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Research Impact Metrics

Provides an overview of Research Impact Metrics

h-index

Sample Statement:

"I have 30 publications and my h-index is 22, indicating that 22 of my papers have each been cited 22 or more times. My 3 most cited papers have received 117, 85 and 67 citations respectively."

What is h-index:

h-index is a metric used to measure both the productivity and citation impact of a researcher's publications. It is defined as the maximum value of ( h ) such that the researcher has published ( h ) papers, each of which has been cited at least ( h ) times. For example, if a researcher has an h-index of 10, it means they have 10 papers that have each been cited at least 10 times. 

h-index reflects both the number of publications and the number of citations per publication, providing a balanced measure of productivity and impact. h-index is less affected by a single highly cited paper or a large number of poorly cited papers.

 

h-index can be found from various indexing platforms, including Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar; the value may differ depending on how many publications are indexed in each platform.

Finding h-index in Scopus:

  1. Go to Scopus
  2. Change the search mode from Documents to Authors
  3. Enter the author surname and initial and search
  4. From the results click on the hyperlinked author name to go to the profile
  5. View the h-index or click view h-graph for further detail

Finding h-index in Web of Science:

  1. Go to Web of Science
  2.  From the top tab options, select Researchers
  3. Enter the author's last name, first name and middle initials and click Search
  4. From the results, click on the hyperlinked name of the researcher
  5. The right side panel will provide some metrics.
  6. Click on View Citation Report

Finding h-index in Google Scholar:

  1. Go to Google Scholar @ MQ (MQU Library version)
  2. Type in author name (e.g.: J. E. Hirsch)
  3. Click on the User Profiles for the author
  4. Click on author name
  5. The h-index is listed on the top right side of the author's metrics page
  • Field Dependence: The h-index varies significantly across different fields due to varying citation practices, making cross-disciplinary comparisons difficult.
  • Career Length Bias: Researchers with longer careers tend to have higher h-index, which can disadvantage early-career researchers.
  • Magnitude Indifference: A researcher with some very highly cited papers may have a low h-index. e.g. if the citation counts of their papers were 245, 117, 80, 63, 6, 4, 2, they would have an H index of 5. But so could a researcher with citation counts 12, 10, 8, 7, 5, 2.