A case study of the Hirsch index for 26 non-prominent physicists

TL;DR

This paper examines the Hirsch index through a case study of 26 less prominent physicists, highlighting its features, potential pitfalls, and the impact of self-citations in evaluating scientific research output.

Contribution

It provides an in-depth analysis of the Hirsch index in non-prominent physicists, revealing limitations and biases in its application.

Findings

Self-citations can significantly influence the Hirsch index.

The Hirsch index may not accurately reflect research impact for less prominent scientists.

Certain features of the Hirsch index are problematic or misleading in average cases.

Abstract

The h index was introduced by Hirsch to quantify an individual's scientific research output. It has been widely used in different fields to show the relevance of the research work of prominent scientists. I have worked out 26 practical cases of physicists which are not so prominent. Therefore this case study should be more relevant to discuss various features of the Hirsch index which are interesting or disturbing or both for the more average situation. In particular, I investigate quantitatively some pitfalls in the evaluation and the influence of self-citations.