Resource Guides: Research Impact: H-index

What Is the H-index?

The H -index is a combined measure of a researcher's individual productivity and influence, based on papers published and the number of citations to those papers. It was developed by Jorge Hirsch, a physicist at UCSD, in 2005. (citation)

The H-index is determined by finding the distribution of citations to an author's publications, and identifying the minimum number of papers that have received at least that same number of citations in other papers. A scholar with an H-index of 7 has published 7 papers each of which has been cited at least 7 times.

Image: H-index-en. Public Domain.
See also: H-index: What It Is and How to Find Yours (Benchfly.com blog)

Pros and Cons of the H-index

Pros

Useful for benchmarking faculty at similar stages in their careers in similar disciplines
Effort to encapsulate both productivity and impact in one metric

Cons

Does not compare across disciplines
Does not consider context or career
Does not consider author placement or gratuitous authorship
Subject to limitations of tool being used to calculate the h-index

Tools for Calculating Your H-index

Google Scholar Citations
Covers a wider range of sources than only journals, including conferences, technical reports, and presentations.
Scopus
Multidisciplinary coverage of high-impact journals in the sciences and social sciences. Content includes the EMBASE database and also includes citation tracking and research metric tools.