Salami publication: a frequent practice affecting readers' confidence

Excerpt

In 2004 we published an editorial reminding of the rules of duplicate publication, a practice highly reprehensible [1]. We wrote that “a paper submitted, accepted, and published as an original publication is received with respect and excitement as providing new data never released before. The information contained in such a paper may stimulate further research, directly influence clinical practice, or contribute to the production of new directives or guidelines via its inclusion in meta-analyses or systematic reviews. Reporting the same data, in part or in whole, in several publications constitutes duplicate, redundant, or multiple publication when substantial overlap exists across these publications, whatever their type (except short abstracts). Covert duplicate publication is considered scientific misconduct, unethical behavior, fraud, or criminal behavior by most editors of scientific journals.” We did not expect to stop this problem, but we, however, underestimated one aspect frequently referred to as “salami” publication. …