Skip to main content
Log in

Mathematical derivation of the scale-dependence of the h-index and other h-type indices

  • Published:
Scientometrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We present a mathematical derivation of the scale-dependence of the h-index. This formula can be used in two cases: one where the units are scale-dependent and one where the units are not scale-dependent. Examples are given.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

References

  • Bornmann, L., & Daniel, H. -D. (2010). The citation speed index: A useful bibliometric indicator to add to the h index. Journal of Informetrics, 4(3), 444–446.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Egghe, L. (2005). Power laws in the information production process: Lotkaian informetrics. Oxford, UK: Elsevier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Egghe, L. (2006). Theory and practise of the g-index. Scientometrics, 69(1), 131–152.

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Egghe, L. (2008). Examples of simple transformations of the h-index: qualitative and quantitative conclusions and consequences for other indices. Journal of Informetrics, 2(2), 136–148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Egghe, L. (2010a). The Hirsch index and related impact measures. In B. Cronin (Ed.), Annual Review of Information Science and Technology (Vol. 44, pp. 65–114). Medford, NJ, USA: Information Today, Inc.

  • Egghe, L. (2010b). Mathematical results on the H-index and H-sequence of Randić. Research Evaluation, 9(3), 203–207.

  • Egghe, L. (2011). Characterizations of the generalized Wu- and Kosmulski-indices in Lotkaian systems (to appear).

  • Egghe, L., Bornmann, L., & Guns, R. (2010). A proposal for a first-citation-speed-index. Journal of Informetrics (to appear).

  • Egghe, L., & Rousseau, R. (2006). An informetric model for the Hirsch-index. Scientometrics, 69(1), 121–129.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirsch, J. (2005). An index to quantify an individual’s scientific research output. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 102(46), 16569–16572.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jin, B., Liang, L., Rousseau, R., & Egghe, L. (2007). The R- and AR-indices: Complementing the h-index. Chinese Science Bulletin, 52(6), 855–863.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Eck, N. J., & Waltman, L. (2008). Generalizing the h- and g-indices. Journal of Informetrics, 2(4), 263–271.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu, Q. (2010). The w-index: A measure to assess scientific impact by focussing on widely cited papers. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 61(3), 609–614.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The author is grateful to two anonymous referees who gave many comments to improve the paper.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to L. Egghe.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Egghe, L. Mathematical derivation of the scale-dependence of the h-index and other h-type indices. Scientometrics 87, 287–292 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-010-0327-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-010-0327-0

Keywords

Navigation