The publication activity of a scientist is tied not only to the number of articles published in one or another magazine but also to the ratings and their value to the global scientific community. A researcher with a high citation rate and H-index is regarded as an influential and respectable scientist. We shall analyze, why scientists should prioritize the popularization of their works and improving their scientometric characteristics, what is it needed for and what platforms should be favored.
How is a positive image of a scientist formed?
In the world of scientometrics, a scientist's respect is directly dependent on the characteristics of his works. Highly rated scientific journals, which are made following the main principles of academic integrity, are most regarded by respectable scientists. High-quality and actual articles will attract more interest from colleagues, who will then cite the work more actively and, thus, the author will receive more acknowledgment in academic society. Marketing promotion and technical aspects are valuable aspects as well.
Most important characteristics of a scientist:
- Citation index – number of citations of the work by colleagues of the author. Sometimes, this index also includes citations of the author’s own previously published works. Thus, the Web of Science database calculates this characteristic with self-citation and without.
- H-index – a scientist index of Hirsch, which is calculated with a number of scientific articles and their citations.
Google Scholar author profile also displays the i10-index, which shows the number of articles, cited 10 times or more. In a Scival analytics platform, a g-index is calculated, a characteristic of most cited works, and an m-index – metrics, which regards the length of scientist’s publication activity. Other metrics exist as well, such as H-index and the a-index. They are more of an alternative and do not have great importance in the world of scientometrics, unlike H-index citation metrics. Moreover, the key elements in the calculation are the metrics of author citations.
High citation rate and H-index. What is it for?
Respectable researchers with high scientometric characteristics gain new opportunities for career growth, among those are:
- Financing and grants. During the potential applicant selection, the expert board and sponsors focus on the scientist's metrics. They serve as a guarantee of an article’s quality and popularity in the scientific community.
- New cooperation possibilities. Most respectable global researchers are interested in cooperation with specialists with high scientometric characteristics. This allows to gain new experience and create high-quality research, which may lead to global scientific breakthroughs.
- Opportunity to become a reviewer or editor of a respectable publishing company. Leading experts in a specific field are often invited to become a reviewer or editor of scientific journals, which are indexed in scientometric databases. High scientometric characteristics, in this case, serve as a confirmation of researcher competency.
- Invitation to scientific boards. The scientometric characteristic level, especially the H-index, is an important criterion for scientists. As such, the researcher confirms his experience, authority, and right to become a member of scientific dissertation boards as an expert.
- Opportunity to participate in large-scale scientific events and awards. To see yourself in a list of most rated, influential and highly cited researchers is a dream goal of every scientist. And the highest achievement for a researcher is to receive a prestige award, up to a Nobel award.
- Receiving additional research financing through the improvement of the status of the university or scientific institution. High characteristics of researchers’ activity automatically improve the institution status, where they work, by expediting their global ratings. As such, many organizations are interested in cooperation with institutions with high scientometric characteristics.
- Fulfillment of normative requirements. To achieve certain scientific goals, a requirement for the citation index, H-index, or other metrics is set on a normative level.
Scopus, Web of Science и Google Scholar: most popular platforms
Generally, scientists should focus on the scientometrics of the three most popular platforms: Scopus, Web of Science и Google Scholar. They may be divided into:
- Commercial, where articles, which have passed been passed by the expert board and were posted in journals, are posted. Those platforms are Scopus, and Web of Science. The scientometric characteristics of authors are only considered within the database platform. Both platforms have the citation index and H-index detailed analytics.
- Non-commercial, the most popular of which is Google Scholar. It represents a more detailed scheme of citations, as it includes materials of different languages, works, published in journals of various levels as well as other materials, aside from articles.
Why do high-quality articles have bad metrics?
It may not be apparent, but the most common reason, why scientometric characteristics are low, is the technical issues. Work citation and other characteristics of the researcher are directly connected to the quality of profile configuration, duplication of profiles, correct contact information presentation, and article metadata.
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