===== Publication Inflation =====

**Publication [[inflation]]** refers to the artificial increase in the number of scientific publications without a proportional increase in scientific value, driven by academic, institutional, or commercial pressures.

==== 🔍 Definition ====
> ''Publication inflation is the phenomenon by which the volume of published scientific articles grows excessively due to systemic incentives, resulting in diluted quality, redundancy, and saturation of the literature.''

==== 📈 Causes ====
  * "Publish or perish" academic culture  
  * Institutional metrics based on number of publications  
  * Pressure to produce CV material for grants, promotions, or rankings  
  * Predatory journals and low-threshold editorial pipelines  
  * Rise of case reports, technical notes, and minimally original content

==== ⚠️ Consequences ====
  * **Academic dilution** and reduction in signal-to-noise ratio  
  * Difficulty conducting high-quality **systematic reviews**  
  * Increased prevalence of **redundant, low-impact, or anecdotal work**  
  * Reader fatigue and distrust in scientific publishing  
  * Commodification of publication over discovery

==== 🧠 Indicators of Publication Inflation ====
  * Surge in case series and technical notes without novelty  
  * Multiplication of micro-variants of the same study across journals  
  * Fragmentation of studies into "salami-sliced" publications  
  * Authors with dozens of articles per year, often with minor contributions

==== 📎 Related Terms ====
  * Academic dilution  
  * Journal padding  
  * Low-impact publication  
  * Technical anecdote  
  * Editorial complacency  
  * Predatory publishing