Distributive h-indices for measuring multilevel impact

For measuring multilevel impact, we introduce the distributive h-indices, which balance two important components (breadth and strength) of multilevel impact at various citing levels. After exploring the theoretical properties of these indices, we studied two cases: 57 library and information science (LIS) journals and social science research in 38 European countries/territories. Results reveal that there are approximate power-law relations between distributive h-indices and some underlying citation indicators, such as total citations, total citing entities, and the h-index. Distributive h-indices provide comprehensive measures for multilevel impact, and lead to a potential tool for citation analysis, particularly at aggregative levels. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

[1]  Staša Milojević.  Power law distributions in information science: Making the case for logarithmic binning , 2010 .

[2]  András Schubert,et al.  A Hirsch-type index of co-author partnership ability , 2011, Scientometrics.

[3]  Ronald Rousseau,et al.  Social network analysis: a powerful strategy, also for the information sciences , 2002, J. Inf. Sci..

[4]  András Schubert,et al.  Hirsch-index for countries based on Essential Science Indicators data , 2007, Scientometrics.

[5]  Ricardo Arencibia-Jorge,et al.  Applying successive H indices in the institutional evaluation: A case study: Brief Communications , 2008 .

[6]  Ronald Rousseau,et al.  h-Degree as a basic measure in weighted networks , 2011, J. Informetrics.

[7]  Vicente P. Guerrero-Bote,et al.  A new approach to the metric of journals' scientific prestige: The SJR indicator , 2010, J. Informetrics.

[8]  Fred Y. Ye,et al.  A unification of three models for the h-index , 2011, J. Assoc. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[9]  Lutz Bornmann,et al.  Do we need the E-index in addition to the h-index and its variants? , 2011, J. Assoc. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[10]  Thed N. van Leeuwen,et al.  New bibliometric tools for the assessment of national research performance: Database description, overview of indicators and first applications , 1995, Scientometrics.

[11]  J. S. Katz,et al.  The self-similar science system , 1999 .

[12]  Carl T. Bergstrom,et al.  The Eigenfactor MetricsTM: A Network Approach to Assessing Scholarly Journals , 2010, Coll. Res. Libr..

[13]  Konstantin V. Krutovsky,et al.  Self-citation can inflate h-index , 2008, Scientometrics.

[14]  Ronald Rousseau,et al.  A preliminary investigation on diffusion through a layered system , 2012, J. Informetrics.

[15]  Henk F. Moed,et al.  Measuring contextual citation impact of scientific journals , 2009, J. Informetrics.

[16]  Ronald Rousseau,et al.  Probing the h-core: an investigation of the tail–core ratio for rank distributions , 2010, Scientometrics.

[17]  Leo Egghe,et al.  An informetric model for the Hirsch-index , 2006, Scientometrics.

[18]  S. Redner.  How popular is your paper? An empirical study of the citation distribution , 1998, cond-mat/9804163.

[19]  Alessandro Vespignani,et al.  Network science , 2007, Annu. Rev. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[20]  L. Egghe.  Power Laws in the Information Production Process: Lotkaian Informetrics , 2005 .

[21]  Ronald Rousseau.  The h-index as a biodiversity index , 2009 .

[22]  T. E. Nisonger,et al.  The Perception of Library and Information Science Journals by LIS Education Deans and ARL Library Directors: A Replication of the Kohl–Davis Study , 2005 .

[23]  S. Naranan,et al.  “Power law” version of Bradford's law: Statistical tests and methods of estimation , 1989, Scientometrics.

[24]  Loet Leydesdorff,et al.  Integrated Impact Indicators (I3) compared with Impact Factors (IFs): An alternative research design with policy implications , 2011, J. Assoc. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[25]  Ernesto Gianoli,et al.  Insights into the relationship between the h-index and self-citations , 2009, J. Assoc. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[26]  Wolfgang Glänzel,et al.  A Hirsch-type index for journals , 2006, Scientometrics.

[27]  Ricardo Arencibia Jorge,et al.  Applying successive H indices in the institutional evaluation: A case study , 2008, J. Assoc. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[28]  Marco A. Molina-Montenegro,et al.  Insights into the relationship between the h -index and self-citations , 2009 .

[29]  Leo Egghe,et al.  The Hirsch index and related impact measures , 2010, Annu. Rev. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[30]  Ying Ding,et al.  Applying weighted PageRank to author citation networks , 2011, J. Assoc. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[31]  J. E. Hirsch,et al.  An index to quantify an individual's scientific research output , 2005, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA.

[32]  Hans Byström,et al.  An index to evaluate fund and fund manager performance , 2011 .

[33]  Ludo Waltman,et al.  The inconsistency of the h-index , 2011, J. Assoc. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[34]  Thed N. van Leeuwen,et al.  Towards a new crown indicator: an empirical analysis , 2010, Scientometrics.

[35]  Leo Egghe,et al.  Modelling successive h-indices , 2008, Scientometrics.

[36]  Wolfgang Glänzel,et al.  Tracing the role of individual journals in a cross-citation network based on different indicators , 2009, Scientometrics.

[37]  Leo Egghe.  Untangling Herdan's law and Heaps' law: Mathematical and informetric arguments , 2007 .

[38]  András Schubert,et al.  Successive h-indices , 2007, Scientometrics.