Hirscheometry

In the context of discussion of the published lists of applicants to megagranes [1], serious disputes over the Hirsch Index of individual candidates and their normalization to various fields of knowledge have broken out on the Web. The editorial board of the TRV does not enter into a dispute on this subject, but decided to bring the data of a special study performed several years ago by two Spanish science science - Juan Iglesias and Carlos Podarroman [2].

The figure shows that the absolute values ​​of the Hirsch index for various fields of knowledge change quite strongly both between different fields of knowledge and in time. Nevertheless, it is rude to say that Hirsch-index 20 in physics approximately corresponds to the Hirsch-Index 10 in mathematics and 40 in immunology, molecular biology and genetics. All other areas of knowledge are between these extreme values.

A.I.

1. TRV-hunger, No. 16 (60), p. 6 .

2. Iglesias Je, Pecharman C. Scaling the H-Inex for Different Scientific Isi Fields. Scientometrics, 2007, v. 73, p. 303-320.