Scientometrics is a field that helps track the dynamics of the development of scientific activity using various metrics. There is a significant number of indicators for evaluating the productivity of a scientist, a scientific journal, the ranking of a higher educational institution, or an institution. They help assess the pace of scientific development, as well as which research areas are relevant to the scientific community. In our article, we will consider the main scientometric indicators of a scientist, as well as their features.
Citation index
Science Citation Index (SCI) is one of the key scientometric indicators that reflects the total number of citations of scientific articles indexed in the Scopus and Web of Science databases. This indicator was created by Eugene Garfield in 1964. SCI is consistently used by the international scientific community and is calculated by means of the total number of references to publications in scientific journals over a certain period of time.
Average citation rate
Average citation rate is a metric that reflects the average number of citations of one scientific publication by a scientist, scientific journal, institution, or higher educational institution. It demonstrates the quality of the published materials and makes it possible to assess the level of a scientist’s productivity. The average citation rate is calculated as the ratio of the total number of citations to the total number of publications.
H-index
The H-index (h-index) is one of the most important scientometric indicators of a scientist, which helps assess their influence and productivity. It was proposed by the physicist Jorge Eduardo Hirsch in 2005 at the University of California, San Diego. A scientist’s productivity is measured by the number of published materials, and their influence by citations.
Various national and international rankings use this metric to form lists of the most authoritative scientists, higher educational institutions, and institutions. It is worth adding that the higher the h-index value, the more significant the researcher’s contribution to the development of science.
The calculation of the H-index is fairly simple: h-index equals the number h if the author has h publications, each of which has been cited at least h times. For example, an h-index of 7 means that the scientist has 7 articles, each of which has been cited at least 7 times.
g-index
g-index was proposed by the scientist Leo Egghe in 2006 as an improved version of the H-index. This indicator is intended for a more accurate measurement of the total number of citations of scientific works. The calculation of this metric is carried out as follows: scientific publications should be arranged in descending order by the number of citations. The g-index will be the largest number g for which the sum of citations of the g most cited articles is no less than g². For example, a g-index value of 7 indicates the presence of at least 7 publications that together have received at least 49 citations.
Unlike the h-index, the g-index emphasises the importance of publications that have received the highest number of citations, even if the rest of the author’s works may have fewer citations or no citations at all.
e-index
e-index is a metric that measures the “excess” citations needed to form the minimum value for calculating the H-index. This indicator was proposed by the researcher Chun-Ting Zhang in 2009. Using the e-index, it is possible to compare scientists with the same H-index value, but with different numbers of citations. However, the use of this indicator is limited, since it is not as popular as the previously mentioned indicators.
i10-index
i10-index is one of the most well-known scientometric indicators, which was developed in 2011 by Google. This metric is actively used on the Google Scholar platform and shows the publications of a scientist that have received at least 10 citations. For example, an i10-index is 8 if 8 of the author’s works are cited at least 10 times.
The value of the i10-index is updated automatically after search systems detect new references to works that are available in open access. The advantage of this indicator is the simplicity of interpretation, while its disadvantage is the lower effectiveness for evaluating the scientific activity of young researchers who have a small number of citations.
Scientific publications play an important role in improving a scientist’s scientometric indicators. They improve their visibility in the scientific environment, which directly affects the receipt of citations. Work on improving scientometric indicators should be strategically planned by every researcher. This will contribute to career growth, receiving invitations to participate in collective research, and will also increase the chances of obtaining funding.
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