What does the g-index really measure?

It was argued recently that the g-index is a measure of a researcherʹs specific impact (i.e., impact per paper) as much as it is a measure of overall impact. While this is true for the productive “core” of publications, it can be argued that the g-index does not differ from the square root of the total number of citations in a bibliometrically meaningful way when the entire publication list is considered. The R-index also has a tendency to follow total impact, leaving only the A-index as a true measure of specific impact. The main difference between the g-index and the h-index is that the former penalizes consistency of impact whereas the latter rewards such consistency. It is concluded that the h-index is a better bibliometric tool than is the g-index, and that the square root of the total number of citations is a convenient measure of a researcherʹs overall impact.