Read the Articles; Don’t Count Them

For many years journal impact factor has been used for the evaluation of researchers and research centers.1,2 After proposal of h-index by Hirsch,3 this metric has soon found its place and currently many authorities use it as a substitute for the journal impact factor for assessing the researchers and research centers or even journals. The Iranian Ministry of Health has recently decided to evaluate the faculties of Iranian Universities of Medical Sciences by comparing their h-index. However, the appropriateness of this index is questioned by some researchers. But, before continuing our discussion, let us examine what h-index is.