H-Index Calculator
h-index from a citation count list
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Need a fast answer on h-index from a citation count list? H-Index Calculator answers with the steps beside it. Drop Citations per paper (comma separated) into H-Index — the figure refreshes as you type. H-Index puts the headline number first. H-Index suits budgeting and planning checks. Nothing is uploaded while H-Index works, and the figures stay put. H-Index sits in the Education section next to free online h-index calculator and h index calculator citations researcher impact publication. Keep H-Index bookmarked for next time. H-Index is free, instant and local.
What the defaults give
With citation counts of 10, 8, 5, 3, 1 the h-index is 3.
Three papers have at least three citations each; the fourth has three but only three papers clear the bar, so the answer stops at three.
The definition
The h-index is the largest h for which h papers have at least h citations each. Sort the citation counts descending and find the last position where the value is still greater than or equal to the position number.
Worked example
Sorted: 10, 8, 5, 3, 1
Position 1: 10 ≥ 1 ✓
Position 2: 8 ≥ 2 ✓
Position 3: 5 ≥ 3 ✓
Position 4: 3 ≥ 4 ✗
The test fails at position four, so h = 3.
More examples
10, 8, 5, 3, 1 → h = 3
20, 15, 12, 9, 4, 2 → h = 5
50 → h = 1 (one paper, one citation threshold met)
3, 3, 3, 3 → h = 3
100, 1, 1, 1 → h = 1 (one very cited paper cannot lift the rest)
What the h-index rewards and punishes
- It rewards consistency. One landmark paper barely moves it, as the 100, 1, 1, 1 example shows.
- It penalises early-career researchers. The index cannot exceed the number of publications, so it grows with time by construction.
- It ignores authors. A paper with forty authors counts the same as a sole-author paper.
- Fields differ. Citation rates vary enormously between disciplines, so an h-index is only comparable within one.
Use it as one signal among several — total citations, recent citations and venue quality say things the h-index cannot.
The h-index is deliberately conservative. A single highly cited paper cannot lift it: one paper with 100 citations and nothing else gives an h of 1. It rewards a body of work that is consistently referenced, which is why early-career researchers see it climb slowly and why it compares poorly across fields with different citation cultures. The g-index is one attempt to credit the blockbuster paper, and field-normalised measures are fairer across disciplines.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the h-index 3 for 10, 8, 5, 3, 1?
Because three papers have at least three citations, but only three papers have at least four, so the largest h that satisfies the definition is 3.
Do I need to sort the citations?
The calculator sorts them descending for you. The definition assumes that order, so an unsorted list would give the wrong answer.
What is a good h-index?
It depends entirely on field and career stage. A value of 10 in a small field can be excellent; in a large biomedical field it may be modest after a decade.
Does the h-index include self-citations?
Most databases include them by default. Excluding self-citations is a common robustness check and usually lowers the figure.
Why can one highly cited paper not raise the h-index?
Because the index requires h papers each with h citations. A single outstanding paper satisfies the count only once.
What alternatives exist?
The g-index weights highly cited papers more, and field-normalised percentiles compare you against peers in the same discipline.
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