I see a lot of “real” studies where a series of papers will just be a variation on the first one. For example, studies on the effect of some process on the germination of some kind of seed. Each paper will study a different seed and the conclusion will be comparison photos of germinated seeds with and without the process exposure.
There’s nothing fake but there’s almost no effort required to turn out a pile of papers.
That’s what I see, but with polymers.
I’ve been working with variations of a certain polymer for 25 years and many publications reiterate in painful detail its characteristics that have been known for 50 years.