## Crediting multi-authored papers to single authors

Research output: Working paper/Preprint Working paperResearch

### Standard

ArXiv, 2019.

Research output: Working paper/Preprint Working paperResearch

### Bibtex

title = "Crediting multi-authored papers to single authors",
abstract = " A fair assignment of credit for multi-authored publications is a long-standing issue in scientometrics. In the calculation of the $h$-index, for instance, all co-authors receive equal credit for a given publication, independent of a given author's contribution to the work or of the total number of co-authors. Several attempts have been made to distribute the credit in a more appropriate manner. In a recent paper, Hirsch has suggested a new way of credit assignment that is fundamentally different from the previous ones: All credit for a multi-author paper goes to a single author, the called $\alpha$-author'', defined as the person with the highest current $h$-index not the highest $h$-index at the time of the paper's publication) (J. E. Hirsch, Scientometrics 118, 673 (2019)). The collection of papers this author has received credit for as $\alpha$-author is then used to calculate a new index, $h_{\alpha}$, following the same recipe as for the usual $h$ index. The objective of this new assignment is not a fairer distribution of credit, but rather the determination of an altogether different property, the degree of a person's scientific leadership. We show that given the complex time dependence of $h$ for individual scientists, the approach of using the current $h$ value instead of the historic one is problematic, and we argue that it would be feasible to determine the $\alpha$-author at the time of the paper's publication instead. On the other hand, there are other practical considerations that make the calculation of the proposed $h_{\alpha}$ very difficult. As an alternative, we explore other ways of crediting papers to a single author in order to test early career achievement or scientific leadership. ",
keywords = "cs.DL, physics.soc-ph",
author = "Anna Tietze and Serge Galam and Philip Hofmann",
note = "6 pages, 4 figures",
year = "2019",
month = may,
day = "6",
language = "English",
publisher = "ArXiv",
type = "WorkingPaper",
institution = "ArXiv",

}

### RIS

TY - UNPB

T1 - Crediting multi-authored papers to single authors

AU - Tietze, Anna

AU - Galam, Serge

AU - Hofmann, Philip

N1 - 6 pages, 4 figures

PY - 2019/5/6

Y1 - 2019/5/6

N2 - A fair assignment of credit for multi-authored publications is a long-standing issue in scientometrics. In the calculation of the $h$-index, for instance, all co-authors receive equal credit for a given publication, independent of a given author's contribution to the work or of the total number of co-authors. Several attempts have been made to distribute the credit in a more appropriate manner. In a recent paper, Hirsch has suggested a new way of credit assignment that is fundamentally different from the previous ones: All credit for a multi-author paper goes to a single author, the called $\alpha$-author'', defined as the person with the highest current $h$-index not the highest $h$-index at the time of the paper's publication) (J. E. Hirsch, Scientometrics 118, 673 (2019)). The collection of papers this author has received credit for as $\alpha$-author is then used to calculate a new index, $h_{\alpha}$, following the same recipe as for the usual $h$ index. The objective of this new assignment is not a fairer distribution of credit, but rather the determination of an altogether different property, the degree of a person's scientific leadership. We show that given the complex time dependence of $h$ for individual scientists, the approach of using the current $h$ value instead of the historic one is problematic, and we argue that it would be feasible to determine the $\alpha$-author at the time of the paper's publication instead. On the other hand, there are other practical considerations that make the calculation of the proposed $h_{\alpha}$ very difficult. As an alternative, we explore other ways of crediting papers to a single author in order to test early career achievement or scientific leadership.

AB - A fair assignment of credit for multi-authored publications is a long-standing issue in scientometrics. In the calculation of the $h$-index, for instance, all co-authors receive equal credit for a given publication, independent of a given author's contribution to the work or of the total number of co-authors. Several attempts have been made to distribute the credit in a more appropriate manner. In a recent paper, Hirsch has suggested a new way of credit assignment that is fundamentally different from the previous ones: All credit for a multi-author paper goes to a single author, the called $\alpha$-author'', defined as the person with the highest current $h$-index not the highest $h$-index at the time of the paper's publication) (J. E. Hirsch, Scientometrics 118, 673 (2019)). The collection of papers this author has received credit for as $\alpha$-author is then used to calculate a new index, $h_{\alpha}$, following the same recipe as for the usual $h$ index. The objective of this new assignment is not a fairer distribution of credit, but rather the determination of an altogether different property, the degree of a person's scientific leadership. We show that given the complex time dependence of $h$ for individual scientists, the approach of using the current $h$ value instead of the historic one is problematic, and we argue that it would be feasible to determine the $\alpha$-author at the time of the paper's publication instead. On the other hand, there are other practical considerations that make the calculation of the proposed $h_{\alpha}$ very difficult. As an alternative, we explore other ways of crediting papers to a single author in order to test early career achievement or scientific leadership.

KW - cs.DL

KW - physics.soc-ph

M3 - Working paper

BT - Crediting multi-authored papers to single authors

PB - ArXiv

ER -