Difference between revisions of "Theme:74cc5c52-3073-4fef-8307-34a76326d665"

From The Embassy of Good Science
 
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{{Theme
 
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|Theme Type=Good Practices
 
|Theme Type=Good Practices
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|Has Parent Theme=Theme:8453f98b-244e-4147-9268-504afbe9d878
 
|Title=H-index
 
|Title=H-index
|Is About=The h-index, introduced by Jorge Hirsch in 2005, is a metric that conveys both the productivity and citation impact of an individual researcher <ref>Hirsch JE. An index to quantify an individual's scientific research output. Proceedings of the National academy of Sciences 2005;102(46):16569-16572.</ref>. If a researcher has a h-index of 5 then the researcher has 5 publications with 5 or more citations. A h-index of 75 means that there are 75 publications with 75 or more citations. It thus becomes progressively more difficult to increase one’s h-index, and h-indices are exponentially distributed among scientists.
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|Is About=The h-index, introduced by Jorge Hirsch in 2005, is a metric that conveys both the productivity and citation impact of an individual researcher. <ref>Hirsch JE. An index to quantify an individual's scientific research output. Proceedings of the National academy of Sciences 2005;102(46):16569-16572.</ref> If a researcher has a h-index of 5 then the researcher has 5 publications with 5 or more citations. A h-index of 75 means that there are 75 publications with 75 or more citations. It thus becomes progressively more difficult to increase one’s h-index, and h-indices are exponentially distributed among scientists.
 
<references />
 
<references />
 
|Important Because=The h-index was partially introduced as an improvement over simply counting the quantity of a researcher’s publications. A researcher with 10 publications may have a higher h-index than a researcher with 100 publications.
 
|Important Because=The h-index was partially introduced as an improvement over simply counting the quantity of a researcher’s publications. A researcher with 10 publications may have a higher h-index than a researcher with 100 publications.
  
 
However, as with any other metric, it is possible to ‘game’, or artificially increase, one’s h-index. Some well-established strategies include:
 
However, as with any other metric, it is possible to ‘game’, or artificially increase, one’s h-index. Some well-established strategies include:
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*Self-citation (cf. Italian scientists increase self-citations in response to promotion policy <ref>Chawla DS. Italian scientists increase self-citations in response to promotion policy. 2018; Available at: <nowiki>https://www.natureindex.com/news-blog/italian-scientists-increase-self-citations-in-response-to-promotion-policy</nowiki>. Accessed 29 May, 2019.</ref>
 
*Self-citation (cf. Italian scientists increase self-citations in response to promotion policy <ref>Chawla DS. Italian scientists increase self-citations in response to promotion policy. 2018; Available at: <nowiki>https://www.natureindex.com/news-blog/italian-scientists-increase-self-citations-in-response-to-promotion-policy</nowiki>. Accessed 29 May, 2019.</ref>
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Any aspect of citation bias can be taken advantage of for improving h-index.
 
Any aspect of citation bias can be taken advantage of for improving h-index.
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|Important For=Funders; Senior researchers; Junior researchers; Early career researchers; PhD students
 
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{{Related To
 
{{Related To
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|Related To Resource=Resource:5bbdd729-8f96-432a-a0ee-56510e343d01;Resource:8be5a9b1-1c66-4659-b175-ca1e8df61047
|Related To Theme=Theme:83f33f33-e9ba-4589-b450-92e3992a22db
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|Related To Theme=Theme:83f33f33-e9ba-4589-b450-92e3992a22db;Theme:B84659ea-3fc8-4c93-86cf-6aa4db253ad4;Theme:8453f98b-244e-4147-9268-504afbe9d878
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|Has Good Practice And Misconduct=Publication ethics
 
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Latest revision as of 16:41, 20 October 2020

H-index

What is this about?

The h-index, introduced by Jorge Hirsch in 2005, is a metric that conveys both the productivity and citation impact of an individual researcher. [1] If a researcher has a h-index of 5 then the researcher has 5 publications with 5 or more citations. A h-index of 75 means that there are 75 publications with 75 or more citations. It thus becomes progressively more difficult to increase one’s h-index, and h-indices are exponentially distributed among scientists.

  1. Hirsch JE. An index to quantify an individual's scientific research output. Proceedings of the National academy of Sciences 2005;102(46):16569-16572.

Why is this important?

The h-index was partially introduced as an improvement over simply counting the quantity of a researcher’s publications. A researcher with 10 publications may have a higher h-index than a researcher with 100 publications.

However, as with any other metric, it is possible to ‘game’, or artificially increase, one’s h-index. Some well-established strategies include:


  • Self-citation (cf. Italian scientists increase self-citations in response to promotion policy [1]
  • Honorary authorship (putting a distinguished researcher on an authorship list often increases citation)
  • Publishing on ‘hot topics’
  • Writing review papers (often more cited than original studies)

Any aspect of citation bias can be taken advantage of for improving h-index.

  1. Chawla DS. Italian scientists increase self-citations in response to promotion policy. 2018; Available at: https://www.natureindex.com/news-blog/italian-scientists-increase-self-citations-in-response-to-promotion-policy. Accessed 29 May, 2019.

For whom is this important?

Other information

Good Practices & Misconduct
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