The Italian University recruitment system is definitely not efficient and malpractice occurs, but this happens more because of individual unethical and/or illegal behavior rather than being endemic, as alleged by Doncarli et al.[1] Their main issue is the limitation on the number of papers submitted with the application. This is not peculiar to Italian selection committees; it is common in North America and concerns only papers that are physically submitted. Its purpose is to permit a judgment based not only on number of papers but also on quality of research, through self-evaluation and detailed screening of the (presumably) best papers. No selection process will ignore the number of papers and quality of the venues in which the papers are published.