In those fields where multiple authorship is the rule, the h-index should be supplemented by role-based h-indices

Collaboration patterns among scientists are becoming more and more complicated. Even sophisticated methods for taking the number of co-authors into account do not solve all problems related to the calculation of citation measures such as the h -index. In this article we introduce role-based h-indices and in particular the major contribution h-index, denoted as h-maj, which takes only those articles into account in which the scientist plays a major or core role. As an example we provide major contribution indices for scientists in the health sciences in China. Differences between the h-index and h-maj are shown for data based on the Web of Science (WoS), and separately, based on the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) database. It is suggested to use the major contribution h-index as a supplementary index, especially in those fields where multiple ‘first authors’ and/or corresponding authors are common.