Table 2 Caveats with the use of h-index outlined by Hirsch [2, 9]
From: The Hirsch index - a play on numbers or a true appraisal of academic output?
| # | Caveats |
|---|---|
| 1. | A single number such as the h-index only tells a part of the story and never the whole story. |
| 2. | Researchers in non-stream fields will not achieve very high h-indices. |
| 3. | Skewness in the distribution of citations possible; affects the representativeness of the h-index. |
| 4. | A scientist with a few but very highly cited papers will still have a low h-index. |
| 5. | Increased collaborations likely to inflate the h-value. |
| 6. | Self-citations can increase the h-index. This effect is more pronounced at lower h-indices. |
| 7. | Senior authors and seasoned researchers likely to have a higher h-index when compared to their junior colleagues. |