Guides: Research Impact: Promoting and Measuring: Author Metrics

Reference Shelf

An index to quantify an individual's scientific research output
Hirsch JE.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005 Nov 15;102(46):16569-72. Epub 2005 Nov 7.
PMID: 16275915; PMCID: PMC1283832.
Researcher and Author Impact Metrics: Variety, Value, and Context.
Gasparyan AY, Yessirkepov M, Duisenova A, Trukhachev VI, Kostyukova EI, Kitas GD. J Korean Med Sci. 2018 Apr 18;33(18):e139. doi: 10.3346/jkms.2018.33.e139. PMID: 29713258; PMCID: PMC5920127.

Common Author Metrics

Citation Count: A simple summation of the number of citations for all articles by an author.

h-index: A metric, developed by J.E. Hirsch, that looks at the author's most cited papers and the number of citations that they have received in other papers. For example, an author's h-index is 8, as long as at least 8 of their articles have been cited at least 8 times.

Caveats

Numbers will be inconsistent based on the database/resource you are using to calculate.
Depending on the field/discipline, it can take a some for a publication to pick up citations.
Citation counts are typically captured from published resources, so gathering citations from white papers, preprints, and other unpublished materials. might be more complicated.

Finding Author Metrics

Web of Science Core Collection This link opens in a new window
Steps to retrieve citation count and the h-index within Web of Science:
1. Open the above Web of Science link
2. Click the "Researchers" Tab
3. Search for the Author's name, ResearcherID, or ORCID iD
4. (If you are the author, click "Claim this Record" and follow their steps)
5. To ensure accuracy, follow the steps to "Improve this author record" on the right (requires a free ResearcherID)
OR
1. Open the above Web of Science link
2. Change the search field option to "author" and add an author's name
3. On the search results page, click "Create Citation Report"
Large Collection
1970-Present
Updated Daily
Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
Steps to retrieve citation count and the h-index within Google Scholar:
1. Open the above Google Scholar link
2. Click the "My Profile" link
3. (follow instructions for claiming/creating profile)
4. On your profile page, click the "plus" icon and then add your articles to the profile
5. The h-index should be calculated automatically based on Google Scholar content
Large Collection.
Updated Daily.
2004-Present

Dimensions
Steps to retrieve citation count from the free version of Dimensions:
1. Search for an author's name
2. Select the name from the right panel, under "Researchers"
3. The next view will provide the Citation Count in the middle panel
4. Within the right panel, click "Analytical Views" to view more details about the Citation Count
5. After clicking "Analytical Views" click the "Overview" tab and then "Publications" drop-down for additional indicators
iCite
Steps to citation count from iCite:
1. Search for an author's name
2. On the next page, you can see the total publications for the author
3. On the right, click the "Citing Papers" button to see the citation count
Publish or Perish
Publish or Perish is free software that can be downloaded and used to compile citation counts, Hirsch's h-index, and calculate other metrics.

The Graduate Health & Life Sciences Research Library at Georgetown University Medical Center

Research Impact: Promoting and Measuring

Reference Shelf

Common Author Metrics

Caveats

Finding Author Metrics