Salami Slicing Research Articles

Broken Promises: Revisiting the Commitment Problem and the Treaties of Fort Laramie

The ethnic commitment problem is thought to complicate interethnic bargaining because as power shifts, the stronger party might erode an agreement through ‘salami slicing.’ Anecdotally salami slicing can be effective, but it is unclear if a salami slicing strategy is feasible over the long term. A case study of the events following the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie demonstrates that while a calibrated erosion of an agreement is possible, in practice salami tactics exist as part of a larger collection of strategies for altering agreements. The article concludes with a typology of strategies for effecting agreement change.

Salami slicing and other kinds of scientific misconduct: A faux pas for the author, a disaster for science

Abstract As part of the research project “Summa cum fraude – Wissenschaftliches Fehlverhalten und der Versuch einer Gegenoffensive” at Saarland University (funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft DFG) an interview with Ivan Oransky in October 2022 was conducted. He became well-known for co-founding the Retraction Watch Database and the Retraction Watch blog, which covers topics such as retracting published articles or exposing misconduct in science.

Misconduct in research: The troubling practice of salami slicing

No Abstract available.

The Evaluation Gap in Astronomy—Explained through a Rational Choice Framework

The concept of evaluation gaps captures potential discrepancies between what researchers value about their research, in particular research quality, and what metrics measure. The existence of evaluation gaps can give rise to questions about the relationship between intrinsic and extrinsic motivations to perform research, i.e., how field-specific notions of quality compete with notions captured via evaluation metrics, and consequently how researchers manage the balancing act between intrinsic values and requirements of evaluation procedures. This study analyses the evaluation gap from a rational choice point of view for the case of observational astronomers, based on a literature review and 19 semi-structured interviews with international astronomers. On the basis of the institutional norms and capital at play in academic astronomy, I shed light on the workings of the balancing act and its consequences on research quality in astronomy. I find that astronomers experience an anomie: they want to follow their intrinsic motivation to pursue science in order to push knowledge forward, while at the same time following their extrinsic motivation to comply with institutional norms. The balancing act is the art of serving performance indicators in order to stay in academia, while at the same time compromising research quality as little as possible. Gaming strategies shall give the appearance of compliance, while institutionalised means to achieve a good bibliometric record are used in innovative ways, such as salami slicing or going for easy publications. This leads to an overall decrease in research quality.

Salami Slicing: clarifying common misconceptions for social science early-career researchers

The term Salami Slicing is used often within academia to refer to the needless separation of a single research study, attached dataset, and argument that should form a single publication, into two or several separate publications for submission in different journals. While the term is used with frequency, there exist few explicit guidelines that concretely explain firstly: what tangibly constitutes the unethical and damaging practice of Salami Slicing, and secondly: instances relating to social science research where multiple publications from a single body of data are not only acceptable, but necessary for furthering scholarly thought and developing important cross-disciplinary perspectives. These cases actively exist outside of and resist the Salami Slicing label. This paper represents a discussion of the above points from my perspective as a social science early career researcher (ECR) in the hope of clarifying the key misconceptions and ambiguities surrounding this common yet often elusive term. By doing this, I hope to minimise anxiety and panic for fellow ECRs, and help them avoid needlessly withdrawing carefully developed and time-intensive publications that could actively benefit and grow different disciplinary social science perspectives.

Retraction notice to “The experimental and innovative research on usability of sulphur polymer composite for corrosion protection of reinforcing steel and concrete” [Compos. B Eng. 42 (2011) 1084–1096

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal ( https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/article-withdrawal ). This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor-in-Chief, for duplication of text, results and figures, as well as salami slicing of research results, related to the following 2 papers: • The experimental research on adhesion and mass loss for reinforcing steel covered with polymeric sulphuric composites (Kompozyty, 2010(4), pp.374-379). • Research on usability of sulphur polymer composite for corrosion protection of reinforcing steel in concrete. Archives of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, 2009(1), pp.47-59 One of the conditions of submission of a paper for publication is that authors declare explicitly that their work is original and has not appeared in a publication elsewhere. Re-use of any data should be appropriately cited. The scientific community takes a very strong view on this matter and apologies are offered to readers of the journal that this was not detected during the submission process.

Fraud and Deceit in Medical Research

Fraud and Deceit in Medical Research

Trust but verify: An analysis of redundant publications from two major psychiatry journals in India.

Background:No analysis of redundant or duplicate publications, deemed unethical and unscientific, has been undertaken in psychiatric literature.Aim:To analyze the proportion and patterns of redundant publications associated with index articles published in two major Indian psychiatry journals.Methods:Index articles were original papers published in the Indian Journal of Psychiatry and the Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine between 2015 and 2017. Using a systematic search strategy that combined author names and article keywords, we combed the literature to identify and characterize redundant publications related to these index articles. Redundant publications were classified into one of the following categories using a priori definitions: dual, suspected dual, salami slicing, meat extender, and extended sample publication.Results:From 324 index articles screened, a total of 27 articles (8.4%) were identified to have 32 associated redundant publications of the following types: dual (n = 3), suspected dual (n = 2), salami slicing (n = 22), meat extender (n = 3), and extended sample publication (n = 2). A majority of the redundant articles (n = 23, 71.9%) failed to clearly cross-reference the prior publication(s). We also identified nine non-redundant but related publications with no proper cross-referencing in five of them.Conclusion:Redundant publications are a common practice in the psychiatry journals screened. Salami slicing is the most common form of redundancy, with no proper cross-referencing in most cases. Concerted efforts are needed to detect and deal with this concerning practice that undermines both science and ethics.

Remembering Ken Newton

Remembering Ken Newton

Remembering Ken Newton

Remembering Ken Newton

How prospective trial registration can prevent selective outcome reporting and salami slicing?

BackgroundPre-registration of a clinical trial before the first participant is recruited can help to prevent selective outcome reporting and salami-slicing that can distort the evidence base for an intervention and result in people being offered care or treatment that is not effective. Rates of clinical trial registration in nursing and midwifery are low. AimTo use a hypothetical example from midwifery practice to illustrate how selective outcome reporting and salami-slicing can distort the evidence base. FindingsA trial of immersion in water during labour and birth is used to consider issues in outcome selection and how researchers may be drawn to switch primary outcomes or report different outcomes across multiple papers. DiscussionIn nursing and midwifery science, selective outcome and salami reporting are seemingly common. Prospective trial registration is intended to prevent these practices, enhancing the quality and integrity of the work. ConclusionClinical trials are a robust form of primary research evidence and directly impact clinical practice. Researchers must ensure their trials are correctly registered and editors need to reconcile submitted papers and registration entries as part of the review process.

Then and Now: Vulnerable Workers, Industrial Action, and the Law in the 1970s and Today

With the much vaunted ‘withering of the strike’, a mythology of past militancy appears to have taken root; militant men taking to the picket line on the flimsiest of pretexts. This stereotype is challenged through exploring two accounts of three strikes, Trico and Grunwick in 1976, and, following the raft of ‘salami slicing’ legislation kettling workers and trade unions, the dispute at Gate Gourmet in 2005. These were acts of desperation by vulnerable workers. Each book highlights the heterogeneity of race and gender, and in some cases how this served to divide workers. The attack on existing conditions and the increased use of agency workers, the issues challenged by Gate Gourmet workers, and continued disputes concerning equal pay, as with the Trico strike, indicate the limited power of organized labour today in the context of the persistence, if not escalation, of employment grievances.

Anecdote from Editors Desk Anecdote 2- Salami Slicing of Case Report

Anecdote from Editors Desk Anecdote 2- Salami Slicing of Case Report

Determine the significant digit of spectral data and reduce its redundant digits to eliminate the chance correlation problem based on the “salami slicing” method

In recent years, complex solution composition analysis based on spectroscopy has been a research hotspot for researchers and has broad application prospects. Improving the ability of complex solutions component analysis based on spectroscopy, eliminating spectral data redundancy and the chance correlation problem it brings has become an urgent issue. In order to solve these problems, this paper takes the dynamic spectrum (DS) as the research object, and uses the “salami slicing” method to process the DS data. Firstly, the significant digit of the decimal DS data is processed, and then the partial least-squares (PLS) method is applied to model and analyze the processed DS data. The turning point of the modeling accuracy's change is found, and the significant digit number of DS data is determined roughly. On this basis, the weight of the binary number is used skillfully to process the significant digit of DS. The processed DS data is modeled, and the significant digit number of the DS data is accurately analyzed to establish the efficacy of the proposed method. This method does not only improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of DS data, but also avoids the chance correlation problem due to the data redundancy. This method also provides a good means for SNR estimation of other spectral data and avoiding the chance correlation problem in modeling, and has a high application value.

Ética e investigación científica: una perspectiva basada en el proceso de publicación

The purpose of this article is to expand the taxonomy of the most frequent ethical misconducts currently found in scientific publications. We present examples of fraud in contrast to an ethical conduct in research and publications arising from research. Then, we show the taxonomy in different stages: before, during and after the publication. Before the publication, the following ethical misconducts were found: conflicts of interest not declared by the authors, undeserved or insufficient authorship, salami slicing, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, fabrication, manipulation or impossibility of data replication, and parallel submission of articles. During the process of publication: conflicts of interest in peer review, false peer reviewers, theft of the manuscript by peer reviewers, content mishandling and undeserved authorship following peer review. After the publication: alteration of the impact factor. Next, we analyze the consequences of ethical misconducts for both authors and journals. Finally, we offer some alternatives to fight against these misconducts in the process of scientific publication to foster ethical integrity

Overestimation of Action-Game Training Effects: Publication Bias and Salami Slicing

Does playing action video games improve performance on tests of cognitive ability? A recent meta-analysis (Bediou et al., 2018a) summarized the available evidence and concluded that it can. Their analysis, however, did not adequately correct for publication bias. We re-analyzed the same set of studies with more appropriate adjustments for publication bias and found minimal evidence for transfer of training to cognitive ability measures. Instead, it is possible that there are little or no benefits, just publication bias — the exclusion of non-significant results from the published literature. That bias may be the cause of a lab effect reported in the original meta-analysis. The meta-analysis showed that studies from the Bavelier lab (the senior author of the meta-analysis) reported larger effects than other labs. We show that many of these original studies distributed different outcomes from the same or highly overlapping sets of participants across publications without noting the overlap. This salami-slicing might contribute to the extent of publication bias in the literature. More compelling, independent, and transparent evidence is needed before concluding that action video game training transfers to performance on other cognitive tasks.

The Possibility of Systematic Research Fraud Targeting Under-Studied Human Genes: Causes, Consequences, and Potential Solutions.

A major reason for biomarker failure is the selection of candidate biomarkers based on inaccurate or incorrect published results. Incorrect research results leading to the selection of unproductive biomarker candidates are largely considered to stem from unintentional research errors. The additional possibility that biomarker research may be actively misdirected by research fraud has been given comparatively little consideration. This review discusses what we believe to be a new threat to biomarker research, namely, the possible systematic production of fraudulent gene knockdown studies that target under-studied human genes. We describe how fraudulent papers may be produced in series by paper mills using what we have described as a ‘theme and variations’ model, which could also be considered a form of salami slicing. We describe features of these single-gene knockdown publications that may allow them to evade detection by journal editors, peer reviewers, and readers. We then propose a number of approaches to facilitate their detection, including improved awareness of the features of publications constructed in series, broader requirements to post submitted manuscripts to preprint servers, and the use of semi-automated literature screening tools. These approaches may collectively improve the detection of fraudulent studies that might otherwise impede future biomarker research.

Insuring patient access and affordability for treatments for rare and ultrarare diseases: a policy statement of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics

Insuring patient access and affordability for treatments for rare and ultrarare diseases: a policy statement of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics

Mythbusters: Self‐Embargo

Mythbusters: Self‐Embargo

Avoiding 'salami slicing' in publications describing new prokaryotic taxa.

Microbiology Society journals contain high-quality research papers and topical review articles. We are a not-for-profit publisher and we support and invest in the microbiology community, to the benefit of everyone. This supports our principal goal to develop, expand and strengthen the networks available to our members so that they can generate new knowledge about microbes and ensure that it is shared with other communities.