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Convergent validation of peer review decisions using the h index

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  • Bornmann, Lutz
  • Daniel, Hans-Dieter

Abstract

Hirsch [Hirsch, J. E. (2005). An index to quantify an individual's scientific research output. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 102(46), 16569–16572] has proposed the h index as a single-number criterion to evaluate the scientific output of a researcher. We investigated the convergent validity of decisions for awarding long-term fellowships to post-doctoral researchers as practiced by the Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds (B.I.F.) by using the h index. Our study examined 414 B.I.F. applicants (64 approved and 350 rejected) with a total of 1586 papers. The results of our study show that the applicants’h indices correlate substantially with standard bibliometric indicators. Even though the h indices of approved B.I.F. applicants on average (arithmetic mean and median) are higher than those of rejected applicants (and with this, fundamentally confirm the validity of the funding decisions), the distributions of the h indices show in part overlaps that we categorized as type I error (falsely drawn approval) or type II error (falsely drawn rejection). Approximately, one-third of the decisions to award a fellowship to an applicant show a type I error, and about one-third of the decisions not to award a fellowship to an applicant show a type II error. Our analyses of possible reasons for these errors show that the applicant's field of study but not personal ties between the B.I.F. applicant and the B.I.F. can increase or decrease the risks for type I and type II errors.

Suggested Citation

  • Bornmann, Lutz & Daniel, Hans-Dieter, 2007. "Convergent validation of peer review decisions using the h index," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 1(3), pages 204-213.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:infome:v:1:y:2007:i:3:p:204-213
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joi.2007.01.002
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ronan M. Conroy, 2002. "Choosing an appropriate real-life measure of effect size:the case of a continuous predictor and a binary outcome," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 2(3), pages 290-295, August.
    2. Anthony F. J. Raan, 2006. "Comparison of the Hirsch-index with standard bibliometric indicators and with peer judgment for 147 chemistry research groups," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 67(3), pages 491-502, June.
    3. Lutz Bornmann & Hans-Dieter Daniel, 2005. "Committee peer review at an international research foundation: predictive validity and fairness of selection decisions on post-graduate fellowship applications," Research Evaluation, Oxford University Press, vol. 14(1), pages 15-20, April.
    4. Lutz Bornmann & Hans-Dieter Daniel, 2006. "Selecting scientific excellence through committee peer review - A citation analysis of publications previously published to approval or rejection of post-doctoral research fellowship applicants," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 68(3), pages 427-440, September.
    5. Lutz Bornmann & Hans-Dieter Daniel, 2005. "Selection of research fellowship recipients by committee peer review. Reliability, fairness and predictive validity of Board of Trustees' decisions," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 63(2), pages 297-320, April.
    6. Lutz Bornmann & Hans-Dieter Daniel, 2005. "Does the h-index for ranking of scientists really work?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 65(3), pages 391-392, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Vîiu, Gabriel-Alexandru, 2016. "A theoretical evaluation of Hirsch-type bibliometric indicators confronted with extreme self-citation," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 552-566.
    2. Kakushadze, Zura, 2016. "An index for SSRN downloads," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 9-28.
    3. Bornmann, Lutz & Daniel, Hans-Dieter, 2009. "Extent of type I and type II errors in editorial decisions: A case study on Angewandte Chemie International Edition," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 348-352.
    4. Bornmann, Lutz & Mutz, Rüdiger & Daniel, Hans-Dieter, 2008. "Latent Markov modeling applied to grant peer review," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 2(3), pages 217-228.
    5. Pablo Jensen & Jean-Baptiste Rouquier & Yves Croissant, 2009. "Testing bibliometric indicators by their prediction of scientists promotions," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 78(3), pages 467-479, March.
    6. Vieira, Elizabeth S. & Cabral, José A.S. & Gomes, José A.N.F., 2014. "How good is a model based on bibliometric indicators in predicting the final decisions made by peers?," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 390-405.
    7. Bornmann, Lutz & Leydesdorff, Loet & Van den Besselaar, Peter, 2010. "A meta-evaluation of scientific research proposals: Different ways of comparing rejected to awarded applications," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 4(3), pages 211-220.
    8. Franceschet, Massimo & Costantini, Antonio, 2011. "The first Italian research assessment exercise: A bibliometric perspective," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 275-291.
    9. Mariana Pires Luz & Carla Marques-Portella & Mauro Mendlowicz & Sonia Gleiser & Evandro Silva Freire Coutinho & Ivan Figueira, 2008. "Institutional h-index: The performance of a new metric in the evaluation of Brazilian Psychiatric Post-graduation Programs," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 77(2), pages 361-368, November.
    10. Squazzoni, Flaminio & Gandelli, Claudio, 2012. "Saint Matthew strikes again: An agent-based model of peer review and the scientific community structure," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 6(2), pages 265-275.
    11. Vanclay, Jerome K., 2008. "Ranking forestry journals using the h-index," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 2(4), pages 326-334.
    12. Stefan Hornbostel & Susan Böhmer & Bernd Klingsporn & Jörg Neufeld & Markus Ins, 2009. "Funding of young scientist and scientific excellence," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 79(1), pages 171-190, April.
    13. 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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