An alternative axiomatization of the Hirsch index

•We characterize the Hirsch index (h-index) axiomatically on a certain domain.•We use three axioms: symmetry, axiom D, and head-independence.•Our axiomatization is independent of existing axiomatizations.

We axiomatize the well-known Hirsch index (h-index), which evaluates researcher productivity and impact on a field, and formalize a new axiom called head-independence. Under head-independence, a decrease, to some extent, in the number of citations of “frequently cited papers” has no effect on the index. Together with symmetry and axiom D, head-independence uniquely characterizes the h-index on a certain domain of indices. Some relationships between our axiomatization and those in the literature are also investigated.