Abstract

The second-order h-type indicators are suggested to identify top units in scientometrics. Basically, the re-ranking of h-type series leads to the second-order h-type indicator. The second-order h-type indicators provide an interesting and natural method to identify top units, yielding fixed h-top. Differentiating from the series of artificially defined highly cited percentile classes, the h-top contributes a natural definite top in the series of highly cited classes. When studying theoretically, the second-order h-index concerns 3% of the h-top whereas the first-order h-index refers to 10% of the h-core. The ratio of the first- and second-order h-index, hT/h, is 30%. When studying empirically, the ratio of the first- and second-order h-index, hT/h, is <30%. The approach of calculating second-order h-type indicators is exemplified based on journals in two fields.

Keywords: h-index;h-type indicator;second-order h-index;h-top;top metrics