Detecting h-index manipulation through self-citation analysis

Christoph Bartneck () and Servaas Kokkelmans ()
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Christoph Bartneck: Eindhoven University of Technology
Servaas Kokkelmans: Eindhoven University of Technology

Scientometrics, 2011, vol. 87, issue 1, No 6, 85-98

Abstract: Abstract The h-index has received an enormous attention for being an indicator that measures the quality of researchers and organizations. We investigate to what degree authors can inflate their h-index through strategic self-citations with the help of a simulation. We extended Burrell’s publication model with a procedure for placing self-citations, following three different strategies: random self-citation, recent self-citations and h-manipulating self-citations. The results show that authors can considerably inflate their h-index through self-citations. We propose the q-index as an indicator for how strategically an author has placed self-citations, and which serves as a tool to detect possible manipulation of the h-index. The results also show that the best strategy for an high h-index is publishing papers that are highly cited by others. The productivity has also a positive effect on the h-index.

Keywords: h-Index; Self-citation; Manipulation; q-Index; Simulation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (37)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11192-010-0306-5

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