A theoretical model of the relationship between the h-index and other simple citation indicators
The result's identifiers
Result code in IS VaVaI
<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F61989100%3A27510%2F17%3A10238039" target="_blank" >RIV/61989100:27510/17:10238039 - isvavai.cz</a>
Result on the web
<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28596626" target="_blank" >https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28596626</a>
DOI - Digital Object Identifier
<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11192-017-2351-9" target="_blank" >10.1007/s11192-017-2351-9</a>
Alternative languages
Result language
angličtina
Original language name
A theoretical model of the relationship between the h-index and other simple citation indicators
Original language description
Of the existing theoretical formulas for the h-index, those recently suggested by Burrell (J Informetr 7:774-783, 2013b) and by Bertoli-Barsotti and Lando (J Informetr 9(4):762-776, 2015) have proved very effective in estimating the actual value of the h-index Hirsch (Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 102:16569-16572, 2005), at least at the level of the individual scientist. These approaches lead (or may lead) to two slightly different formulas, being based, respectively, on a "standard" and a "shifted" version of the geometric distribution. In this paper, we review the genesis of these two formulas-which we shall call the "basic" and "improved" Lambert-W formula for the h-index-and compare their effectiveness with that of a number of instances taken from the well-known Glänzel-Schubert class of models for the h-index (based, instead, on a Paretian model) by means of an empirical study. All the formulas considered in the comparison are "ready-to-use", i.e., functions of simple citation indicators such as: the total number of publications; the total number of citations; the total number of cited paper; the number of citations of the most cited paper. The empirical study is based on citation data obtained from two different sets of journals belonging to two different scientific fields: more specifically, 231 journals from the area of "Statistics and Mathematical Methods" and 100 journals from the area of "Economics, Econometrics and Finance", totaling almost 100,000 and 20,000 publications, respectively. The citation data refer to different publication/citation time windows, different types of "citable" documents, and alternative approaches to the analysis of the citation process ("prospective" and "retrospective"). We conclude that, especially in its improved version, the Lambert-W formula for the h-index provides a quite robust and effective ready-to-use rule that should be preferred to other known formulas if one's goal is (simply) to derive a reliable estimate of the h-index.
Czech name
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Czech description
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Classification
Type
J<sub>imp</sub> - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database
CEP classification
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OECD FORD branch
50206 - Finance
Result continuities
Project
<a href="/en/project/GJ17-23411Y" target="_blank" >GJ17-23411Y: Income distribution in the society: econometric models and dominance criteria for intersecting Lorenz curves</a><br>
Continuities
P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)
Others
Publication year
2017
Confidentiality
S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů
Data specific for result type
Name of the periodical
Scientometrics
ISSN
0138-9130
e-ISSN
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Volume of the periodical
111
Issue of the periodical within the volume
3
Country of publishing house
NL - THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS
Number of pages
34
Pages from-to
1415-1448
UT code for WoS article
000401747900009
EID of the result in the Scopus database
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