  In this paper we present characteristics of the statistical correlation
between the Hirsch (h-) index and several standard bibliometric indicators, as
well as with the results of peer review judgment. We use the results of a large
evaluation study of 147 university chemistry research groups in the Netherlands
covering the work of about 700 senior researchers during the period 1991-2000.
Thus, we deal with research groups rather than individual scientists, as we
consider the research group as the most important work floor unit in research,
particularly in the natural sciences. Furthermore, we restrict the citation
period to a three-year window instead of life time counts in order to focus on
the impact of recent work and thus on current research performance. Results
show that the h-index and our bibliometric crown indicator both relate in a
quite comparable way with peer judgments. But for smaller groups in fields with
less heavy citation traffic the crown indicator appears to be a more
appropriate measure of research performance.
