Some aspects of H-index and applications

Abstract

The h-index has become a widely used metric for evaluating the research impact of scholars, particularly in academia. It attempts to measure both the productivity and impact of an author’s research output by taking into account the number of publications and the number of citations that they have received. However, there are ongoing debates about the accuracy and reliability of the h-index as a measure of research impact. For instance, the h-index can be influenced by factors such as the discipline of the author, the age of their career, and the citation practices of the field. As a result, there have been several attempts to develop alternative metrics that provide a more comprehensive picture of an author’s research impact. This thesis seeks to contribute to this ongoing conversation by examining the h-index in detail and exploring its strengths and limitations, as well as its applications in various fields. There are several variations of h-index being proposed. For example, g-index [18] and h(2)-index[30] which give more weight to highly cited papers, a-index [28], m-index [12] and many more. While these variations provide more nuanced insights into a researcher’s impact and productivity, it is important to note that each metric has its own limitations and should be used in conjunction with other measures to provide a comprehensive evaluation of a researcher’s output. The first part of the thesis discusses the generalisation of the h-index. We explore the definition of h-index on a general graph. The aim of this research is to develop a framework for the h-index on a graph. By achieving this, we can apply h-index on number of different domains. Hence, we present a general definition of the h-index on a graph and demonstrate its applicability in various fields. By applying this framework to different contexts, we show that the h-index can reveal underlying semantics and patterns in a network. The rest of the thesis presents case studies that illustrate the use of the h-index and other derived metrics in various fields. For example, the h-index has been used to evaluate the research impact of single publications, airports, and scientists. These case studies demonstrate the versatility of the h-index as a measure of research impact and highlight the importance of considering the specific context in which it is being used. Overall, this thesis contributes to a better understanding of the h-index and its applications in different fields. It also highlights the limitations of the h-index and the need for complementary metrics to provide a more comprehensive picture of an author’s research impact. This thesis provides a valuable resource for researchers and practitioners who use bibliometric measures to evaluate research impact.