Characteristic scores and scales based on h-type indices

Based on the rank-order citation distribution of e. g. a researcher, one can define certain points on this distribution, hereby summarizing the citation performance of this researcher. Previous work of Glanzel and Schubert defined these so-called "characteristic scores and scales" (CSS), based on average citation data of samples of this ranked publication-citation list. In this paper we will define another version of CSS, based on diverse h-type indices such as the h-index, the g-index, the Kosmulski's h((2))-index and the g-variant of it, the g((2))-index. Mathematical properties of these new CSS are proved in a Lotkaian framework. These CSS also provide an improvement of the single h-type indices in the sense that they give h-type index values for different parts of the ranked publication-citation list. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.