Study of H-index and related factors in the faculty members of the Dentistry Department of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences

Many different indices are used to evaluate the scientific production of universities, research centers and researchers. H-index represents the quality of published researches. In the present study we determined the H-index of faculty members in the dentistry department of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences.

The H-index of academic staff in the department of dentistry in Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences was extracted from the Scopus database until the beginning of 2012. Relation between the H-index and related factors was studied by Chi square test.

Out of 107 of academic staffs in the department of dentistry of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, relevant information of 98 individuals was extracted, (91 percent), H-index of 46 faculty members was equal to or more than one (43 percent). Statistical analysis revealed that the number of articles and academic grading of faculties had significant relationship with the H-index of faculty members (p<0.05).

Overall, the number of faculty members with H-index of 1 or higher is low. Programs to improve the quality of research papers are urgently needed.