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Comparative Study
. 2014 Nov 28:14:251.
doi: 10.1186/s12909-014-0251-8.

The h-index in medical education: an analysis of medical education journal editorial boards

Asif Doja, Kaylee Eady, Tanya Horsley, M Dylan Bould, J Charles Victor, Margaret Sampson
Comparative Study

The h-index in medical education: an analysis of medical education journal editorial boards

Asif Doja et al. BMC Med Educ. .

Abstract

Background: Disciplines differ in their authorship and citation practices, thus discipline-specific h-index norms are desirable. Thus the goal of this study was to examine the relationship between the h-index and academic rank in the field of medical education, and the differences in the h-index between MD's and PhD's in this field.

Methods: Due to the absence of a formalized registry of medical educators, we sampled available editorial board membership (considered a proxy for identifying 'career' medical educators) to establish h-index values. These were determined using Web of Science (WoS) and Google Scholar (GS), and internet searching was used to determine their academic rank. The correlation between authors' h-indices derived from WoS and GS was also determined.

Results: 130 editors were identified (95 full professors, 21 associate professors, 14 assistant professors). A significant difference was noted between the h-indices of full professors and associate/assistant professors (p < .001). Median h-indices equaled 14 for full professors (Interquartile range [IQR] =11); 7 for associate professors (IQR =7) and 6.5 for assistant professors (IQR = 8). h-indices of MD's and PhD's did not differ significantly. Moderate correlation between GS and WOS h-indices was noted R = 0.46, p < .001.

Conclusions: The results provide some guidance as to the expected h-indices of a select group of medical educators. No differences appear to exist between assistant professor and associate professor ranks or between MD's and PhD's.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Box plot of WoS h -index for each academic rank. The height is the interquartile range (IQR). The heavy line is the median. The lower whisker extends to the lowest value within 1.5 IQR of the lower quartile, and the upper whisker extends to the highest value within 1.5 IQR of the upper quartile. Circles represent outliers. An asterisk represents a significant difference between groups.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Box plot of WoS h -index for each academic rank comparing MD’s and non-MD’s. The height is the interquartile range. The heavy line is the median. The lower whisker extends to the lowest value within 1.5 IQR of the lower quartile, and the upper whisker extends to the highest value within 1.5 IQR of the upper quartile. Circles represent outliers. An asterisk represents a significant difference between groups.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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