The Bad Advice: Your supervisor tells you: “Don’t put all your results in one paper. Split it up! Write one paper on the ‘Methodology,’ one on ‘Dataset A,’ and one on ‘Dataset B.’ Get 3 publications instead of 1.”

The 2026 Reality: This is called “Salami Slicing” (Data Fragmentation). Ten years ago, it was a smart way to pad your CV. Today, it is considered Academic Misconduct. Major publishers (Elsevier, Springer, IEEE) now use “Text Recycling Detection” tools. If they see that Paper B uses the same control group or the same intro text as Paper A, they don’t just reject Paper B—they might retract Paper A too.

Here is why the “Least Publishable Unit” strategy is dead, and how to plan your publication roadmap safely.

1. The “Self-Plagiarism” Trap 📑

You wrote the Introduction for Paper 1. You copy-pasted 3 paragraphs into Paper 2 because the topic is the same.

  • The AI Flag: CrossRef’s Similarity Check doesn’t care if you wrote it. It sees 30% text overlap and flags it as plagiarism.
  • The Consequence: You get labeled as a “Recycler.” Editors see this in your history and assume you have nothing new to say.

2. “Thin” Papers Get Desk Rejected 📉

In 2026, impact factors are inflating. Journals want “Big Stories.”

  • The Problem: When you slice a study, you remove the context.
    • Paper A has the data but no deep analysis.
    • Paper B has the analysis but weak data.
  • The Verdict: Both papers look “thin” (lack of substantial contribution). Editors reject both because neither stands alone as a significant discovery.

3. The “Copyright” Clash with Your Thesis 🎓

This is a nightmare scenario for PhD students.

  • The Scenario: You publish 4 chapters of your thesis as 4 separate journal papers before you submit your thesis.
  • The Crisis: When you finally submit your thesis to your university, the plagiarism checker (Turnitin) flags it as 100% plagiarized—against your own published papers.
  • The Risk: Since you signed the copyright over to the journal, you might technically need permission to “re-print” your own work in your thesis. (We help navigate these permissions).

4. When is Splitting Okay? (The “Strategic Split”) ✂️

Not all splitting is bad. You can publish multiple papers if they answer distinct research questions.

  • Salami Slicing (Bad): Same hypothesis, same method, just splitting the sample (e.g., “Results for Men” in Paper 1, “Results for Women” in Paper 2).
  • Strategic Split (Good):
    • Paper 1: Focuses on the Development of a new tool (Methodology focus).
    • Paper 2: Focuses on the Application of that tool to a clinical problem (Clinical focus).
  • Key Difference: Paper 2 must cite Paper 1 and clearly state: “This study builds upon the method described in [Citation].”

5. McKinley’s “Publication Roadmap” Service 🗺️

Don’t guess. Plan. We review your entire Thesis Data before you start writing.

  • Consolidation: We advise when to combine two weak datasets into one “Mega-Paper” that can hit a Q1 journal.
  • Differentiation: If you must write two papers, we ensure the Introductions and Discussions are 100% unique and the research questions are distinct.
  • Copyright Clearance: We check your university’s rules on “Thesis by Publication” to ensure you don’t accidentally block your own graduation.

Quality > Quantity.

A single paper in Nature Scientific Reports is worth more to your career than five papers in predatory journals. Stop slicing your science. Start strengthening it.

Have a massive dataset and don’t know how to divide it? Get a “Publication Strategy” Consultation with McKinley Research!