Abstract
The h-index [ 1 Hirsch J.E. An index to quantify an individual's scientific research output. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 2005; 102: 16569-16572 Crossref PubMed Scopus (6795) Google Scholar ] has been claimed to provide a simple way to compare objectively the scientific achievement of researchers and has rapidly become one of the most favoured measures of scientific output [ 2 Ball P. Achievement index climbs the ranks. Nature. 2007; 448: 737 Crossref PubMed Scopus (95) Google Scholar ]. The h-index is an author's number of articles (h) that have received at least h citations [ 1 Hirsch J.E. An index to quantify an individual's scientific research output. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 2005; 102: 16569-16572 Crossref PubMed Scopus (6795) Google Scholar ], and thus depends on the number of a researcher's publications and their impact. Some recent articles have called for cautious use of the h-index [ 3 Kelly C.D. Jennions M.D. The h index and career assessment by numbers. Trends Ecol. Evol. 2006; 21: 167-170 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (259) Google Scholar , 4 Purvis A. The h index: playing the numbers game. Trends Ecol. Evol. 2006; 21: 422 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (54) Google Scholar , 5 Schreiber M. Self-citation corrections for the Hirsch index. EPL. 2007; 78: 30002 Crossref Scopus (113) Google Scholar , 6 Bornmann L. Daniel H.D. What do we know about the h index?. J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci. Tec. 2007; 58: 1381-1385 Crossref Scopus (382) Google Scholar , 7 Lehmann S. et al. Measures for measures. Nature. 2006; 444: 1003-1004 Crossref PubMed Scopus (214) Google Scholar ]. In particular, its robustness against self-citations has been disputed [ 3 Kelly C.D. Jennions M.D. The h index and career assessment by numbers. Trends Ecol. Evol. 2006; 21: 167-170 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (259) Google Scholar , 4 Purvis A. The h index: playing the numbers game. Trends Ecol. Evol. 2006; 21: 422 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (54) Google Scholar , 5 Schreiber M. Self-citation corrections for the Hirsch index. EPL. 2007; 78: 30002 Crossref Scopus (113) Google Scholar ]. As the enhancement of the h-index will often be impeded by the lack of a few citations only, it has been argued that the h-index might be susceptible to manipulation by self-citation of such articles [ 1 Hirsch J.E. An index to quantify an individual's scientific research output. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 2005; 102: 16569-16572 Crossref PubMed Scopus (6795) Google Scholar , 4 Purvis A. The h index: playing the numbers game. Trends Ecol. Evol. 2006; 21: 422 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (54) Google Scholar , 5 Schreiber M. Self-citation corrections for the Hirsch index. EPL. 2007; 78: 30002 Crossref Scopus (113) Google Scholar ]. Here we use simple arguments and quantitative analysis to show that the alleged sensitivity of the h-index to self-citations is overestimated, and manipulations thus difficult.
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