The meaning of the h-index

The quest ions in this art icle were formulated by G. Buela-Casal, the answers were given by J.E. Hirsch. *Corresponding author: Department of Physics, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA. E-mail address: j [email protected] (J.E. Hirsch). Abstract The h-index originates from the assumpt ion that the number of citat ions received by a scient ist is a better indicator of the relevance of his or her work than the number of papers he or she publishes or the j ournals where they are published. It takes into account the number of papers published and the citat ions to those papers in a balanced way, and thus is useful to make comparisons between scient ists. The present paper addresses the most frequent quest ions about the h-index. Specifically, it explains its origin, its advantages compared to other indices, the factors that can influence it (e.g. age, field of knowledge, topic of research and language of publicat ion), its variants, and the injust ices it may lead to. In short , this paper provides a clear exposit ion of the hoped-for role of the h-index in the evaluat ion of scient ists: that it serves as a useful complement to other indicators that are more subject ive, and that it cont ributes to the progress of science by aiding decision-making on allocat ion of research resources in a more effect ive way, and on rewarding researchers who contribute to scient ific progress in a more fair way. © 2014 Asociación Española de Psicología Conductual. Published by Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.