When Is Enough, Enough?

As academic researchers we have to walk a delicate line when it comes to publishing papers on similar topics, possibly using the same data sets. On one hand, we want to get as many articles published as possible, preferably in high quality journals. We want to leverage the data sets that we have spent considerable effort collecting. On the other hand, we need to be careful not to overuse these data sets. The purpose of this editorial is to provide guidelines to help you maintain your balance on the publication tightrope. In it, I provide indicators of overuse of dataset or ideas. I follow this with guidelines for making a distinct contribution and avoiding self-plagiarism. Finally, I explain why MIS Quarterly requires that a provenance declaration be provided with each submission of a manuscript for review.