h index

[Bornmann Lutz]

Dear colleague,


Please find attached a recently published paper (pdf-file) that might be
of interest to you.

 

Title: Do We Need the h Index and Its Variants in Addition to Standard
Bibliometric Measures?

 

Abstract: In this study, we investigate whether there is a need for the
h index and its variants in addition to standard bibliometric measures
(SBMs). Results from our recent study (L. Bornmann, R. Mutz, & H.-D.
Daniel, 2008) have indicated that there are two types of indices: One
type of indices (e.g., h index) describes the most productive core of a
scientist's output and informs about the number of papers in the
core.The other type of indices (e.g., a index)

depicts the impact of the papers in the core. In evaluative bibliometric
studies, the two dimensions quantity and quality of output are usually
assessed using the SBMs "number of publications" (for the quantity
dimension) and "total citation counts" (for the impact dimension). We
additionally included the SBMs into the factor analysis. The results of
the newly calculated analysis indicate that there is a high
intercorrelation between "number of publications" and the indices that
load substantially on the factor Quantity of the Productive Core as well
as between "total citation counts" and the indices that load
substantially on the factor Impact of the Productive Core. The
high-loading indices and SBMs within one performance dimension could be
called redundant in empirical

application, as high intercorrelations between different indicators are
a sign for measuring something similar (or the same). Based on our
findings, we propose the use of any pair of indicators (one relating to
the number of papers in a researcher's productive core and one relating
to the impact of these core papers) as a meaningful approach for
comparing scientists.


Sincerely yours,


Lutz Bornmann

 

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Dr. Lutz Bornmann
ETH Zurich, D-GESS
Professorship for Social Psychology and Research on Higher Education
Zaehringerstr. 24 / ZAE
CH-8092 Zurich

Phone: 0041 44 632 48 25
Fax: 0041 44 632 12 83

Skype: lutz.bornmann

http://www.psh.ethz.ch/ <http://www.psh.ethz.ch/index_EN>  
bornmann at gess.ethz.ch <mailto:bornmann at gess.ethz.ch> 

 

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