to the mere fact they’re freely available across the web.
• Have the audience in mind. Pick a journal according to its audience. Publishing in specialist journals can get you more citations from same-field researchers.
• Work on your networking. Attend webinars or conferences whenever possible. This helps promote new work and meet potential collaborators.
• Spread the word across the web. Make a social media page if you don’t already have one. Consider starting a blog, so other researchers can easily find you and your work.

What Can Be the Disadvantages of H-Index?

Although functional, the h-index is certainly not the most objective research impact metric. Here are some of its limitations:

• The h-index shouldn’t be used to compare researchers from different fields. The metrics are often higher in some fields (like economics) and lower in others (like literary criticism). The reason lies in the differences in overall field productivity and citation practices.
• The h-index is highly dependent on the duration of an individual’s career. The number of citations increases over time as the researcher’s publications grow in number. For this reason, young researchers can’t be compared to more experienced researchers. The “m parameter” is the alternative metric that divides the author’s h-index by their scientific age (years since their first published article).
• Open for manipulation. Authors can cite their own past works to increase their h-index. Also, a common practice between researchers is to cite each other’s work routinely, further manipulating the metrics.
• The fact that the h-index is easy to obtain imposes the risk of indiscriminate use. It’s wrong to rely only on this factor when assessing an author’s scientific research output.
• Scientists who publish a small number of highly influential articles receive a small h-index.

Choose AKJournals to Help with Your Articles

The research impact of an author is often measured with the h-index. Researchers use this metric to evaluate themselves but also others within their fields. Although it has more than a few disadvantages, the h-index is still one of the most popular research impact metrics. With it, even non-experts can evaluate an author’s contribution to a field.

To get a higher h-index, it’s important to publish in established journals with a broad audience. AKJournals offers just that. We are Hungary’s oldest continuously running publishing house and among the most prominent scientific publishers in Central and Eastern Europe. Publishing in our journals means your work is brought closer to a thriving community of researchers, resulting in more citations and a higher h-index score.

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National H-index Ranking

National H-index Ranking is an independent international ranking aimed at assessing the scientific productivity of scientists, research groups, and organizations in specific country based on the consolidated Hirsch index.

The ranking considers the total Hirsch index of country's scientific institutions, addressing information from scientometric databases and platforms such as Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. Based on these data, the National H-index Ranking indicator and the corresponding ranked position in the ranking (Position) are formed

National H-index Ranking is an international, non-commercial rating created for the unified and transparent rating of universities, scientific organizations, and scientific research institutions. The key metric is the Hirsch index, which is a well-known, popular, and stable metric in the field of scientific research. A group of scientists from the United States, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, the Netherlands, and Turkey works on the project.

Organizations are ranked in the National H-index Ranking by assessing the productivity of scientific achievements, which makes the ranking metrics more objective and consolidated. The ranking list is aimed at national science, as it evaluates the performance of research organizations within the country. This position of the ranking developers is aimed at solving the problem of "diminishing" the state aspect in the context of the globalization of society in the field of scientific research. This approach is intended to strengthen domestic research and publication policies and productivity within countries for a more harmonious representation in the international arena.

National H-index Ranking can be useful for universities, research organizations, science support foundations, and governmental and non-governmental organizations seeking to assess research capabilities and achievements in various fields of research.

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• It is the only rating in the world that evaluates scientific productivity based on a unified H-index metric from open sources and databases (Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar).
• Research organizations are ranked on a national basis, which ensures the most objective comparative analysis of data.
• It uses transparent metrics and indicators, which encourages the spread of the Open Access Initiative.
• It evaluates the scientific activities of not only universities, but also scientific organizations, business initiatives, and all institutions whose activities are aimed at conducting scientific research.
• It uses a proprietary methodology based on an organic combination of advanced machine analysis technologies and manual data processing.
• It considers the real needs of scientific institutions by quickly recalculating metrics using a unique methodology.
• It assesses the positions of both individual research organizations within the country and the activity of researchers within a single institution, which provides a multi-level ranked analysis.

Aims of the National H-index Ranking

• Global determination of the level of scientific achievements within individual countries and organizations.
• Research and development of the scientific component through a cross-national approach.
• Providing real information and tools for assessing scientific development and productivity.
• Implementation of the principle of transparency and objectivity in the field of science.
• Organic development and realization of the scientific potential of organizations, research groups, and individual scientists.
• Involving best practices, specialists, and experts in research institutions.
• Recognizing outstanding scientific achievements at the level of individual institutions and countries.

What National H-index Ranking is needed for?

• Quick identification of current scientific trends based on proven indicators.
• Development of a development map for scientific organizations and individual scientists.
• Assistance in organization selection for study or professional activity.
• New research ideas and projects search.
• Assessment of productivity levels within countries and organizations.
• Analytical comprehension and comparison of best research practices.
• Raising funding or grants to develop productivity indicators.

Collection and systematization of data

The process of forming the ranked lists considers the scientific activity metrics of universities, research institutions, business initiatives, and other organizations that are in one way or another focused on research and influence the formation of the agenda in the country's scientific space.

Ranking data is collected from open resources, such as Google Scholar, and semi-closed resources, such as Scopus and Web of Science. The key metric for calculating the indicators is the Hirsch index a well-known and comprehensible indicator of the productivity of scientometrics. The calculations are based on the author's methodology, which combines several methods and levels of generalization.

The metrics are recalculated twice a year, in May and November, which ensures the consideration scientific institution needs as much as possible (see the Methodology section). The National H-index Ranking Roadmap envisages even more regular recalculation of the indicators in the future. The methodology developers aim to create the necessary conditions for creating an up-to-date reassessment of the Hirsch index in real-time.

What is a partner-organization of the National H-index Ranking?

The National H-index Ranking is interested in developing global and national research and distributing knowledge on the unique initiative to rank scientific organizations based on transparent, understandable, and objective indicators of scientific productivity.

We encourage research institutions, universities, business initiatives, and governmental and non-governmental organizations to join the information support of the National H-index Ranking by becoming a verified project partner.

What partner-organizations of - National H-index Ranking will receive?

• Improved systematization of information in the personal card of the scientific organization National H-index Ranking, the ability to add the necessary description and information.
• Receiving an indicator in a ranked list. It does not affect the position in the ranking but marks the organization's achievements with a corresponding mark and attracts attention to its activities.
• Informing on updates of indicators and positions in the rating 2 weeks before the official publication of the website results.
• Priority communication opportunities for correcting existing or adding new employee profiles to the rating.
• Expanding the research connection network.

Please note! The verified status of a partner organization of the National H-index Ranking does not increase the positions in the rating. The methodology is unchanged for all organizations represented in it, without any exceptions. We strictly adhere to the principle of transparency and objectivity and under no circumstances allow the use of unethical practices.

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The Ukrainian National H-index Ranking is an independent international ranking that assesses the scientific productivity of scientists, research groups and organizations in Ukraine

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The Kazakh National H-Index Ranking (NHR) is an independent ranking system that evaluates the scientific productivity of researchers, research groups, and institutions in Kazakhstan

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We are pleased to announce that the National H-index Ranking is now available for Bulgaria, which opens up new opportunities for the country's scientific community

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Perception and Challenges in Fostering Critical Thinking through the Reading Activities in CEFR Alligned Textbooks

Kanchana balakrishnan.

• Pages 1750-1753
• Received: 01 Jun, 2024
• Revised: 05 Jul, 2024
• Published Online: 16 Aug, 2024

http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v14-i8/22546

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Critical thinking has become a vital skill that every person needs to equip themselves with from school to working life. It is a metacognitive process where one does not settle with what is being learned, but instead explores it by asking questions and making judgments. Teachers often face multiple challenges in fostering critical thinking among the students as this skill has to be developed through various activities. One of the focus activities for this research would be reading activities in the CEFR-aligned textbooks in Malaysian secondary school classrooms. The CEFR-aligned curriculum and textbooks have been incorporated into the Malaysian education system since 2013 which provides teachers with guided lesson plans, a scheme of work, and a curriculum framework. Thus, this research aims to explore the teachers' familiarity and the challenges they face in using reading activities in CEFR-aligned textbooks to foster critical thinking. It is quantitative research with questionnaires that will be distributed to secondary school teachers using purposive sampling methods.

Ba?, H. & Gürsoy, E. (2021). The Effect of Critical Thinking Embedded English Course Design to The Improvement of Critical Thinking Skills of Secondary School Learners. Thinking Skills and Creativity. 41. 100910. 10.1016/j.tsc.2021.100910. Eliyasni, R., Kenedi, A. K., & Sayer, I. M. (2019). Blended learning and project-based learning: the method to improve students’ higher-order thinking skill (HOTS). Jurnal Iqra': Kajian Ilmu Pendidikan, 4(2), 231-248. Gopalan, Y., & Hashim, H. (2021). Enhancing Higher Order Thinking Skills (Hots) Through Literature Components in ESL Classrooms. International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development, 10(2), 317-329. http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARPED/v10-i2/9673 Katoningsih, S. & Sunaryo, I. (2020). Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) as Reading Literacy Standard: Critical Thinking Skill is Priority. Education, Sustainability And Society. 3. 08-10. 10.26480/ess.01.2020.08.10. Malaysian Ministry of Education (2013). Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025. Putrajaya: MOE Ma, W. and Han, J. (2020) Cultivation of Critical Thinking Skills in the Course of Readings from British and American Press. Creative Education, 11, 1351-1356. doi: 10.4236/ce.2020.118099.

Balakrishnan, K. (2024). Perception and Challenges in Fostering Critical Thinking through the Reading Activities in CEFR Alligned Textbooks. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 14(8), 1750–1753.

Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s) Published by HRMARS (www.hrmars.com) This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode

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Quantifying the Impact of My Publications: What is the h index?

• Levels of Impact
• Article Metrics
• Book Metrics

What is the h index?

• Establishing Your Author Name and Presence
• Enhancing Your Impact
• Tracking Your Work
• Telling Your Story

The h index was proposed by J.E. Hirsch in 2005 and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America . [i]   The h index is a quantitative metric based on analysis of publication data using publications and citations to provide “an estimate of the importance, significance, and broad impact of a scientist’s cumulative research contributions .” [ii]    According to Hirsch, the h index is defined as: “ A scientist has index h if h of his or her Np papers have at least h citations each and the other (Np – h) papers have ≤h citations each .”

As an example, an h index of 10 means that among all publications by one author, 10 of these publications have received at least 10 citations each.  

Hirsch argues that the h index is preferable to other single-number criteria, such as the total number of papers, the total number of citations and citations per paper. However, Hirsch includes several caveats:

• A single number can never give more than a rough approximation to an individual’s multifaceted profile;
• Other factors should be considered in combination in evaluating an individual;
• There will be differences in typical h values in different fields, determined in part by the average number of references in a paper in the field, the average number of papers produced by each scientist in the field, and the size (number of scientists) of the field; and
• For an author with a relatively low h that has a few seminal papers with extraordinarily high citation counts, the h index will not fully reflect that scientist’s accomplishments. [iii]

Since Hirsch introduced the h index in 2005, this measure of academic impact has garnered widespread interest as well as proposals for other indices based on analyses of publication data such as the g index, h (2) index, m quotient, r index, to name a few.

Several commonly used databases, such as Elsevier’s Scopus , Clarivate Analytics’ Web of Science , and Google Scholar   provide h index values for authors.

[i] Hirsch JE. An index to quantify an individual's scientific research output. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005 November 15; 102(46): 16569–16572. doi:  10.1073/pnas.0507655102

[ii] Ibid. p. 16569.

[iii] Ibid. p. 16571

Resources to Find the h index

• Google Scholar Google Scholar provides the h index for authors who have created a profile.
• Publish or Perish Publish or Perish is a software program that retrieves and analyzes academic citations from Google Scholar and provides the h index among other metrics. Publish or Perish is handy for obtaining the h index for authors who do not have a Google Scholar profile.
• Scopus Scopus provides a Citation Tracker feature that allows for generation of a Citation Overview chart to generate a h index for publications and citations from 1970 to current. The feature also allows for removal of self-citations from the overall citation counts.
• Web of Science Core Collection Web of Science allows for generation of the h index for publications and citations from 1970 to current using the "Create Citation Report" feature.

Understanding the h index

Do You Need an h index Report?

Do you need an h index report.

We provide h index reports (Scopus and/or Web of Science) to members of the Washington University in St. Louis community.

Contact Amy Suiter to request a report.

Strengths and Shortcomings

Strengths of the h index

• The h index is a metric for evaluating the cumulative impact of an author’s scholarly output and performance; measures quantity with quality by comparing publications to citations.
• The h index corrects for the disproportionate weight of highly cited publications or publications that have not yet been cited.
• Several resources automatically calculate the h index as part of citation reports for authors.

Shortcomings of the h index

• The h index is a metric to assess the entire body of scholarly output by an author; not intended for a specific timeframe.
• The h index is insensitive to publications that are rarely cited such as meeting abstracts and to publications that are frequently cited such as reviews.
• Author name variant issues and multiple versions of the same work pose challenges in establishing accurate citation data for a specific author.
• The h index does not provide the context of the citations.
• The h index is not considered a universal metric as it is difficult to compare authors of different seniority or disciplines. Young investigators are at a disadvantage and academic disciplines vary in the average number of publications, references and citations.
• Self-citations or gratuitous citations among colleagues can skew the h index.
• The h index will vary among resources depending on the publication data that is included in the calculation of the index.
• The h index disregards author ranking and co-author characteristics on publications.
• There are instances of “paradoxical situations” for authors who have the same number of publications, with varying citation counts, but have the same h index. As an example, Author A has eight publications which have been cited a total of 338 times and Author B also has eight publications which have been cited a total of 28 times. Author A and Author B have the same h index of 5 but Author A has a higher citation rate than Author B. See Balaban, AT. 2012. Positive and negative aspects of citation indices and journal impact factors. Scientometrics. DOI: 10.1007/s11192-102-0637-5

Is There an Alternative to the h index?: The m value

The m value is a correction of the h index for time (m = h/y). According to Hirsch,  m is an “ indicator of the successfulness of a scientist ” and can be used to compare scientists of different seniority. The m value can be seen as an indicator for “scientific quality” with the advantage (as compared to the h index) that the m value is corrected for career length.

What are the Ranges?

Per Hirsch:

• h index of 20 after 20 years of scientific activity, characterizes a successful scientist
• h index of 40 after 20 years of scientific activity, characterizes outstanding scientists, likely to be found only at the top universities or major research laboratories.
• h index of 60 after 20 years, or 90 after 30 years, characterizes truly unique individuals.
• h index of 15-20, fellowship in the National Physical Society.
• h index of 45 or higher, membership in the National Academy of Sciences.

Other works that discuss the h index in comparison to various medical specialties are noted here .

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Development tools of parasitic paradigm: an african perspective of western theories of development and reforms, bashir olaitan ibrahim.

The orthodox conceptualisation of development and its reforms which are rooted in Western schools of thought recognizes the existence of three categories of polities, viz: developed, developing and underdeveloped states. But the major questions that are of concern are: on what grounds do we submit that a country is developed, and the other is either developing or underdeveloped? Using a historical method of research and utilising mainly secondary sources of data, the paper attempts to answer these salient issues by critiquing the orthodox western development theories and reforms, citing a wide range of instances of faulty development reforms imposed on the global south by the West. The study found that the western driven ‗development reforms or policies‘ for the governments of the global North are incompatible with the dynamics and interests of the South. It also found that the western driven ‗development reforms or policies‘ were never intended to sustain the economies of the global south or worsen the North-South dichotomy. The paper concludes that every society has its own sense of development and that the orthodox conception of development, and its reforms are not sacrosanct given the peculiarities of the global South. The paper also posits that western driven ‗development reforms or policies‘ are ‗neo-colonial schemes‘ targeted at strengthening the core-periphery arrangements between the global North and the global South.

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