This JavaScript code is designed to scrape data from a Google Scholar profile page and calculate various research indices for a researcher.

research.js

/**
 * This JavaScript code is designed to scrape data from a Google Scholar profile page and calculate 
 * various research indices for a researcher. It extracts information such as publication years, 
 * citations, and the h-index, and then computes several research metrics, including the R-index, 
 * A-index, G-index, M-index, E-index, AR-index, and HG-index. The code also provides statistics 
 * about the researcher's publications, total citations, h-core citations, and more.
 * 
 *
 * ** Usage: **
 *
 * 1. First, locate the Google Scholar profile page of the researcher you want to analyze.
 * 2. Ensure that you load and expand the list of articles all the way down on the profile page.
 * 3. Copy the code provided here.
 * 4. Open your browser's developer console:
 *    - On Windows (Google Chrome), you can press F12 or Ctrl + Shift + I to access the console.
 *    - On macOS (Google Chrome), you can press Cmd + Option + I to access the console.
 * 5. Paste the code into the console, and press Enter to run it.
 *
 *
 * ** Considerations: **
 *
 * 1. To ensure accurate results, make sure you have expanded the list of articles on the profile page 
 * to access all the researcher's publications. The code relies on having access to all articles to 
 * work correctly.
 * 2. The code may not consider articles with undeclared years or citations in the calculations.
 * 3. In some cases, the code may encounter profiles with h-index values that are less than the 
 * actual h-index. This could be due to variations in Google Scholar data presentation.
 *
 *
 * ** References: **
 *
 * 1. [The R- and AR-indices: Complementing the h-index](https://documentserver.uhasselt.be/bitstream/1942/1787/1/complementing%201.pdf)
 * 2. [Scientometrics: An overview of concepts, applications and indicators](https://irje.tums.ac.ir/article-1-5292-fa.pdf)
 *
 *
 * For questions, bug reports, suggestions for improvement, or any other inquiries, please feel free 
 * to contact me at <rman.afzal@gmail.com> or reach out to the code gist at <https://gist.github.com/Rmanaf/18e0e4730c68dd46b2562851357384d2> and leave a comment.
 *
 * Happy Analyzing!
 *
 */


// Retrieve the table containing the publications from the Google Scholar profile page
const pubs_table = document.getElementById('gsc_a_t');

// Extract statistical data from the profile, like total citations, h-index, etc.
const stats = Array.from(document.getElementById('gsc_rsb_st').querySelectorAll('.gsc_rsb_std'))
    .filter(item => is_number(item.innerText))
    .map(item => parseInt(item.innerText));

// Extract data for each article, including publication year and citations
const articles = Array.from(pubs_table.querySelectorAll('.gsc_a_tr')).map(item => {

    let year = parseInt(item.querySelector('.gsc_a_y > span').innerText);
    let citations = parseInt(item.querySelector('.gsc_a_c > a').innerText);

    return {
        year: year,
        citations: citations
    }
});



const h_index = stats[2];
const years = get_years();
const since = Math.min(...years);
const last = Math.max(...years);
const this_year = new Date().getFullYear();




/**
 * Checks if a value is a number using regular expressions.
 *
 * Note: This function uses regular expressions to determine if a value is a number, 
 * as the standard 'number != NaN' check may not work properly for all cases, especially 
 * when dealing with parsed text.
 *
 * @param {string} value - The value to be checked.
 * @returns {boolean} - True if the value is a number; otherwise, false.
 */
function is_number(value) {
    const integerRegExp = /^\d+$/;
    return integerRegExp.test(value);
}




/**
 * Converts a numeric value to a floating-point number with two decimal places.
 *
 * @param {number} value - The numeric value to be converted.
 * @returns {number} - A floating-point number with two decimal places.
 */
function to_float(value) {
    return parseFloat(value.toFixed(2));
}




/**
 * Extracts and returns the citations of articles from the 'articles' array.
 *
 * @returns {number[]} - An array of article citations that are considered as valid numbers.
 */
function get_citations() {
    return articles
        .map(item => item.citations) // Extract the citations from each article.
        .filter(item => is_number(item)); // Filter and keep only valid numeric citations.
}



/**
 * Extracts and returns the publication years of articles from the 'articles' array.
 *
 * @returns {number[]} - An array of publication years that are considered as valid numbers.
 */
function get_years() {
    return articles
        .map(item => item.year)  // Extract the publication years from each article.
        .filter(item => is_number(item)); // Filter and keep only valid numeric publication years.
}




/**
 * Calculates and returns the total number of citations from the extracted articles' citations.
 *
 * @returns {number} - The total number of citations.
 */
function get_total_citations() {
    // Retrieve the valid article citations using the 'get_citations' function and sum them.
    return get_citations().reduce((a, b) => a + b, 0);
}



/**
 * Extracts and returns articles that are considered part of the H-core, based on the provided h-index.
 * It filters and extracts articles from the 'articles' array that have valid citations and meet or exceed 
 * the provided h-index.
 *
 * Note: This function is designed to prevent potential issues and variations mentioned in the code introduction[3]. 
 * Typically, H-core articles are the first 'h_index' elements when sorted by citations.
 *
 * @returns {Object[]} - An array of articles that meet the H-core criteria.
 */
function get_h_core() {
    return articles.filter(item => is_number(item.citations)).slice(0, h_index);
    // return articles.filter(item => is_number(item.citations) && (item.citations >= h_index));
}



/**
 * Calculates and returns the sum of citations from articles considered part of the H-core.
 *
 * @returns {number} - The sum of citations from H-core articles.
 */
function get_sum_h_core() {
    // Use the 'get_h_core' function to obtain H-core articles, extract their citations, and calculate the sum.
    return get_h_core().map(item => item.citations).reduce((a, b) => a + b, 0);
}




/**
 * Calculates and returns the M-index value.
 *
 * @returns {number} - The M-index value.
 */
function get_m_index() {
    // Calculate the M-index using the provided h-index, last year of publications, and the first year of publications.
    return h_index / Math.max(last - since, 1);
}




/**
 * Calculates and returns the G-index value.
 *
 * @returns {number} - The G-index value.
 */
function get_g_index() {
    // Retrieve the citations from articles using the 'get_citations' function.
    const citations = get_citations();

    let g_index = 0;
    let total = citations[0];

    // Iterate to find the G-index based on cumulative citations.
    while (total >= (g_index * g_index)) {
        g_index++;
        total += citations[g_index];
    }

    // Return the calculated G-index value.
    return g_index;
}



/**
 * Calculates and returns the HG-index value.
 *
 * @returns {number} - The HG-index value.
 */
function get_hg_index() {
    // Calculate the HG-index based on the G-index and h-index.
    return Math.sqrt(get_g_index() * h_index);
}




/**
 * Calculates and returns the A-index value.
 *
 * @returns {number} - The A-index value.
 */
function get_a_index() {
    // Calculate the A-index based on the h-index and the sum of citations from H-core articles.
    return (1 / h_index) * get_sum_h_core();
}




/**
 * Calculates and returns the R-index value.
 *
 * @returns {number} - The R-index value.
 */
function get_r_index() {
    // Calculate the R-index based on the A-index and h-index.
    return Math.sqrt(get_a_index() * h_index);
}





/**
 * Calculates and returns the AR-index value.
 *
 * @returns {number} - The AR-index value.
 */
function get_ar_index() {

    // Use the 'get_h_core' function to obtain H-core articles.
    const h_core = get_h_core();

    let sum = 0;
    let h_max = { age: 0, citations: 0 };

    // Iterate through H-core articles to calculate their AR-index contribution.
    // This calculation involves summing articles' citations divided by the age of the article.
    // Additionally, we look for articles with the same citation count as the h-index.
    // According to the reference[2], if there are several publications with exactly h citations,
    // we include the most recent ones in the h-core.
    h_core.forEach(item => {

        let year = item.year;


        // Calculate the age of the article based on its publication year.
        // According to the reference[2], when an article is published in the current year,
        // an average age of 0.5 is used for calculation.
        let age = Math.max(this_year - item.year, 0.5);


        if (item.citations == h_index) {
            if (h_max.age < age) {
                h_max = {
                    age: age,
                    citations: h_index
                }
            }
            return;
        }


        sum += item.citations / age;

    });

    sum += h_max.citations / Math.max(1, h_max.age);

    return Math.sqrt(sum);
}




/**
 * Calculates and returns the E-index value.
 *
 * @returns {number} - The E-index value.
 */
function get_e_index() {
    // Calculate the E-index based on the sum of H-core citations and the square of the h-index.
    return Math.sqrt(get_sum_h_core() - (h_index * h_index));
}




// Output the calculated indices and other relevant information to the console
console.table({
    "Articles": articles.length,
    "Total citations (Google / Real)": stats[0] + " / " + get_total_citations(),
    "Total h-core citations": get_sum_h_core(),
    "Since": since,
    "Last": last,
    "H-Index": h_index,
    "R-index": to_float(get_r_index()),
    "A-index": to_float(get_a_index()),
    "G-index": get_g_index(),
    "M-index": to_float(get_m_index()),
    "E-index": to_float(get_e_index()),
    "AR-index": to_float(get_ar_index()),
    "HG-index": to_float(get_hg_index()),
});