On house renovation and coauthoring: Tricks of the trade to boost your h-index

Suppose that your house needs some restoration, and that you call a master mason asking for an estimate. If the mason replies at once that he will quote 1000 € for himself, plus 500 € for each helper apprentice, you will likely be puzzled, if not annoyed. Surely you have good reasons to complain, reasoning that the job you ask for should be remunerated with a fixed amount, irrespective of the number of labourers involved. Yet, this is not a criterion that we usually apply when evaluating the CV of an applicant for an academic position or for a grant.