A large number of researchers believe that the work on a scientific article ends at the moment of its publication and indexing. However, in practice everything is a bit more complicated. After all, with the study publication a new stage of work with scientific material begins: its popularization to increase the scientist’s scientometric indicators. The most significant of them are the citation and the Hirsch index. However, unfortunately, a large number of researchers underestimate their importance. Let’s consider why a scientist should develop their own scientometric indicators, which platform metrics to focus on, and consider some reasons for low indicators of publication activity.
Hirsch index, citation and other metrics of a scientist’s activity
The main metrics that reflect the popularity of a researcher’s scientific developments are:
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Hirsch index (h-index) is a metric that indicates the interdependence of the number of scientific works to their citation.
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Citation index is an indicator of a scientist’s influence which is determined by the number of references to their works by other researchers.
Of course, there is a large number of related metrics for assessment of a scientist’s publication activity efficiency, for example, m-index, g-index, i-index, individual h-index, a-index. However, all of them are less influential that the indicators analyzed above and are mostly oriented in calculations on the scientific materials citation.
Why is it necessary to increase scientometric indicators?
In general understanding, the formation of a positive image of a researcher directly depends on the popularization of scientific articles and scientometric characteristics of research works. It is natural that the more times a scientist’s opinion is cited by their colleagues, the more authority they will have in the scientific community.
However, what benefits will a researcher with high citation and h-index indicators receive?
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Receiving funding and grants. Let’s suppose that two scientists with similar relevant experience and publication activity are applying for a grant. However, one of them has high citation indicators, and the other one has insignificant indicators. The sponsor will prefer the first scientist, because they will be sure that they will conduct a qualitative study that will be of great importance in scientific circles.
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The opportunity to cooperate with eminent scientists. High citation indicators ensure the entry of a researcher into the scientific vanguard. The most significant scientists from all over the world will be interested in conducting joint studies with a scientist with high scientometric indicators.
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Receiving the status of reviewer or member of the editorial board of a scientific publication. An influential researcher will be more likely to be invited to cooperate with high-quality journals that are indexed in international databases, because such scientist have confirmed their expertise by obtaining high scientometric indicators.
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Membership of scientific and dissertation councils. Only experienced scientists with a high h-index and citation indicators are given the right to assess research works of other colleagues.
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The possibility of winning prestigious scientific awards. For example, every year the Clarivate company, which owns the Web of Science platform, publishes a rating of the most highly cited researchers. Almost all scientists dream of getting into it, because entering such a rating list actually means the Nobel level of the conducted study. Such scientists have the opportunity to receive the most prestigious scientific awards and participate in world famous study competitions.
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Increasing the overall rating of the scientific institution. The cooperation with leading researchers is an indicator of a scientific institution or higher education institution influence. Due to this, such organizations more often get into international ratings, which may mean receiving additional funding in the future.
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The implementation of separate scientific purposes. Sometimes increasing the h-index or citation indicator is a necessity for a scientist. For example, the standard indicator h-index is set at the legislative level for awarding academic ranks in some European countries.
Which platforms should you focus on? Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar
To understand the importance of the researcher’s work, it is necessary to refer to the analysis of their profile within the international scientometric databases, Scopus and Web of Science, as well as the Google Scholar platform.
To track the author’s activity indicators in Scopus and Web of Science, it is necessary to understand exactly in which publications the researcher have published their works and in which platform they are indexed. Thus, every scientist can familiarize themselves with:
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Citation rates, that is, the actual number of citations to their work by other researchers whose articles are indexed in Scopus or Web of Science journals.
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h-index of a scientist, which depends not only on the citations level, but also on the indexed articles number within the scientometric databases.
High indicators of scientific activity of the Scopus and Web of Science scientist are assessed as very authoritative by the world scientific community, because for their calculations references placed within the databases themselves are taken into account.
Google Scholar platform and the indicators of a scientist’s activity within its limits provide a more comprehensive assessment of a researcher’s publication activity. Because not only articles indexed in Scopus and Web of Science are taken into account, but also materials published in journals with a lower rating. In addition, other types of scientific works are shown in the author’s profile. However, there is some discussion about equating citations of different kinds of material.
Some reasons for low scientometric indicators
It should be noted that a small number of references to the author’s work in Scopus, Web of Science or Google Scholar does not always indicate a low level of scientific articles. A situation often occurs that the cause of the problem is a purely technical error. For example, the incorrect design of the author’s profile, the presence of several personal pages, poor-quality transliteration, technical shortcomings within the platforms themselves, and much more.
The “Scientific Publications” company provides services for increasing the indicators of the author’s profile within Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar. By contacting our specialists, you will receive a comprehensive assessment of your profile, settlement of all technical issue, ensuring an organic increase in citation indicators and the Hirsch index, as well as full support by a personal manager with the provision of individual recommendations. As a result, you will receive an organic increase of the necessary scientometric indicators to the required level.
