The role of the h-index and the characteristic scores and scales in testing the tail properties of scientometric distributions

The tail properties of scientometric distributions are studied in the light of the h-index and the characteristic scores and scales. A statistical test for the h-core is presented and illustrated using the example of four selected authors. Finally, the mathematical relationship between the h-index and characteristic scores and scales is analysed. The results give new insights into important properties of rank-frequency and extreme-value statistics derived from scientometric and informetric processes.