How do I find someone's h-index in Google Scholar and Web of Science?
Answer
In Google Scholar, search the author/researcher's name. Authors who've created profiles will appear at the top of the list under "user profiles". Click on the author's name to see their h-index.
Here's an example of an author profile with an h-index.
The h-index in Google Scholar is usually higher than the one in Web of Science, since Google Scholar's database is larger and less curated than Web of Science's. See "What is the h-index" below for more explanation.
In Web of Science use these instructions (Source: Web of Science/Clarivate staff):
- Log in 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.
Actually, you can sort the results by times cited (Sort by: Citations, highest first). Anything cited less than your h-index won’t affect the results.
4. Click on the Citation Report button.
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.
What is the h-index?
The h-index is a statistic based on a list of publications ranked in descending order of "times cited." The value of h is equal to the number of papers (N) in the list that have N or more citations. A researcher (or a set of papers) has an h-index of N if he/she has published N papers that have N or more citations each.
The h-index will vary by such factors as: time period, publication language, subject area, and number of papers published in that academic discipline.
Because the h-index can vary with the size of the database, it's a good idea to mention the database when giving someone's h-index. For example, their h-index according to Google Scholar, or their Web of Science h-index.
The h-index is not just for individuals. A group such as an academic department, or a publication, can also have an h-index.
For more about the h-index, its origins, uses, strengths and limitations, see the Web of Science knowledgebase.