Table 1.

Summary (in chronological order) of research on influencing variables on the h-index

AuthorsGeographical contextKnowledge areaVariables analyzedMain conclusions
Martinez et al. (1997) SpainRadiodiagnosticsProductivity of Spanish authors in radiodiagnosticsThe productivity of Spanish medical literature authors is comparable to other medical journals. Among highly productive authors, 61% also publish in other journals, and nearly 27% submit to foreign ones, but their individual impact remains difficult to assess without further study
Belinchón-Romero et al. (2002) SpainDermatology• Scientific productivity of the Spanish authors in international journalsThe 2.3% of the signers of documents (41 of the 1832 citable document authors) are responsible for 24.6% of the total of responsibilities. The five more productive authors were: Requena L, Sánchez Yus E, De Moragas JM, Camacho F and Aliaga A
Estrada-Lorenzo et al. (2003) Spain
Spanish America
Health• Number of authors
• Institutions
• Geographic scope
• Authors’ productivity
The productivity of authors publishing in La revista española de salud pública is like that of other Spanish biomedical journals, and lower than when studying thematic and territorial areas in more than one publication
McCarty et al. (2013) WorldwideSeveral areas• Number of co-authors
• Co-author network structure
• Highly productive authors
Most of the variance was explained by the number of co-authors and by the association with highly productive co-authors. Network structure was not predictive
Svider et al. (2013) WorldwideOtorhinolaryngologyAcademic rankThe h-index was positively correlated with academic rank, and there were no significant differences between the h-index for professors and department directors
Albacete Sáez et al. (2013) SpainEconomy and business management• Spanish scientific production published between 1997 and 2011
• Main topics researched in 26 most relevant international journals of tourism and hospitality
An increase in publications since 2001, with a preference for journals such as Tourism Management and Tourism Economics. It identifies key areas such as marketing and business management. Notes the influence of universities in sun and beach destinations, although institutions are emerging in cultural and inland tourism regions
Ashfaq et al. (2018) USAGeneral surgery• Academic rank
• Publications
The h-index increased with academic rank and number of publications
López-Bonilla et al (2018) SpainTourism and hospitality• Articles published by prolific authors
• Gender
• Number of co-authors
• Citations
• Journals
• Institutions and areas of knowledge
Spanish authors publish mainly in tourism and hospitality journals, with Tourism Management and Tourism Economics standing out. Scientific production is concentrated in areas such as applied economics and marketing, among the most prolific authors, J.L. Nicolau stands out followed by J. Rosselló and D.M. Frías Jamilena
Hu et al. (2018) CanadaSurgery• Postgraduate degree
• Academic rank
• Years of practice
Postgraduate degree, academic rank and years of practice are positively correlated with the h-index
Monir et al. (2020) USAPediatric dermatology• Scholarship certification year
• Academic practice
• Academic rank
The h-index is positively correlated with time since academic certification, with academic practice, and with academic rank
This investigationSpainMarketing• University
• Academic rank
• Gender
• Budget/teaching staff
• University with/without individual marketing department
• Spanish region
The academic rank of the researcher, the existence of a marketing department and gender are, in that order, the variables with the greatest influence on the h-index. The research budget does not have a significant influence on research capacity

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