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On the Robustness of the h-index: a mathematical approach

Author

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  • Jean-Michel Courtault

    (CEPN - Centre d'Economie de l'Université Paris Nord (ancienne affiliation) - UP13 - Université Paris 13 - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Naïla Hayek

    (Marin Mersenne - Pour les Mathématiques, l'Informatique et l'Interdisciplinarité - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne)

Abstract

The h-index is an index recently proposed by Hirsch (2005) to measure scientific achievement by individual scholars. It is a compound measure of publications and citations. We show the robustness of this index. This means that h-index increases with both the number of publications and the number of citations only when these numbers are significant.

Suggested Citation

  • Jean-Michel Courtault & Naïla Hayek, 2008. "On the Robustness of the h-index: a mathematical approach," Post-Print halshs-00446309, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00446309
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-00446309
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. repec:jns:jbstat:v:227:y:2007:i:2:p:187-208 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Leo Egghe, 2006. "Theory and practise of the g-index," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 69(1), pages 131-152, October.
    3. Wolfgang Glänzel, 2006. "On the h-index - A mathematical approach to a new measure of publication activity and citation impact," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 67(2), pages 315-321, May.
    4. Ursprung Heinrich W. & Zimmer Markus, 2007. "Who is the ”Platz-Hirsch“ of the German Economics Profession?: A Citation Analysis," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 227(2), pages 187-208, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Courtault, Jean-Michel & Hayek, Naïla & Rimbaux, Eric & Zhu, Tong, 2010. "Research in economics and management in France: A bibliometric study using the h-index," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 329-337, April.
    2. Malesios, C., 2016. "Measuring the robustness of the journal h-index with respect to publication and citation values: A Bayesian sensitivity analysis," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 719-731.
    3. Fiorenzo Franceschini & Domenico Maisano & Luca Mastrogiacomo, 2013. "Evaluating research institutions: the potential of the success-index," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 96(1), pages 85-101, July.
    4. Fiorenzo Franceschini & Domenico Maisano & Luca Mastrogiacomo, 2013. "The effect of database dirty data on h-index calculation," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 95(3), pages 1179-1188, June.
    5. Lorna Wildgaard, 2015. "A comparison of 17 author-level bibliometric indicators for researchers in Astronomy, Environmental Science, Philosophy and Public Health in Web of Science and Google Scholar," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 104(3), pages 873-906, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    robustness; bibliometry; h-index;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C0 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - General
    • J2 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor

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