h-index
Bibliometrics
Definition. The h-index is a bibliometric indicator: a researcher has index h if h of their papers have each been cited at least h times.
Explanation
Hirsch proposed the index to combine productivity and impact in a single number (Hirsch, 2005). Bibliometric software such as SciMAT also computes it for themes and clusters (Cobo et al., 2012).
The h-index depends on field, career length and database, so it should not be used alone for evaluation.
Related concepts
Bibliometric analysis Peer review Open access
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References
Cobo, M. J., López-Herrera, A. G., Herrera-Viedma, E., & Herrera, F. (2012). SciMAT: A new science mapping analysis software tool. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 63 (8), 1609–1630. doi:10.1002/asi.22688.
Hirsch, J. E. (2005). An index to quantify an individual’s scientific research output. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 102(46), 16569–16572. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0507655102
Cite this entry: Kurutkan, M. N. (2026). h-index. In The Health Topics glossary. https://healthtopic.org/glossary/h-index/