====== 🧠 Dimensional Padding ======

📘 Scientifically Decorative Definition

Dimensional padding refers to the inclusion of multiple variables or categories in a study to create the appearance of analytical depth, without yielding meaningful new insights. It often involves superficially expanding the dataset or analysis dimensions to imply complexity, even when the conclusions remain basic or already well-known.

🩺 Clinically Transformative Definition

In neurosurgical literature, dimensional padding is what happens when a study adds layers of data — imaging metrics, demographics, surgical notes — not to improve clinical decision-making, but to make the methods section look impressive. The result? A dense paper that confirms the obvious, offers no practical tool, and leaves the reader exactly where they started — but more tired.