Comparison of h and m Indices among Departments in McGovern Medical School

Measuring academic productivity is important in hiring, promoting and award selection. This study provides an example of a cross-sectional evaluation of faculty members in the UTHealth McGovern Medical School, Houston, TX, using h and m indices. We obtained h and m indices of 1287 faculty members from 29 departments using Scopus bibliographic website. We compared the indices according to Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and Professor ranks; as well as according to Basic Science, Surgical and Internal Medical Branches. We also studied the correlation between h or m indices and NIH research grants. h and m indices mean value showed significantly difference between all three academic ranks in general. h-index increased congruently with academic ranking. m-index presented different patterns according to medical branches. Basic Science Branches showed higher h and m indices compared to Surgical and Internal Medicine branches. h-index showed linear correlation with NIH grant amount. Although m-index may be helpful in evaluating junior faculty members, its result may vary with high academic productivity. On the other hand, h-index may be useful in monitoring departmental and institutional academic productivity. Both indices may be helpful in quantifying academic productivity, particularly if compared to related medical branches.