Tuesday 21 January 2014

H-Indexes, Impact Factors and EigenFactors! Oh my!

H-Indexes


An H-index gives a general indication on the number of publications an author has authored and and number of times each of their publication has been cited. A high H-index generally indicates a great overall impact and wealth of publications of an author within their given field.

An H-index of 20 means that 20 of an author's publications have been cited 20 or more times.

Using Web of Science to estimate H-Indexes

  • Sign into Web of Science using your UTORid and password
  • Select "Author Search"
  • Type in the Author's last name and first initial and choose "Select Research Domain"
  • Select "Life Science Biomedicine" and choose "Select Organisation"
  • Use the alphabetical listings to locate the organisation the author works at and choose "Finish Search"
  • Click on the "Create Citation Report" button
  • The H-Index and other information will be displayed
  • Click on the [?] for more information about a specific term

Using Scopus to estimate H-Indexes

  • Sign into Scopus with your UTORid and password
  • Select "Author Search"
  • Type in author's last name, first initial and affiliation
  • Click "Search"
  • Find the author you are interested in and click on their hyperlinked name
  • Here you will be able to view their H-Index
  • For additional information select "View citation overview"

Impact Factor and Eigenfactor


Impact Factor is the average number of citations generated from articles published in a journal from a given year. It is one method used to compare the significance of the impact of different journals within the field.

The Eigenfactor is another metric used to compare the significance of journals within the field. It differs from the Impact Factor in that citations from higher ranked journals positively affect the eigenfactor of a journal more so than citations in lower ranked journals.

Often, when deciding where to publish research (e.g. a chapter of a thesis, a research project) these two factors may be consulted.

Using Web of Science to compare Impact Factors and Eigenfactors

  • Sign into Web of Science with your UTORid and password
  • Choose "Select a Database"
  • Choose "Journal Citation Reports"
  • Select the year in JCR science you would want to view and select to view group of journals by "Subject Category" and click "Submit"
  • Choose the subject you would like (e.g. Dentistry). Note, you can choose multiple categories by holding down the CTRL key. Click "Submit"
  • Use the "Sort by" function to arrange the journals by different characteristics (e.g. name, impact factor, eigenfactor, etc.)
  • Click on the "i" symbols at the top of the chart for more information and definitions of the chart titles.

Altmetrics "Alternative Metrics"

 
Are similar to an H-Index for an author. However, instead of being attached to a journal publication, data generated in altmetrics from twitter, blogs, mentions in newspapers, TV shows, etc. 
 
For more information on altmetrics you way check out the CARL's Altmetrics in Context by Pam King and Mindy Thuna, University of Toronto Mississauga Library and some of the suggested readings within this document:
 


  • Eysenbach, G. (2011). Can tweets predict citations? Metrics of social impact based on Twitter and correlation with traditional metrics of scientific impact. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 13(4), e123. doi: 10.2196/jmir.201
  • Hirsch, J. E. (2005). An index to quantify an individual’s scientific research output. PNAS, 102(46), 16569– 16572.
  • Piwoar, H. and Priem, J. (2013). The power of altmetrics on a CV. Bulletin of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 39(4), 10-13.
  • Thelwall M., Haustein S., Lariviere V. and Sugimoto C.R. (2013). Do altmetrics work? Twitter and ten other social web services. PLoS ONE, 8(5), e64841. doi:10.137/journal.pone.0064841

Monday 6 January 2014

Boxing Day Book Sale!



On Wednesday January 8th the Dentistry Library is holding our first ever boxing day sale! All books in on our book sale shelves will be 50% off their marked sticker prices for this day only!

Please come and visit us, have a look at our book sale selection and if you see something you like take it home at a bargain price! Don’t miss out!