Kardashian Index

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The Kardashian Index (K-Index), named after media personality

Definition

The relationship between the expected number of Twitter followers ${\displaystyle F}$ given the number of citations ${\displaystyle C}$ is described as

$${\displaystyle F(C)=43.3\,C^{0.32},}$$

which is derived from the Twitter accounts and citation counts of a "randomish selection of 40 scientists" in 2014.^[1] The Kardashian Index is thus calculated as

$${\displaystyle {\text{K-index}}={\frac {F_{a}}{F(C)}},}$$

where ${\displaystyle F_{a}}$ is the actual number of Twitter followers of researcher ${\displaystyle X}$, and ${\displaystyle F(C)}$ is the number that researcher should have, given their citations.

Interpretation

A high K-index indicates an over-blown scientific fame, while a low K-index suggests that a scientist is being undervalued. According to the author Hall, researchers whose K-index > 5 can be considered "Science Kardashians". Hall wrote:^[1]

I propose that all scientists calculate their own K-index on an annual basis and include it in their Twitter profile. Not only does this help others decide how much weight they should give to someone’s 140 character wisdom, it can also be an incentive – if your K-index gets above 5, then it’s time to get off Twitter and write those papers.

Hall also added "a serious note" noticing the gender disparity in his sample. Of 14 female scientists, 11 had lower than predicted K-indices, while only one of the high-index scientists was female.^[1]

On February 11, 2022, on Twitter, Neil Hall stated that he intended the Kardashian Index to be a “dig at metrics not Kardashians” and that “the entire premise is satire”.^[3]

Response

Many jocular indices of scientific productivity were proposed in the immediate aftermath of publication of the K-Index paper.^[2] The Tesla Index measured social isolation of scientists relative to their productivity, named after Nikola Tesla, whose work was hugely influential, while he remained a social recluse.^[4] People tweeted suggestions hashtagged #alternatesciencemetrics.^[2][5]

In 2022,

The K-index suggests that the number of citations of a given scientist is comparable to their scientific value. This assumption has been criticized.^[8][9]

The proposal of the K-Index has been interpreted as a criticism to the assumption that scientists should have a social media impact at all, while in reality, social media footprint has no correlation to the scientific quality or scientific impact.^[10]

See also

• Academic authorship
• Attention inequality
• Famous for being famous

References