Bornmann, L; et al Is the h index related to (standard) bibliometric measures and to the assessments by peers? An investigation of the h index by using molecular life sciences data RESEARCH EVALUATION, 17 (2): 149-156 JUN 2008

Eugene Garfield garfield at CODEX.CIS.UPENN.EDU
Fri Jul 25 11:54:59 EDT 2008


E-mail Address: bornmann at gess.ethz.ch 

Author(s): Bornmann, L (Bornmann, Lutz); Wallon, G (Wallon, Gerlind); 
Ledin, A (Ledin, Anna)
 
Title: Is the h index related to (standard) bibliometric measures and to 
the assessments by peers? An investigation of the h index by using 
molecular life sciences data 

Source: RESEARCH EVALUATION, 17 (2): 149-156 JUN 2008 

Language: English 

Document Type: Article 

Keywords Plus: SCIENTISTS; INDICATORS; JOURNALS; RANKING; IMPACT; TESTS 

Abstract: Jorge Hirsch has proposed the h index as a single-number 
criterion to evaluate the scientific output of a researcher. Using 
comprehensive data sets of applicants to the long-term fellowship and 
young investigator programmes of the European Molecular Biology 
Organization, we determined the relationship between the h index and three 
(standard) bibliometric indicators (number of publications, total citation 
counts, and average journal impact factor) as well as peer assessments to 
test the convergent validity of the h index. The findings indicate that 
the h index is a valid indicator for research performance at micro and 
meso levels. Our results suggest that the It index is a promising rough 
measurement of the quality of a young scientist's work as it is judged by 
internationally renowned scientists. 

Addresses: ETH, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland; EMBO, Heidelberg, Germany; 
Royal Swedish Acad Sci, Stockholm, Sweden 

Reprint Address: Bornmann, L, ETH, Zahringerstr 24, CH-8092 Zurich, 
Switzerland. 

E-mail Address: bornmann at gess.ethz.ch 

Cited Reference Count: 37 

Times Cited: 0 

Publisher: BEECH TREE PUBLISHING 

Publisher Address: 10 WATFORD CLOSE,, GUILDFORD GU1 2EP, SURREY, ENGLAND 

ISSN: 0958-2029 

DOI: 10.3152/095820208X319166 

29-char Source Abbrev.: RES EVALUAT 

ISO Source Abbrev.: Res. Evaluat. 

Source Item Page Count: 8 

Subject Category: Information Science & Library Science 

ISI Document Delivery No.: 319NH 

SCIENCE 309 : 1181 2005 

*CYT SOFTW CORP
STATXACT VERS 8 CYT 2 : 2007 

*STATACORP
STAT STAT SOFTW REL : 2007 

BALL P
Achievement index climbs the ranks 
NATURE 448 : 737 DOI 10.1038/448737a 2007 

BALL P
Index aims for fair ranking of scientists 
NATURE 436 : 900 DOI 10.1038/436900a 2005 

BATISTA PD
UNIVERSAL BEHAV RES : 2005 

BORNMANN L
ETHICS SCI ENV POLIT : 8 2008 

BORNMANN L
Are there better indices for evaluation purposes than the h index? a 
comparison of nine different variants of the h index using data from 
biomedicine 
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 
59 : 830 DOI 10.1002/asi.20806 2008 

BORNMANN L
What do we know about the h index? 
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 
58 : 1381 DOI 10.1002/asi.20609 2007 

BORNMANN L
J INFORM 1 : 204 2007 

BORNMANN L
Selecting scientific excellence through committee peer review - A citation 
analysis of publications previously published to approval or rejection of 
post-doctoral research fellowship applicants 
SCIENTOMETRICS 68 : 427 DOI 10.1007/s11192-006-0121-1 2006 

BORNMANN L
Does the h-index for ranking of scientists really work? 
SCIENTOMETRICS 65 : 391 DOI 10.1007/s11192-005-0281-4 2005 

COHEN J
STAT POWER ANAL BEHA : 1988 

COLE S
CITATIONS AND THE EVALUATION OF INDIVIDUAL SCIENTISTS 
TRENDS IN BIOCHEMICAL SCIENCES 14 : 9 1989 

COSTAS R
The h-index: Advantages, limitations and its relation with other 
bibliometric indicators at the micro level 
JOURNAL OF INFORMETRICS 1 : 193 DOI 10.1016/j.joi.2007.02.001 2007 

CRONIN B
Using the h-index to rank influential information scientists 
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 
57 : 1275 DOI 10.1002/asi.20354 2006 

DAGOSTINO RB
A SUGGESTION FOR USING POWERFUL AND INFORMATIVE TESTS OF NORMALITY 
AMERICAN STATISTICIAN 44 : 316 1990 

EGGHE L
SCIENTIST 20 : 14 2006 

GLANZEL W
On the h-index - A mathematical approach to a new measure of publication 
activity and citation impact 
SCIENTOMETRICS 67 : 315 DOI 10.1556/Scient.67.2006.2.12 2006 

HARNAD S
CTWATCH 3 : 2007 

HIRSCH JE
Does the h index have predictive power? 
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF 
AMERICA 104 : 19193 DOI 10.1073/pnas.0707962104 2007 

HIRSCH JE
An index to quantify an individual's scientific research output 
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF 
AMERICA 102 : 16569 DOI 10.1073/pnas.0507655102 2005 

JIN BH
The R- and AR-indices: Complementing the h-index 
CHINESE SCIENCE BULLETIN 52 : 855 DOI 10.1007/s11434-007-0145-9 2007 

JIN BH
SCI FOCUS 1 : 8 2006 

KAISER J
An exact and a Monte Carlo proposal to the Fisher-Pitman permutation tests 
for paired replicates and for independent samples 
STATA JOURNAL 7 : 402 2007 

KELLY CD
H-index: age and sex make it unreliable 
NATURE 449 : 403 DOI 10.1038/449403c 2007 

KELLY CD
The h index and career assessment by numbers 
TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION 21 : 167 DOI 10.1016/j.tree.2006.01.005 2006 

KRAEMER HC
Measures of clinical significance 
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY 42 : 
1524 DOI 10.1097/01.chi.0000091507.46853.d1 2003 

LEDIN A
A persistent problem - Traditional gender roles hold back female 
scientists 
EMBO REPORTS 8 : 982 DOI 10.1038/sj.embor.7401109 2007 

LIU Y
P ISSI CSIC MADR SPA : 514 2007 

ROSSNER M
Show me the data 
JOURNAL OF CELL BIOLOGY 179 : 1091 2007 

ROYSTON P
STATA TECHNICAL B RE 1 : 110 1991 

SAAD G
Exploring the h-index at the author and journal levels using bibliometric 
data of productive consumer scholars and business-related journals 
respectively 
SCIENTOMETRICS 69 : 117 DOI 10.1007/s11192-006-0142-9 2006 

SEGLEN PO
Why the impact factor of journals should not be used for evaluating 
research 
BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL 314 : 498 1997 

SMITH A
CORRELATION RAE RATI : 2002 

SYMONDS MRE
PLOS ONE 1 : E127 2006 

VANRAAN AFJ
Comparison of the Hirsch-index with standard bibliometric indicators and 
with peer judgment for 147 chemistry research groups 
SCIENTOMETRICS 67 : 491 DOI 10.1556/Scient.67.2006.3.10 2006 



More information about the SIGMETRICS mailing list