Publication productivity (H‐Index) among pediatric dermatologists in the United States

Abstract

Background/Objective: The h-index is a measure of research achievement. Individuals with similar h-indices should be equivalent in terms of scientific impact. However, this value is inherently biased toward fields with higher visibility and readership. To utilize the power of h-indices in predicting future research success and as a benchmark for academic advancement, niche fields like pediatric dermatology must be examined independently. Methods: Publicly available data were examined. A list of current pediatric dermatologists were obtained from the Society for Pediatric Dermatology's member directory. The following demographic information was obtained: fellowship certification year, PhD status, prior pediatric residency training, state/region, practice setting, academic appointment, number of publications, and h-index. Descriptive and analytic statistics were calculated. Results: A total of 317 pediatric dermatologists were included. Practice setting distribution was as follows: 54.3% academic, 32.5% non-academic, and 13.3% combined. H-index differed significantly based on pediatric dermatology certification year (P < .001), increasing as time from certification increased. Those in academics had higher h-indices than those in both non-academic and combined practice settings (P < .001 and .007, respectively). Professors (25.0) had higher h-indices than associate professors (11.0), who had higher h-indices than assistant professors (4.4) (P < .001). Conclusions: H-index increased with increasing academic rank and was highest among those working in academics. For pediatric dermatologists considering application for promotion, the h-index for each level can serve as a useful benchmark to guide decision-making.

Publication Productivity Using H-Index to Evaluate Academic Success Among Fellowship-Trained Mohs Surgeons

“…The use of hindex as a marker for academic success has been studied in dermatology and other specialties. 2,3,5,8,9 Most studies examined h-indices among academic physicians without comparing to h-indices among private practice and other nonacademic physicians. Monir and colleagues 5 studied hindices among academic and private practice pediatric dermatologists and found higher h-indices in academic settings.…”

“…2,3,5,8,9 Most studies examined h-indices among academic physicians without comparing to h-indices among private practice and other nonacademic physicians. Monir and colleagues 5 studied h-indices among academic and private practice pediatric dermatologists and found higher h-indices in academic settings. Similarly, we found higher h-indices among academic Mohs surgeons compared with private practice Mohs surgeons.…”

“…Because the h-index calculation takes not only number of publications, but also citation number into account, it has been believed to be a superior method for analyzing individual academic achievement and has been proposed as a method to objectively evaluate individuals for promotion. The h-index of dermatologists has been studied previously, 2–7 but has not specifically been reported among Mohs surgeons to our knowledge. Given the limited number and unique subspecialization of Mohs surgeons, it is important to examine their h-indices independently from other fields.…”

Developments and Emerging Trends in the Global Treatment of Chronic Rhinosinusitis From 2001 to 2020: A Systematic Bibliometric Analysis

“…The Journal Citation Report 2020 included the H-index, impact factor, and category quartiles. We queried the H-index (which is considered an important indicator to determine the scientific impact of a journal), author or country ( 21 ).…”

H-index anxiety among health researchers: A commentary

“…This index allows comparing the research performance of researchers in different disciplines; however, the nature of different disciplines is different in terms of number of journals, number of citations, and type of articles. [ 2 ] In particular, researchers' efforts to place the full text of their articles in digital libraries[ 3 ] as well as social networks all demonstrate the importance of the H-index. Thus, the comparison of H-index creates anxiety in some researchers who have a lower H-index.…”