---
_id: '11885'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: Over the last years the h-index has gained popularity as a measure for comparing
    the impact of scientists. We investigate if ranking according to the h-index is
    stable with respect to (i) different choices of citation databases, (ii) normalizing
    citation counts by the number of authors or by removing self-citations, (iii)
    small amounts of noise created by randomly removing citations or publications
    and (iv) small changes in the definition of the index. In experiments for 5,283
    computer scientists and 1,354 physicists we show that although the ranking of
    the h-index is stable under most of these changes, it is unstable when different
    databases are used. Therefore, comparisons based on the h-index should only be
    trusted when the rankings of multiple citation databases agree.
article_processing_charge: No
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Monika H
  full_name: Henzinger, Monika H
  id: 540c9bbd-f2de-11ec-812d-d04a5be85630
  last_name: Henzinger
  orcid: 0000-0002-5008-6530
- first_name: Jacob
  full_name: Suñol, Jacob
  last_name: Suñol
- first_name: Ingmar
  full_name: Weber, Ingmar
  last_name: Weber
citation:
  ama: Henzinger MH, Suñol J, Weber I. The stability of the h-index. <i>Scientometrics</i>.
    2010;84(2):465-479. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-009-0098-7">10.1007/s11192-009-0098-7</a>
  apa: Henzinger, M. H., Suñol, J., &#38; Weber, I. (2010). The stability of the h-index.
    <i>Scientometrics</i>. Springer Nature. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-009-0098-7">https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-009-0098-7</a>
  chicago: Henzinger, Monika H, Jacob Suñol, and Ingmar Weber. “The Stability of the
    H-Index.” <i>Scientometrics</i>. Springer Nature, 2010. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-009-0098-7">https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-009-0098-7</a>.
  ieee: M. H. Henzinger, J. Suñol, and I. Weber, “The stability of the h-index,” <i>Scientometrics</i>,
    vol. 84, no. 2. Springer Nature, pp. 465–479, 2010.
  ista: Henzinger MH, Suñol J, Weber I. 2010. The stability of the h-index. Scientometrics.
    84(2), 465–479.
  mla: Henzinger, Monika H., et al. “The Stability of the H-Index.” <i>Scientometrics</i>,
    vol. 84, no. 2, Springer Nature, 2010, pp. 465–79, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-009-0098-7">10.1007/s11192-009-0098-7</a>.
  short: M.H. Henzinger, J. Suñol, I. Weber, Scientometrics 84 (2010) 465–479.
date_created: 2022-08-17T07:51:23Z
date_published: 2010-08-01T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2023-02-17T14:09:51Z
day: '01'
doi: 10.1007/s11192-009-0098-7
extern: '1'
intvolume: '        84'
issue: '2'
language:
- iso: eng
month: '08'
oa_version: None
page: 465-479
publication: Scientometrics
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - 1588-2861
  issn:
  - 0138-9130
publication_status: published
publisher: Springer Nature
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: The stability of the h-index
type: journal_article
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
volume: 84
year: '2010'
...