Scientometric indicators play an important role in the scientific sphere, including in the activities of higher education institutions. One of the key metrics is the Hirsch index. How is it calculated, and how exactly does it influence a university’s reputation? We explore this in detail in our article.
What is the h-index?
The Hirsch index (h-index) – a metric that helps objectively evaluate a researcher’s productivity. It is formed based on the number of a scientist’s academic publications and the level of their citations.
The h-index was developed in 2005 by Argentine-American physicist Jorge E. Hirsch. The main advantages of this scientometric indicator are:
- objective assessment of a researcher’s productivity
- demonstration of the impact of a scientist’s research on the academic community
- elimination of the effect of accidental success
How to calculate the h-index?
The Hirsch index is calculated based on a scientist’s academic activity. To do this, an ordered list of the author’s articles is created in descending order according to the number of citations – from the most cited to the least cited. It is important that the citation count is not lower than the ordinal number of the article. For example, if an author has six studies, each of them must be cited by other researchers at least six times. In that case, the h-index will equal six.
Example of h-index calculation
| Article number | Number of citations | Does it meet the requirement (citations ≥ number)? |
| 1 | 75 | Yes |
| 2 | 27 | Yes |
| 3 | 14 | Yes |
| 4 | 9 | Yes |
| 5 | 6 | Yes (this is the h-index) |
| 6 | 4 | No (the number of citations is lower than article number 6) |
What is the h-index used for in universities?
In higher education institutions, the Hirsch index plays a significant role. It is one of the tools used to evaluate the performance of academic staff. In addition, the h-index is a key indicator influencing the overall ranking of a university.
Other processes influenced by the Hirsch index include:
- selection of candidates for prestigious positions
- awarding of academic degrees and academic titles
- distribution of grants
How is the Hirsch index of an Entire University Calculated?
The principle of calculating the h-index for higher education institutions remains almost unchanged. An important condition is taking into account all scientific papers published by the university’s employees. In other words, when determining the Hirsch index of an institution, there is no need to sum up or calculate the arithmetic mean of the employees’ individual indices. For example, if a university’s h-index equals 100, this means that 100 articles have been published within the institution, and each of them has been cited at least 100 times.
You can find the current h-index of a university, as well as view the overall ranking according to this indicator, in the scientific databases Scopus and Web of Science. Information about Bulgarian universities, scientific organizations, and research institutions is available in the independent ranking Bulgarian National h-index Ranking. Thanks to its comprehensive approach, it is possible to determine the positions of both individual research organizations across the country and specific researchers within a single institution.
The Impact of the h-index on the Reputation of a University and Department
The Hirsch index is one of the key indicators on which the reputation of a higher education institution is based. It helps assess the authority of a university while taking into account all of its scientific achievements.
A high h-index can provide the following advantages:
- strengthening positions in global and national rankings
- opportunities for international cooperation
- chances of obtaining funding attracting a greater number of talented applicants and highly qualified specialists
Considering all these factors, higher education institutions strive to improve their Hirsch index. In particular, this can be achieved through the selection of relevant research topics, optimization of article metadata, publication of work in high-quality journals, and more. Despite this, researchers often make mistakes that may negatively affect the h-index. You can learn more about these factors in our article.
The h-index is an important criterion for evaluating universities. Grant foundations pay attention to it when reviewing funding applications, prospective students consider it when choosing a higher education institution, and government authorities use it during the accreditation process of universities.
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