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Hirsch index or Hirsch rate? Some thoughts arising from Liang’s data

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Abstract

Hirsch’s h-index gives a single number that in some sense summarizes an author’s research output and its impact. Since an individual author’s h-index will be time-dependent, we propose instead the h-rate which, according to theory, is (almost) constant. We re-analyse a previously published data set (Liang, 2006) which, although not of the precise form to properly test our model, reveals that in many cases we do not have a constant h-rate. On the other hand this then suggests ways in which deeper scientometric investigations could be carried out. This work should be viewed as complementary to that of Liang (2006).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Isle of Man International Business School, The Nunnery Old Castletown Road Douglas, Isle of Man, IM2 1QB, UK

    Quentin L. Burrell

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  1. Quentin L. Burrell
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Correspondence to Quentin L. Burrell.

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Burrell, Q.L. Hirsch index or Hirsch rate? Some thoughts arising from Liang’s data. Scientometrics 73, 19–28 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-006-1774-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-006-1774-5

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