Special scientometric indicators are used to assess the scientific activity of researchers. One of the most well-known among them is the Hirsch Index. This indicator helps determine the impact of an author’s scientific publications and their citation level, which is why it is widely used in the analysis of researchers’ scientific activity.
What is the Hirsch Index?
The Hirsch Index (h-index) is one of the well-known scientometric indicators used to assess the scientific activity of a group of researchers, an organization, or an individual researcher. The indicator reflects the number of publications and the number of citations. The index was developed by physicist Jorge Hirsch in 2005.
How is the Hirsch Index calculated?
The h-index is determined by the number of an author’s published works and the number of citations they receive.
If an author has h articles and each of them has been cited at least h times, then the index equals h. At the same time, the author’s remaining works have been cited no more than h times.
In other words, the more often an author’s works are cited, the higher their index will be. If an author has 10 articles and each of them has been cited 10 times, then the author’s Hirsch Index is 10. If the author has more than 15 works, but each of them is cited 10 times, the author’s h-index will still be 10.
An example of how to calculate the Hirsch index:
| Article | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Number of Citations | 25 | 28 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
In this case, the Hirsch Index equals 4, since the author has 4 articles, each of which has been cited at least 4 times. The remaining works have been cited no more than 4 times.
Where can you check the Hirsch Index?
The Hirsch Index can be checked in scientific databases. The most popular are:
- Scopus: has broad journal coverage, especially in the humanities. Only citations from journals indexed in the Scopus database are taken into account.
- Web of Science: focuses on influential and highly cited publications. It includes articles from 1900 onward. Publications and citations indexed within the Web of Science database are taken into account.
- Google Scholar: covers the largest number of sources (monographs, dissertations, preprints, conference materials), which makes its indicators the highest.
As a rule, the search is carried out by surname, first name, place of work, or publication titles. After opening the author’s profile, the database automatically displays the h-index value, as well as the list of works and the number of citations they have received.
When checking the Hirsch Index, it is important to make sure that the author’s profile is filled out correctly and that publications by namesakes have not been included. It is also recommended to compare indicators across several databases at once, since their values may differ due to different coverage of scientific sources and indexing features.
Why is the Hirsch Index important?
This indicator is used to assess the scientific activity of researchers. The h-index reflects the popularity of a researcher’s scientific works among colleagues and in the scientific community. The more a researcher’s work is cited, the more popular they become in their field.
A high h-index contributes to successful international cooperation. It plays an important role in obtaining research grants, advancing along the academic career ladder, and evaluating the effectiveness of scientific organizations.
Ways to increase the Hirsch Index
- Publish scientific articles in journals indexed in the international databases Scopus and Web of Science
- Choose relevant and in-demand research topics
- Publish in co-authorship with other well-known researchers
- Participate in international scientific conferences
- Write articles in English to expand your scientific audience
- Place your publications in academic networks and databases (ResearchGate, Google Scholar, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Mendeley)
- Format bibliography and references correctly so that works are indexed properly
The Hirsch Index is one of the key indicators of a researcher’s academic reputation. Its growth directly depends on the quality of publications, the choice of journal, and the strategy of scientific promotion. A comprehensive approach to publication activity makes it possible not only to increase the index, but also to strengthen the author’s international scientific standing.
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