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Ranking university departments using the mean h-index

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Abstract

Ranking of universities has lately received considerable attention. However, ranking of departments would give a higher resolution picture of the distribution of quality within each university. In this work the Hirsch (h) index of each faculty in Greek Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, and Physics departments was calculated using the Web of Science and the mean value was used to rank them. This ranking refers to the research performance of each department and thus is most relevant to its doctoral program. The results seem highly meaningful. If performed on a pan-European basis, such rankings could spur healthy competition and could provide a strong motive for meritocratic hiring practices. Technical difficulties and possible extension of this approach to social science and humanities departments are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

Several anonymous colleagues helped in the collection of the data for the Materials Science and Physics departments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, City College of New York/CUNY, 160 Convent Avenue, New York, NY, 10031, USA

    Themis Lazaridis

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  1. Themis Lazaridis
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Correspondence to Themis Lazaridis.

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Lazaridis, T. Ranking university departments using the mean h-index. Scientometrics 82, 211–216 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-009-0048-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-009-0048-4

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