The h-index in Academic Morphology

The h-index is an objective and easily calculable measure that can be used to evaluate both the relevance and amount of scientific contributions of an individual author and field. The aim was to examine how the h-index of academic morphologists in Chile relates with academic rank. A descriptive and correlational study was design. We accessed the Chilean Society of Anatomy professor list in January of 2015, for analysis of academic morphologists' h-indexes using the Scopus database, and data was organized by academic rank. Also, m-Quotient was calculated. Institutional productivity was measured, and institutions were ranked on the basis of cumulative h-index, m-Quotient and the total number of publications and citations. For all morphologists analyzed, the mean h-index was 2.9 +/- 2.94 (range 0-12). The mean h-indexes were 1.9 +/- 2.135 for instructors, 2.5 +/- 2.54 for assistant, 5.1 +/- 2.89 for associate and 4.7 +/- 3.92 for professors. There was a significant relationship between h-index and academic rank (P<0.001). The m-Quotient were significantly different between assistant/associate and professors (P<0.001). By academic degree, the mean h-indexes were 1.0 +/- 1.92 for Bachelor, 1.6 +/- 2.0 for specialists, 2.3 +/- 2.26 for masters and 4.9 +/- 3.4 for Ph.D. The total number of publications for Chilean morphologist was 1343 publications (13.85 +/- 18.392), with 5321 citations (54.86 +/- 106.392). The top 3 institutions were Universidad de La Frontera, Universidad de Chile and Pontificia Universidad Catelica de Chile. Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that h-index (P<0.001) and number of publications (P<0.001) were the best predictors of academic rank. There exists a significant relationship between h-index and academic rank, with h-index increasing with academic rank. It is a reliable tool for quantifying academic productivity within morphology, easily calculable and may be useful when evaluating decisions regarding advancement within academic morphology departments. These results should serve as benchmarks for future studies.