Hirsch-index for countries based on Essential Science Indicators data

Csajbók, Edit
Berhidi, Anna
Vasas, Lívia
Schubert, András

^aSemmelweis University, Central Library, Budapest, Hungary
^bInstitute of Research Policy Studies/ISSRU, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

Address for correspondence: Central Library, Semmelweis University, H-1085 Budapest, Ülli út 26, Hungary, e-mail: [email protected]

Scientometrics 73(1):p 91-117, August 2007.

The authors present ranked lists of world's countries – with main focus on EU countries (together with newly acceeded and candidate countries) – by their h-index on various science fields. As main source of data Thomson Scientific's Essential Science Indicators (ESI) database was used. EU countries have strong positions in each field but none of them can successfully compete with the USA. The modest position of the newly accessed and candidate countries illustrate the importance of supportive economic and political background in order to achieve scientific success. An attempt is made to fit a recent theoretical model relating the h-index with two traditional scientometric indicators: the number of publications and the mean citation rate.