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Assessment of h-index and associated demographic and academic parameters for academic hematologists in Canada
Daniel Josué Guerra Ordaz1, Jean Roy2, Imran Ahmad2
1Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Insights
Academic hematologists in Canada with higher h-indexes were more likely to be male, practice in specific provinces, have advanced degrees, and hold higher academic ranks. Funding from the Canadian Institute of Health Research also correlated with increased productivity.
Area of Science:
- Medical Research
- Academic Medicine
- Hematology
Background:
- The h-index is a metric used to evaluate the productivity and citation impact of researchers.
- Understanding factors influencing the h-index is crucial for academic institutions to support faculty development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify factors associated with a higher h-index among academic hematologists in Canada.
- To provide insights into academic productivity within Canadian hematology.
Main Methods:
- Data were collected from 372 hematologists across Canadian academic institutions.
- Information gathered included sex, geographic location, years since certification, advanced degrees (M.Sc., Ph.D.), academic rank, and Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) funding.
- Statistical analyses (univariate and multivariate) were performed to determine associations with the h-index.
Main Results:
- Male sex, practicing in British Columbia or Ontario, longer duration since specialty certification, and attainment of M.Sc. or Ph.D. degrees were associated with higher h-indexes.
- Higher academic rank and receipt of CIHR grants within the last five years also correlated positively with the h-index.
- Multivariate analysis confirmed these associations, highlighting key drivers of academic productivity.
Conclusions:
- The study delineates factors contributing to the h-index of academic hematologists in Canada.
- Key predictors of a higher h-index include male gender, practice location, advanced degrees, academic rank, and recent CIHR funding.
- These findings can inform strategies for fostering academic success in hematology.
Introduction:
The h-index measures researchers' productivity by assessing simultaneously the number of publications and citations. We aimed to assess the factors that could influence h-index for hematologists practicing in academic institutions in Canada.
Methods:
We identified universities with a hematology residency training programs/fellowships using the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS) website. We obtained the listing of faculty, sex, and academic ranks by consulting faculty directories or by contacting respective departments/universities, when directories were unavailable or incomplete. For each faculty member, we obtained years since Royal College of Physicians' and Surgeons of Canada certification or equivalent, receipt of Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) grants within the last 5 years, attainment of graduate degrees (M.Sc., Ph.D., other), and the h-index.
Results:
The data included information collected from 372 individuals (171 females) across Canada (Atlantic Provinces: 13; Quebec: 89; Ontario: 182; Prairie Provinces: 59; British Columbia: 29). Univariate analysis showed that male sex, practicing in British Columbia, longer duration since specialty certification, completion of an M.Sc. or a Ph.D. degree, attaining a higher academic rank and receiving CIHR funding were associated with higher h-index. The results of the univariate analysis were concordant with the multivariate analysis, except that practicing in Ontario was also associated with higher h-index.
Conclusion:
This study provides details on the h-index curve/parameters for academic productivity of hematologists in Canada. Importantly, based on multivariate analysis, higher h-index was associated with male sex, location of practice, years since certification, attainment of M.Sc. or Ph.D. degrees, academic rank, and recent CIHR funding.
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