Is there a way to increase the Hirsch index by choosing a particular type of publication? It cannot be guaranteed that there is a universal option that will instantly raise the metric. However, there is a type of article that generally accumulates more citations than others: review articles. Below, we consider what makes them distinctive and why they are cited more often than most other works.
What is a review article?
A review article differs from original research in that it contains neither the results of the author's own experiment nor new data. It is based on already published works on a chosen topic, which the researcher analyses and summarises so that the reader can understand what is currently known in a particular field.
However, this does not mean that a review is merely a list of sources. For it to have scientific value, the author compares the methods, results, and conclusions of different studies, identifies patterns and contradictions, and determines which questions still require investigation. Some reviews include a meta-analysis, that is, the statistical processing of data from several studies, which makes it possible to reach more precise conclusions.
A review contains no new experimental data, but the author's contribution is still essential. The structure of the article, the selection of literature, and its interpretation must be original. As a result, such publications are useful both to beginners who are getting acquainted with a topic and to experienced researchers who are planning new projects.
What types of review articles are there?
Review articles are divided into several types, and the choice of format determines the methodology of the work and the requirements placed on the author.
| Type of review | Essence | Features |
|---|---|---|
| Narrative review | A summary of the literature on a topic with the author's interpretation | Suitable for broad topics; the methodology is less rigorous, and conclusions may be subjective |
| Systematic review | An analysis of publications according to clearly defined criteria with a described methodology | High objectivity; widely used in medicine and the social sciences |
| Meta-analysis | The statistical pooling of data from several studies | Requires quantitative data; provides high precision; difficult to carry out |
| Review of reviews (umbrella review) | An analysis of existing systematic reviews on a topic | Summarises large volumes of information; covers broad questions |
| Scoping review | The systematisation of key concepts and gaps in the literature without in-depth analysis | Appropriate for new or little-studied topics; helps to identify research directions |
Why do reviews attract many citations?
Review articles are cited more often than original studies for a simple reason: they are convenient for other authors. For example, when a researcher describes the state of a problem in the introduction, substantiates a hypothesis, or explains why a topic is relevant, it is enough to refer to a single high-quality review instead of dozens of individual works. That is why, in Scopus and Web of Science, reviews are often among the most cited publications in their field, and one successful article can gain hundreds or even thousands of citations.
At the same time, it is important to understand how the metric itself works. What matters for the h-index is not the total number of citations but the number of publications that have reached a certain threshold. For example, if your h-index is 10, then to move up to 11, you need 11 of your works to have at least 11 citations each.
A new review article with 20 or more citations can become one of these works. However, if the rest of your publications have not yet reached the required level, the metric will not change, no matter how many citations the review itself has. Therefore, a review works best as a complement to an existing body of work rather than as a standalone way of increasing the index.
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