How do I find someone's h-index according to Google Scholar and Web of Science?
Answer
In Google Scholar, authors who've created profiles will have an h-index listed. See, for example, https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=OKSa6s8AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra. The h-index in Google Scholar is likely quite a bit higher than the one in Web of Science.
In Web of Science the information below is based on the instructions from the Web of Science staff. Suggested steps:
- Go to Web of Science. (Northeastern login and password required)
- In the Web of Science Core Collection (the default), change Topic to Author in the drop down menu.
- Enter the last name and first initial with an asterisk, e.g. Einstein A*
Your set of results may include others with similar surname and initials, so it’s important to verify that the items in your results were authored by the intended author (this is especially important for authors with common last names.*)
One tip for excluding other authors’ works: Click on ADD ROW and change the drop down selection to ADDRESS and enter: northeastern univ* or the home institution of the author. (if you are sure all the works of the person were authored at the same university.)
Another way to exclude would be to look at subject categories on the left and see if there are some that are clearly irrelevant to the author whose h-index you are calculating (such as literature or dentistry, if the author is in pharmaceutical sciences), and exclude those.
4. Click on Create Citation Report.
You’ll see the h-index listed. Scroll down below the large graph to see a list that allows you to check off articles that were not authored by the intended person, remove them from the report, and re-rerun the report.
For more about the h-index, it's origins, uses, strengths and limitations, see the Web of Science knowledgebase.
*Actually, you can sort the results by times cited. Anything cited less than your h-index won’t affect the results.