An Otolaryngologist's Guide to Understand the H-Index and How it Could
Affect Your Future Career
Abstract
Objectives: The h-index is a measure of research output and contribution
that shows strong correlation with academic promotion in medicine. The
purpose of this paper is to clearly explain how h-index scores are
calculated and how otolaryngologists can effectively and advantageously
use these scores for their career development. Design: We performed an
up-to-date PubMed literature review describing the design of h-index and
how to use it effectively along with its role in academic medicine
including otolaryngology. Results: H-index scores are used as a metric
for scientific output which considers the number of publications and the
number of times each paper was cited. Search engines can automatically
calculate h-index scores for one’s work. Studies also revealed
significant positive impacts h-index has from fellowship involvement
which later translates to career advancement in academic medicine.
Aspiring academic otolaryngologists should create a research profile to
link and calculate h-index for publications, submit to well-read high
impact journals for increased viewership and citations, and expand on
foundational and personal research topics. Conclusions: Future studies
should evaluate faculty and resident awareness of h-indices in the
otolaryngology department to see how we can further address any
underlying barriers. Otolaryngologists with the knowledge and tools
necessary to maximize h-index scores and to produce high quality
research in modern day medicine not only provides advantages in career
development, but also brings significant contribution to the field of
otolaryngology.