Research Guides: Bibliometrics and Altmetrics: Author-Level Metrics

The h-index

The h-index was proposed by Jorge E. Hirsch, a physicist at UC San Diego, in 2005. It means that the author has published at least h papers that have each received at least h citations.

Uses

Grant applications
CVs or online profiles
Tenure & promotion

Concerns

Ignores highly cited papers
Disparities between disciplines
Disparities between scholars at different career stages
Varies based on the platform used to calculate it
Easy to manipulate through self-citation
Citations do not measure quality

Free Tools

Google Scholar
Useful for tracing citations forward to find newer sources, finding open-access copies of articles, and bibliometrics
Scopus
Scopus, owned by Elsevier, offers some free tools for bibliometrics, including author and journal lookups

Social Media

Both popular social media sites (Facebook, Twitter) and academic social media sites (ResearchGate, Academia.edu) can be powerful tools for sharing your work. Here are some resources related to sharing on social media:

The A to Z of social media for academia
An alphabetical list of social media sites and how they can be useful for academics
Academic Social Networking Sites: A Comparative Analysis of Their Services and Tools
An article comparing the features of major academic social networks
What does the Internet Say About You? Creating Your Academic Digital Identity
A great guide on best practices for creating a scholarly online presence