h-index in Google Scholar
In Google Scholar, an author’s h-index is calculated automatically based on publications and citation counts. The platform also shows total citations and the i10-index.
In detail
Google Scholar Profiles allow an author to gather works in one profile and track how often they are cited by other publications.
The system automatically calculates
- total citations — total number of citations;
- h-index;
- i10-index;
- separate indicators for the whole period and recent years.
What h-index means
If an author has an h-index of 10, it means the author has at least 10 publications, each cited at least 10 times.
Why h-index in Google Scholar is often higher
Google Scholar indexes a very broad range of sources: articles, conference materials, dissertations, repositories, some books and chapters, and versions of scholarly texts posted online.
Because of this, the platform often shows
- more publications;
- more citations;
- a higher h-index than stricter databases such as Scopus.
What is important to consider
Google Scholar is convenient, but from a metadata perspective it is not always perfectly clean. Sometimes extra publications, duplicates, or articles by other authors with similar names may appear in the profile. Therefore, the profile should be checked manually from time to time.
What is important to remember
The h-index in Google Scholar is useful for general visibility of a research profile, but it should be interpreted with the broad and not always perfectly accurate indexing in mind.