Quantifying Publication Impact

The Random Samples item “Impact factor” (19 Aug., p. [1181][1]) noted the proposal by Jorge Hirsch that the total scientific output of a researcher can be judged by h, the largest number such that the researcher has at least h papers with h citations.

Abstract

The Random Samples item “Impact factor” (19 Aug., p. [1181][1]) noted the proposal by Jorge Hirsch of the University of California, San Diego ([1][2]) that the total scientific output of a researcher can be judged by h , the largest number such that the researcher has at least h papers with h citations. Although this is indeed an indication of cumulative scientific impact, another measure, call it c , would also be interesting: the total number of papers from that researcher cited more than once by other research groups in the most recent calendar year. This alternative parameter c would be a much better measure of current research impact. 1. [↵][3] 1. J. E. Hirsch , preprint available at [www.arxiv.org/abs/physics/0508025][4]. [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.309.5738.1181c [2]: #ref-1 [3]: #xref-ref-1-1 View reference 1 in text [4]: http://www.arxiv.org/abs/physics/0508025