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Mathematical aspects of a new criterion for ranking scientific institutions based on the h-index

Author

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  • Alain Molinari

    (Université Paul Verlaine)

  • Jean-Francois Molinari

    (Université Paris 6)

Abstract

We develop and discuss the theoretical basis of a new criterion for ranking scientific institutions. Our novel index, which is related to the h-index, provides a metric which removes the size dependence. We discuss its mathematical properties such as merging rules of two sets of papers and analyze the relations between the underlying rank/citation-frequency law and the h-index. The proposed index should be seen as a complement to the h-index, to compare the scientific production of institutions (universities, laboratories or journals) that could be of disparate sizes.

Suggested Citation

  • Alain Molinari & Jean-Francois Molinari, 2008. "Mathematical aspects of a new criterion for ranking scientific institutions based on the h-index," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 75(2), pages 339-356, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:75:y:2008:i:2:d:10.1007_s11192-007-1872-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-007-1872-z
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gad Saad, 2006. "Exploring the h-index at the author and journal levels using bibliometric data of productive consumer scholars and business-related journals respectively," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 69(1), pages 117-120, October.
    2. Jean-Francois Molinari & Alain Molinari, 2008. "A new methodology for ranking scientific institutions," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 75(1), pages 163-174, April.
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    4. Leo Egghe & Ronald Rousseau, 2006. "An informetric model for the Hirsch-index," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 69(1), pages 121-129, October.
    5. Matthias Sutter & Martin G. Kochner, 2001. "Power laws of research output. Evidence for journals of economics," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 51(2), pages 405-414, June.
    6. Tibor Braun & Wolfgang Glänzel & András Schubert, 2006. "A Hirsch-type index for journals," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 69(1), pages 169-173, October.
    7. R. Bailón-Moreno & E. Jurado-Alameda & R. Ruiz-Baños & J. P. Courtial, 2005. "Bibliometric laws: Empirical flaws of fit," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 63(2), pages 209-229, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Muzammil Tahira & Rose Alinda Alias & Aryati Bakri, 2013. "Scientometric assessment of engineering in Malaysians universities," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 96(3), pages 865-879, September.
    2. Nan Zhang & Shanshan Wan & Peiling Wang & Peng Zhang & Qiang Wu, 2018. "A bibliometric analysis of highly cited papers in the field of Economics and Business based on the Essential Science Indicators database," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 116(2), pages 1039-1053, August.
    3. Vieira, E.S. & Gomes, J.A.N.F., 2010. "A research impact indicator for institutions," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 4(4), pages 581-590.
    4. Giovanni Abramo & Ciriaco Andrea D’Angelo & Fulvio Viel, 2013. "The suitability of h and g indexes for measuring the research performance of institutions," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 97(3), pages 555-570, December.
    5. Javier Ruiz-Castillo, 2012. "The evaluation of citation distributions," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 3(1), pages 291-310, March.
    6. Kuan, Chung-Huei & Huang, Mu-Hsuan & Chen, Dar-Zen, 2013. "Cross-field evaluation of publications of research institutes using their contributions to the fields’ MVPs determined by h-index," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 455-468.
    7. Zhenbin Yan & Qiang Wu & Xingchen Li, 2016. "Do Hirsch-type indices behave the same in assessing single publications? An empirical study of 29 bibliometric indicators," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 109(3), pages 1815-1833, December.
    8. Zhang, Lin & Thijs, Bart & Glänzel, Wolfgang, 2011. "The diffusion of H-related literature," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 5(4), pages 583-593.
    9. Franceschini, Fiorenzo & Maisano, Domenico, 2011. "Structured evaluation of the scientific output of academic research groups by recent h-based indicators," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 64-74.
    10. Ashraf Uddin & Jaideep Bhoosreddy & Marisha Tiwari & Vivek Kumar Singh, 2016. "A Sciento-text framework to characterize research strength of institutions at fine-grained thematic area level," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 106(3), pages 1135-1150, March.
    11. Lin Zhang & Wolfgang Glänzel, 2012. "Where demographics meets scientometrics: towards a dynamic career analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 91(2), pages 617-630, May.
    12. Aparna Basu & Sumit Kumar Banshal & Khushboo Singhal & Vivek Kumar Singh, 2016. "Designing a Composite Index for research performance evaluation at the national or regional level: ranking Central Universities in India," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 107(3), pages 1171-1193, June.
    13. Jean-Francois Molinari & Alain Molinari, 2008. "A new methodology for ranking scientific institutions," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 75(1), pages 163-174, April.
    14. Brito, Ricardo & Navarro, Alonso Rodríguez, 2021. "The inconsistency of h-index: A mathematical analysis," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 15(1).
    15. S. Alonso & F. J. Cabrerizo & E. Herrera-Viedma & F. Herrera, 2010. "hg-index: a new index to characterize the scientific output of researchers based on the h- and g-indices," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 82(2), pages 391-400, February.
    16. Alonso, S. & Cabrerizo, F.J. & Herrera-Viedma, E. & Herrera, F., 2009. "h-Index: A review focused in its variants, computation and standardization for different scientific fields," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 273-289.

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