Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Lies, damned lies and h-indices

Nature Chemistry volume 4, pages 513–514 (2012)Cite this article

Subjects

Sometimes the numbers just don't add up — and Bruce Gibb explains why.

A man walks into a pub, orders a beer, and sits down at the bar next to a man in a white coat. He's minding his own business when the chap in white says, “How tall are you, and how much do you weigh?” A bit bemused the man answers, “Six foot two and two hundred and thirty pounds. Why?” There's a pause and then the guy in the lab coat says, “Ah, a BMI of 29.5. I'm sorry, it's just that I'm a doctor and I wanted to know if you have any health issues.”

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Kahneman, D. Thinking, Fast and Slow (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Hirsch, J. E. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 102, 16569–16572 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Egghe, L. Scientometrics 69, 131–152 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Silagadze, Z. K. Acta Physica Polonica B 41, 2325–2333 (2010).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Adler, R., Ewing, J. & Taylor, P. Stat. Sci. 24, 1–14 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Cozzens, S. E. Scientiometrics 15, 437–477 (1989).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bruce C. Gibb is in the Department of Chemistry at Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118, USA,

    Bruce C. Gibb

Authors
  1. Bruce C. Gibb
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bruce C. Gibb.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Gibb, B. Lies, damned lies and h-indices. Nature Chem 4, 513–514 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.1388

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.1388

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing