Q: Is it possible to publish two articles with different focus areas using the same data?
I have an amount of data that I collected at a specific time. However, when analyzing it, I came across two different big issues that could be addressed. Publishing both discussions in one article would be a very long article, so my question is if I can publish two articles with two different points of view to the same data (and, of course, the same methods).
Since the two articles are based on the same dataset, it might raise concerns of salami slicing, an unethical publication practice where more than one paper covers the same population, methods, and research question. To ward off concerns of salami slicing, you must make sure you that the data has been analyzed differently in the two studies and the conclusions are also distinct.
Publishing two different articles based on the same dataset should not be a problem as long as the focus of the research question of each article is different. You can go ahead with writing two separate articles if you believe they will make an interesting contribution to your field. Your concern that “one article would be a very long article” alone is not enough to warrant a second publication. The second article that you plan to publish should also be novel and interesting enough.
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This content belongs to the Conducting Research Stage