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The h-index in Australian Astronomy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2013

Kevin A. Pimbblet
Kevin A. Pimbblet
Affiliation:
School of Physics, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia. Email: kevin.pimbblet@monash.edu
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Abstract

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The Hirsch h-index is now widely used as a metric to compare individual researchers. To evaluate it in the context of Australian astronomy, the h-index for every member of the Astronomical Society of Australia (ASA) is found using NASA's Astrophysics Data System Bibliographic Services. Percentiles of the h-index distribution are detailed for a variety of categories of ASA members, including students. This enables a list of the top ten Australian researchers by h-index to be produced. These top researchers have h-index values in the range 53<h<77, which is less than that recently reported for the American Astronomical Society membership. We suggest that membership of extremely large consortia such as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey may partially explain the difference. We further suggest that many student ASA members with large h-index values have probably already received their Ph.D. and need to upgrade their ASA membership status. To attempt to specify the h-index distribution relative to opportunity, we also detail the percentiles of its distribution by years since Ph.D. award date. This shows a steady increase in h-index with seniority, as can be expected.

Keywords

sociology of astronomypublications, bibliographyastronomical databases: miscellaneous
Type
Research Article
Information
Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia , Volume 28 , Issue 2 , 2011 , pp. 140 - 143
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of Australia 2011

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