Categorizing Hirsch Index Variants

Utilizing the Hirsch index h and some of its variants for an exploratory factor analysis we discuss whether one of the most important Hirsch-type indices, namely the g-index comprises information about not only the size of the productive core but also the impact of the papers in the core. We also study the effect of logarithmic and square-root transformation of the data utilized in the factor analysis. To demonstrate our approach we use a real data example analysing the citation records of 26 physicists compiled from the Web of Science.