IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/scient/v87y2011i1d10.1007_s11192-010-0307-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Further characterizations of the Hirsch index

Author

Listed:
  • Antonio Quesada

    (Universitat Rovira i Virgili)

Abstract

The Hirsch index is a number that synthesizes a researcher’s output. It is defined as the maximum number h such that the researcher has h papers with at least h citations each. Four characterizations of the Hirsch index are suggested. The most compact one relies on the interpretation of the index as providing the number of valuable papers in an output and postulates three axioms. One, only cited papers can be valuable. Two, the index is strongly monotonic: if output x has more papers than output y and each paper in x has more citations than the most cited paper in y, then x has more valuable papers than y. And three, the minimum amount of citations under which a paper becomes valuable is different for each paper.

Suggested Citation

  • Antonio Quesada, 2011. "Further characterizations of the Hirsch index," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 87(1), pages 107-114, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:87:y:2011:i:1:d:10.1007_s11192-010-0307-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-010-0307-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11192-010-0307-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11192-010-0307-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Quesada, Antonio, 2009. "Monotonicity and the Hirsch index," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 3(2), pages 158-160.
    2. Woeginger, Gerhard J., 2008. "An axiomatic characterization of the Hirsch-index," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 224-232, September.
    3. Antonio Quesada, 2010. "More axiomatics for the Hirsch index," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 82(2), pages 413-418, February.
    4. Thierry Marchant, 2009. "An axiomatic characterization of the ranking based on the h-index and some other bibliometric rankings of authors," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 80(2), pages 325-342, August.
    5. Woeginger, Gerhard J., 2008. "A symmetry axiom for scientific impact indices," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 2(4), pages 298-303.
    6. Leo Egghe, 2006. "Theory and practise of the g-index," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 69(1), pages 131-152, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. L'aszl'o Csat'o, 2019. "Journal ranking should depend on the level of aggregation," Papers 1904.06300, arXiv.org, revised Sep 2019.
    2. Miroiu, Adrian, 2013. "Axiomatizing the Hirsch index: Quantity and quality disjoined," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 10-15.
    3. Kongo, Takumi, 2014. "An alternative axiomatization of the Hirsch index," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 252-258.
    4. Sylvain Béal & Sylvain Ferrières & Eric Rémila & Phillippe Solal, 2016. "An axiomatization of the iterated h-index and applications to sport rankings," Working Papers 2016-11, CRESE.
    5. Stefano Vannucci, 2017. "Hyper-H-Indices for Multi-Attribute Research Outputs: Characterizations," Department of Economics University of Siena 755, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    6. Brandão, Luana Carneiro & Soares de Mello, João Carlos Correia Baptista, 2019. "A multi-criteria approach to the h-index," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 276(1), pages 357-363.
    7. Gagolewski, Marek, 2013. "Scientific impact assessment cannot be fair," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 7(4), pages 792-802.
    8. Ana Paula dos Santos Rubem & Ariane Lima Moura & João Carlos Correia Baptista Soares de Mello, 2015. "Comparative analysis of some individual bibliometric indices when applied to groups of researchers," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 102(1), pages 1019-1035, January.
    9. Boczek, Michał & Hovana, Anton & Hutník, Ondrej & Kaluszka, Marek, 2021. "New monotone measure-based integrals inspired by scientific impact problem," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 290(1), pages 346-357.
    10. Csató, László, 2019. "Journal ranking should depend on the level of aggregation," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 13(4).
    11. Adachi, Tsuyoshi & Kongo, Takumi, 2015. "Further axiomatizations of Egghe's g-index," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 839-844.
    12. Osório, António (António Miguel), 2019. "The value and credits of n-authors publications," Working Papers 2072/376026, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics.
    13. Bouyssou, Denis & Marchant, Thierry, 2014. "An axiomatic approach to bibliometric rankings and indices," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 449-477.
    14. Bouyssou, Denis & Marchant, Thierry, 2016. "Ranking authors using fractional counting of citations: An axiomatic approach," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 183-199.
    15. Mark Levene & Trevor Fenner & Judit Bar-Ilan, 2019. "Characterisation of the $$\chi$$χ-index and the rec-index," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 120(2), pages 885-896, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chambers, Christopher P. & Miller, Alan D., 2014. "Scholarly influence," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 571-583.
    2. Brandão, Luana Carneiro & Soares de Mello, João Carlos Correia Baptista, 2019. "A multi-criteria approach to the h-index," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 276(1), pages 357-363.
    3. Ana Paula dos Santos Rubem & Ariane Lima Moura & João Carlos Correia Baptista Soares de Mello, 2015. "Comparative analysis of some individual bibliometric indices when applied to groups of researchers," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 102(1), pages 1019-1035, January.
    4. Bouyssou, Denis & Marchant, Thierry, 2014. "An axiomatic approach to bibliometric rankings and indices," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 449-477.
    5. Ash Mohammad Abbas, 2011. "Weighted indices for evaluating the quality of research with multiple authorship," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 88(1), pages 107-131, July.
    6. 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.
    7. Quesada, Antonio, 2011. "Axiomatics for the Hirsch index and the Egghe index," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 5(3), pages 476-480.
    8. Albarrán, Pedro & Ortuño, Ignacio & Ruiz-Castillo, Javier, 2011. "The measurement of low- and high-impact in citation distributions: Technical results," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 48-63.
    9. Osório, António (António Miguel), 2019. "The value and credits of n-authors publications," Working Papers 2072/376026, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics.
    10. Gagolewski, Marek, 2013. "Scientific impact assessment cannot be fair," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 7(4), pages 792-802.
    11. Gagolewski, Marek & Mesiar, Radko, 2012. "Aggregating different paper quality measures with a generalized h-index," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 6(4), pages 566-579.
    12. Bouyssou, Denis & Marchant, Thierry, 2016. "Ranking authors using fractional counting of citations: An axiomatic approach," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 183-199.
    13. 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.
    14. Bouyssou, Denis & Marchant, Thierry, 2011. "Bibliometric rankings of journals based on Impact Factors: An axiomatic approach," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 75-86.
    15. Adachi, Tsuyoshi & Kongo, Takumi, 2015. "Further axiomatizations of Egghe's g-index," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 839-844.
    16. Bouyssou, D. & Marchant, T., 2010. "Consistent bibliometric rankings of authors and of journals," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 4(3), pages 365-378.
    17. Qiang Wu & Peng Zhang, 2017. "Some indices violating the basic domination relation," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 113(1), pages 495-500, October.
    18. Franceschini, Fiorenzo & Maisano, Domenico A., 2010. "Analysis of the Hirsch index's operational properties," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 203(2), pages 494-504, June.
    19. Kongo, Takumi, 2014. "An alternative axiomatization of the Hirsch index," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 252-258.
    20. Juan A Crespo & Ignacio Ortuño-Ortín & Javier Ruiz-Castillo, 2012. "The Citation Merit of Scientific Publications," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(11), pages 1-9, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:87:y:2011:i:1:d:10.1007_s11192-010-0307-4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.