What’s a Good H-Index? Benchmarks by Career Stage & Field
“What’s a good h-index?” is one of the most common questions researchers ask. The answer depends on your career stage, field, and publication patterns.
H-Index Benchmarks by Career Stage
Here’s a general guide based on typical academic careers:
| H-Index | Rating | Typical Stage |
|---|---|---|
| 60+ | Exceptional | World-leading, Nobel-class |
| 40-59 | Outstanding | Full professor, department chair |
| 25-39 | Excellent | Established associate/full professor |
| 15-24 | Very Good | Mid-career, associate professor |
| 10-14 | Good | Assistant professor, 5-10 years post-PhD |
| 5-9 | Developing | Postdoc, early assistant professor |
| 1-4 | Early Career | PhD student, new postdoc |
H-Index Varies by Field
Different fields have very different citation patterns:
- Biomedical sciences: Higher average h-indexes (more papers, more citations)
- Physics/Chemistry: Moderate h-indexes
- Computer Science: Lower h-indexes (conferences > journals)
- Humanities: Much lower h-indexes (books > papers)
- Mathematics: Lower h-indexes (longer time to citations)
A biomedical researcher with h-index 30 and a mathematician with h-index 15 might have equivalent impact in their fields.
Average H-Index for Professors
Based on studies of academic faculty:
- Assistant Professor: h-index 2-10
- Associate Professor: h-index 8-20
- Full Professor: h-index 15-40+
- Highly Cited Researchers: h-index 50+
Check Your H-Index
Want to know your h-index? Use our free H-Index Lookup Tool — just enter your name, no login required.
🎓 Celebrate Your Research Impact
Turn your h-index and career stats into a personalized video. Watch your citation race, see your top papers, and visualize your global reach.
Create Your Graduation Video →Beyond the H-Index
The h-index is just one metric. Consider also:
- i10-index: Papers with 10+ citations
- Total citations: Raw citation count
- Citations per paper: Average impact
- Field-normalized metrics: Compared to field average
The best researchers focus on doing good work — the metrics follow.
See Your Research Impact
Turn your h-index into a personalized video
The Emeritus template visualizes your citations, collaborations, and global research impact in a 60-second animated video.
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