Ranking Hepatologists: Which Hirsch's h-Index to prevent the "e-crise de foi-e"

[Eugene Garfield]

Ranking Hepatologists: Which Hirsch's h-Index to prevent the "e-crise de foi-
e"?

Author(s): Poynard, T (Poynard, Thierry); Thabut, D (Thabut, Dominique); 
Jabre, P (Jabre, Patricia); Munteanu, M (Munteanu, Mona); Ratziu, V (Ratziu, 
Vlad); Benhamou, Y (Benhamou, Yves); Deckmyn, O (Deckmyn, Olivier)
Source: CLINICS AND RESEARCH IN HEPATOLOGY AND GASTROENTEROLOGY  
Volume: 35  Issue: 5  Pages: 375-386  DOI: 10.1016/j.clinre.2011.02.014  
Published: MAY 2011  

Abstract: Background: Hirsch's h-Index (h-I) quantifies and predicts an 
individual's scientific output. The h-I can be estimated from several sources, 
but no "gold-standard" approach has yet been established. The aim was to 
analyze the discordance rates in Hepatology between five h-I assessments 
from five databases: Scholar, Scopus, Web of Science (WoS), ScholarL 
restricted to "liver", and a specialty h-I HepaTop. 
Methods: The reference for the main endpoint was "h-I 50", the median of 
included authors. Applicability and accuracy were assessed among 158 authors 
identified in the top 100 of the most cited "clinical" Hepatologists by two 
independent sources. The accuracy assessment used the area under the 
receiver operating characteristics curves (AUROCs) standardized or not 
according to spectrum effect, and the Pearson (PCC), and intraclass (ICC) 
coefficients of correlation. 
Results: Performances varied significantly according to h-I (P < 0.001). 
Applicability was 80% for h-HepaTop and 100% for other h-I. AUROCs ranged 
from 0.55 (h-Scholar) to 0.88 (h-HepaTop). The h-I were highly inter-
correlated but without perfect concordance: ICCs ranged from 0.01 (h-WoS 
versus h-Scholar) to 0.53 (h-WoS versus h-Scopus; P < 0.0001). There were 
no differences between the AUROCs for h-Scopus, h-WoS and h-HepaTop, with 
lower accuracy for h-Scholar. The h-WoS AUROC adjusted for risk factors, 
scientific age and homonymy, increased in combination with h-HepaTop from 
0.83 to 0.94 P = 0.005. 
Conclusions: The h-I should be carefully checked before any hepatologist's 
evaluation. Three factors were associated with applicability and accuracy: the 
data source, the risk of homonyms, and scientific age. A unique "global" 
identification number is warranted. (C) 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights 
reserved.

Language: English
Document Type: Article
KeyWords Plus: BIBLIOMETRIC INDICATORS; GOOGLE SCHOLAR; RESEARCHERS; 
SCIENCE; SCOPUS; PATHOLOGY; IMPACT; OUTPUT; WEB

Addresses: [Poynard, T; Benhamou, Y] Grp Hosp Pitie Salpetriere, AP HP, 
UPMC, Serv Hepatogastroenterol,Paris Liver Ctr, F-75651 Paris 13, France
[Thabut, D; Jabre, P; Ratziu, V] Ctr Rech Cardiovasc, INSERM, U970, F-75015 
Paris, France
[Munteanu, M; Deckmyn, O] Biopredictive, F-75007 Paris, France
Reprint Address: Poynard, T (reprint author), Grp Hosp Pitie Salpetriere, AP HP, 
UPMC, Serv Hepatogastroenterol,Paris Liver Ctr, 47-83 Blvd Hop, F-75651 Paris 
13, France

E-mail Address: tpoynard at teaser.fr
ISSN: 2210-7401
URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2210740111000763