Fewer transmission steps may generally reduce opportunities for an error to enter a route. This is a general advantage, not a universal law that disregards the actual narrators.
Example: A five-link route contains one unreliable transmitter, while a seven-link route consists of demonstrably reliable narrators. The shorter route is not rendered ṣaḥīḥ by numerical brevity.
The standard criteria of acceptance—uprightness, precision, continuity, freedom from serious contradiction, and freedom from a hidden defect—remain fully applicable.
Hence the merit of elevation and the judgment of authenticity are separate conclusions.