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Academic Productivity in Psychiatry: Benchmarks for the H-Index

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Abstract

Objective

Bibliometrics play an increasingly critical role in the assessment of faculty for promotion and merit increases. Bibliometrics is the statistical analysis of publications, aimed at evaluating their impact. The objective of this study is to describe h-index and citation benchmarks in academic psychiatry.

Methods

Faculty lists were acquired from online resources for all academic departments of psychiatry listed as having residency training programs in Canada (as of June 2016). Potential authors were then searched on Web of Science (Thomson Reuters) for their corresponding h-index and total number of citations.

Results

The sample included 1683 faculty members in academic psychiatry departments. Restricted to those with a rank of assistant, associate, or full professor resulted in 1601 faculty members (assistant = 911, associate = 387, full = 303). h-index and total citations differed significantly by academic rank. Both were highest in the full professor rank, followed by associate, then assistant. The range in each, however, was large.

Conclusions

This study provides the initial benchmarks for the h-index and total citations in academic psychiatry. Regardless of any controversies or criticisms of bibliometrics, they are increasingly influencing promotion, merit increases, and grant support. As such, benchmarking by specialties is needed in order to provide needed context.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada

    Frank P. MacMaster & Rose Swansburg

  2. Strategic Clinical Network for Addictions and Mental Health, Edmonton, Canada

    Katherine Rittenbach

Authors
  1. Frank P. MacMaster
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  2. Rose Swansburg
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  3. Katherine Rittenbach
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Frank P. MacMaster.

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Ethical Considerations

The study used publically available data.

Disclosures

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Funding Sources

This work was supported by the Scientific Office of the Strategic Clinical Network for Addictions and Mental Health.

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MacMaster, F.P., Swansburg, R. & Rittenbach, K. Academic Productivity in Psychiatry: Benchmarks for the H-Index. Acad Psychiatry 41, 452–454 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-016-0656-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-016-0656-2

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