The h-index is calculated based on 2 bits of information: the total number of papers published (Np) and the number of citations (Nc) for each paper. It is defined by how many h of a researcher’s publications (Np) have at least h citations each.This means that if you have 1 publication with at least 1 citation, your h-index is 1, if you have 2 publications with at least 2 citations each, your h-index would be 2, and so on. 

On ResearchGate, you'll see two separate h-indices displayed for each author. The first metric is an h-index that includes self-citations. The second h-index displayed excludes self-citations so that anyone looking at the numbers can compare them and quickly gauge whether other authors are paying attention to a researcher's work.

Please note: The h-index takes into account only citations of your work from scientific literature, reflecting impact in the scientific community. Furthermore, it is calculated based on the publications in your profile. You can help us make sure your h-index accurately represents your impact by adding all of your work to your profile.

You can make sure that you have the highest possible h-index for your research by making sure that you add all of your work on ResearchGate. It is especially important to make sure that all of your publications that have been cited are on your profile to help improve your h-index. However, adding other work that hasn't yet been cited or has only been cited infrequently is a great way to create exposure for it, leading to more citations.  

As it is a dynamic score, such fluctuations are normal. Please note that the RG score is a relative score. This means that it takes the scores and interactions of every researcher into account when producing a relative rating of your contributions. For example, if your contributions are less than the average of all users that week, your RG Score could decrease or remain constant.

Your RG Score will be activated when it reaches 1. Only then will it be visible to other researchers. If you've just signed up and confirmed authorship of a significant number of publications, your RG Score will likely become visible with the next weekly update.

It is recalculated once per week, so depending on your interactions and the content you have added to your profile, it is likely that your new score will appear with the next update. 

Asking questions, providing helpful answers, or adding data and figures are all good ways to improve your RG Score. If your peers think it's worthwhile, they will likely give you feedback, which will affect your score. By connecting with other researchers and contributing high-quality content, your score will increase. Please also make sure that any articles published in journals are correctly linked to the journal they were published in. See Editing publications for more information about linking your publications to their journals.

The RG Score is based on what your peers think of your work. Low-quality contributions won't attract positive feedback and recognition from the rest of the community, so they won't contribute to a researcher's score in any significant way. With this in mind, we've given you the ability to downvote and flag any contribution that doesn't reach the standards upheld by the rest of the community. We'll be introducing more ways for you to point out these contributions in the near future.

The RG Score is a metric that measures scientific reputation based on how all of your research is received by your peers. As an integral feature of ResearchGate, it can't be turned off or hidden. We are constantly working on ways to improve the RG Score to reflect your needs as a researcher.