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- The Research Collection
- Research online @GCU
- Skills, web sites and opportunities
- Systematic reviewing
- Impact factors and H-index calculations
- Copyright
- Introduction to copyright
- What is copyright
- Who owns copyright and what is protected?
- How long does copyright last?
- Copying for private research and study
- Copying for educational use
- The CLA higher education license
- Other licenses held by the university
- Using images and maps
- Theses and unpublished material
- Films, sound recordings and off air broadcasts
- Further reading
- Copyright FAQs
Impact factors and H-index calculations
Journal Impact Factors
Journal Impact Factors are provided by the Journal Citation Reports database. We have short instructions on how to use it. The impact factor is a measure of the frequency with which the "average article" in a journal has been cited in a given period of time.
The impact factor for a journal is calculated based on a three-year period, and can be considered to be the average number of times published papers are cited up to two years after publication. For example, the impact factor 2011 for a journal would be calculated like this:
- A = the number of times articles published in 2009-2010 were cited in indexed journals during 2011
- B = the number of articles, reviews, proceedings or notes published in 2009-2010
- impact factor 2011 = A/B
The impact factor 2010 will be actually published in 2011, because it could not be calculated until all of the 2010 publications had been received. Impact factor 2011 will be published in 2012. This definition was provided by Science Watch, who provide ranking and impact factors for selective journals.
A more detailed guide is available in the Digital Footprint section of PILOT. You will need to log in to GCU Learn to use this. This tutorial is still under construction, so if you have any comments, please contact Marion Kelt (m.kelt@gcu.ac.uk)
The h-index
The h-index was introduced in 2005 by Professor Jorge Hirsch. It is used to measure the productivity of an individual, group or institution. It is calculated by taking into account the balance between the number of publications and the number of citations per publication. For example, a h-index of 3 tells us that an author or group of authors have 3 publications which received 3 citations or more.
You can calculate your h-index with Web of Science
- Go to Web of Science on the library a-z database list
- Type an author's name in the author search box (Clooney, G*)
- To make sure you have the correct researcher, enter the institution's name (Glasgow Caledonian) in the search box and select address from the drop-down menu beside it
- Click search
- Click Create Citation Report at the top right of the search page
- The h-index will then be displayed. You can use the buttons at the foot of the page to save, print or email the results. The best results are produced by the print button as it includes the bar charts.
A more detailed guide is available in the Digital Footprint section of PILOT. You will need to log in to GCU Learn to use this. This tutorial is still under construction, so if you have any comments, please contact Marion Kelt (m.kelt@gcu.ac.uk)
Library research
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