A researcher's h-index

What is the h-index?

The h-index, also known as the h-factor, is an indicator of the impact of a researcher’s publications. It provides a quantitative assessment of a researcher’s influence by considering both the number of publications and the number of citations they have received.

An author’s h-index is defined as the highest number h of their publications that have received at least h citations each. In other words, if a researcher has an h-index of 6, this means that six of their individual publications have been cited at least six times each.

Calculating the h-index involves ranking the author’s publications from most cited (number 1) to least cited, and then determining the last publication number for which the number of citations is greater than or equal to that number. It is this last number that constitutes the h-index.

The h-index is increasingly used in selection processes for calls for proposals and research evaluations, as it offers an objective way to measure the impact and recognition of a researcher in their scientific community. It can also be calculated for research entities such as institutions or laboratories, as well as for academic journals using the entity’s name or the journal’s title as a reference.

The h-index from Scopus
To get an author’s h-index in Scopus, follow these steps:

  • Click on the “Authors” tab.
  • Enter the author’s last name (Author’s Last Name), first name initials or full first name (Author’s First Name), affiliation, and ORCID identifier if the author has registered it.
  • Select the author’s name from the list provided.
  • Click on “View Citation Overview.”
  • The h-index will be shown, along with a graph and table showing the number of citations, and a list of the author’s publications.
  • Carefully review the author’s publication list. You can delete irrelevant publications by clicking the green cross to the right of the publication year. The h-index will update automatically.
  • You can export the results to a spreadsheet by clicking “Export” at the top right of the menu.

The h-index from the Web of Science

To access the h-index from the Web of Science All Databases, follow these steps:

  • In the search menu, select “All Databases” as the database to use.
  • Choose “Author” from the drop-down menu to specify that you are looking for an author.
  • Enter the author’s name, preferably using the last name followed by the first initial, followed by * to avoid homonyms. You can also use the “Select from Index” option to select different spellings of the name, add them by clicking “Add,” and then click “OK” at the bottom of the page.
  • Click on “Search” to start the search.
  • Once the results are displayed, click on “Create Citation Report.”
  • The author’s h-index will be shown to the right of the citation report graphs.
  • To ensure that the publications listed in the citation report are actually those of the author, check them carefully and delete any that are irrelevant. The h-index will update automatically.
  • You can also export the results to an Excel spreadsheet if needed.