Since publications are one measure of success in the academic world, some in academia feel pressure to publish as many papers as possible. This has in some cases led to publication of nearly identical papers in two different journals. Another approach has been to take what otherwise might be a single paper and break it up into smaller units to generate multiple publications. This process is known as seeking the "least publishable unit."

Journal editors are concerned about these practices since they make inefficient use of journal space and editorial time. There are also copyright problems in the case of nearly identical papers being published. Most journals have an explicit requirement that an article submitted for consideration cannot have been published elsewhere, nor can it be under consideration for publication elsewhere.

In the past decade, emphasis has moved from publication quantity to publication quality. The National Science Foundation, for instance, allows grant applicants to list at most ten publications in their personal biography, five directly related to the application, and five others in other fields. This approach removes the incentive to pad one's publication list through republishing or fragmenting.

Some medical journals have extended the ban on prior publication to publication in the popular press. Specifically, if a press release is distributed about specific research and then a paper on that project is submitted for publication, the dissemination of that press release is considered a prior publication, and the paper is refused. The motivation here is to ensure that the research has a chance to undergo peer review before the findings are disseminated to the public at large.