• Peter F Svider, Santiago A Lopez, Qasim Husain, Neelakshi Bhagat, Jean Anderson Eloy, and Paul D Langer.
• Institute of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey; Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey.
• Ophthalmology. 2014 Jan 1;121(1):423-8.

ObjectiveTo examine whether there is an association between scholarly impact, as measured by the h-index, academic rank, and National Institutes of Health (NIH) awards in academic ophthalmology.DesignRetrospective analysis of NIH RePORTER and Scopus databases.ParticipantsNot applicable.MethodsFive hundred seventy-three NIH awards to 391 primary investigators (PIs) in ophthalmology departments were examined. Grant recipients were organized by academic rank, obtained from online listings, and h-index, calculated using the Scopus database. Non-NIH-funded faculty from 20 randomly chosen academic ophthalmology departments also were organized by rank and h-index for comparison with their NIH-funded colleagues.Main Outcome MeasuresScholarly impact, as measured by the h-index, and NIH funding.ResultsThe h-index increased with successive academic rank among non-NIH-funded and NIH-funded faculty, as did NIH funding among the latter group. The NIH-funded faculty had higher scholarly impact, as measured by the h-index, than their non-NIH-funded PIs (h = 18.3 vs. 7.8; P <0.0001), even when considering publications only in the prior 5 years; h-index increased with increasing NIH funding ranges. The h-indices of those holding an MD degree (21.4±1.6 standard error of mean) were not statistically higher than those of PhD holders (17.9±0.6) and those with both an MD and PhD degree (18.1±1.7; P = 0.14).ConclusionsThe h-index increases with increasing academic rank among NIH-funded and non-NIH-funded faculty in ophthalmology departments. This bibliometric is associated strongly with NIH funding because NIH-funded PIs had higher scholarly impact than their non-NIH-funded colleagues, and increasing impact was noted with higher funding. The h-index is an objective and easily calculable measure that may be valuable as an adjunct in assessing research productivity, a significant factor for academic promotion in academic ophthalmology.Copyright © 2014 American Academy of Ophthalmology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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