Consistency pays off in science

Abstract The exponentially growing number of scientific papers stimulates a discussion on the interplay between quantity and quality in science. In particular, one may wonder which publication strategy offer more chances success: publishing lots papers, producing few hit or something between. Here we tackle this question by studying portfolios Nobel Prize laureates. A comparative analysis different citation-based indicators individual impact suggests that best path to success rely consistently high-quality work. Such pattern is especially rewarded new metric, E-index, identifies excellence better than state-of-the-art measures.