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What is h-index?

The h-index has become a leading metric for evaluating an author’s impact through published work. Developed in 2005 by J.E. Hirsch at the University of California, San Diego (Hirsch, 2005), the h-index was proposed as an improvement over traditional metrics such as total number of papers, total citations, or average citations per paper. Hirsch argued that these earlier measures failed to capture a researcher’s true influence. The h-index addresses this by ranking an author’s publications in descending order by citation count; the h is the number of papers that have been cited at least h times.

In the table below, the articles are listed in descending order of citation count. The h-index is 93 (see highlighted section) because at least 93 articles have each been cited 93 times.

In this example, the document number and citation count are the same, though this will not always be the case. For instance, if document 93 had only 92 citations, the h-index would be 92. This is because the h-index (h) is defined as the number of publications (N) that have each been cited at least h times.

Alternatively, you can create a chart comparing the number of documents to their citation counts and identify the point where the document number equals the number of citations—this intersection represents the h-index.

Chart comparing the number of documents published to their citation counts, with a marked intersection point where the number of documents equals the number of citations. This intersection represents the h-index, indicating the number of papers with at least that many citations.

Pros and Cons of the h-index

The idea behind the h-index was to create a simple, easy-to-understand metric that could quantify a researcher's output and impact. It has remained popular over time for several reasons:

  • It condenses productivity and impact into a single number

  • It does not require a minimum number of publications

  • It avoids the need for arbitrary thresholds

  • It is easy to interpret

  • It offers a relatively robust measure of a researcher’s influence

However, the h-index is not without its limitations. It can be inflated by factors such as a high average number of co-authors per paper, excessive self-citations, or continued citations of older articles. This means a researcher’s h-index may keep increasing even after they stop publishing—or even after they pass away.

How do you determine your h-index?

How do you determine your h-index?

There are a few ways to determine your h-index.  However, depending on the method, you will get a different number, so always remember to cite where you found your h-index.  The three major locations for an h-index are Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar.

To find the number of citations for an Author on Scopus

  1. Go to the Lewis Library Website.
  2. From there you can click on the A-Z Database List.
  3. Then choose Scopus.
  4.   Click on the Author tab and enter the author you would like to search.
  5. A list will be generated, make sure the author is from the correct affiliation. Then click the correct author.
  6.  Their profile will appear and you can see the number of documents and citations that they received.
  7. Click on Citation Overview to get a table of publications and the number of citations.

Screenshot of Albert Einstein’s author profile on Scopus, showing publication metrics, citation counts, and a list of his research articles.

To find the number of citations for an Author on Web of Science

  1. Go to the Lewis Library Website.
  2. From there you can click on the A-Z Database List.
  3. Then choose Web of Science.
  4. Click on the Researchers Tab and enter the author you would like to search.
  5. A list will be generated, make sure the author is from the correct affiliation.  Then click on the correct author.
  6.  A summary of their citations is on the right, but if you click on View Citations report, you will see more metrics.
  7. Scroll down to see a table of publications and the number of citations.
  8. In the "Citing Articles" box, click the number next to the citation count. This will take you to a list of articles that have cited your work.
  9. On the left-hand side, under the "Refine Results" column, scroll down to "Countries/Regions." Click on it and then select "See All." This will show you the countries or regions of people who have cited your work.

Screenshot of Albert Einstein’s author profile on Web of Science, displaying his publication record, citation metrics, and related research information.

How to Find Your Citation Metrics Using Google Scholar

  1. Go to Google Scholar and click on "My Profile" in the upper right corner.
  2. Create a Google Scholar account using your HSC email address and follow the prompts to set up your profile.
  3. Once your profile is complete, your total citations, h-index, and i10-index will appear in the right-hand column.
  4. The h-index reflects the number of publications (h) that have at least h citations each.
  5. The i10-index, which is unique to Google Scholar, shows the number of publications with at least 10 citations.
  6.  If you have published under multiple name variations, you may need to manually search for and add those articles to your profile.

Screenshot of Albert Einstein’s author profile on Google Scholar, displaying his publication record, citation metrics, and related research information.