Sentence:  Last, but not lease, <WSD>salami slicing</WSD> may encourage some practices (such as fabrication of data and unnecessary extrapolation of results) that have ethical implications. Yet it is arguable that <WSD>salami slicing</WSD> is justifiable if a major research project is so extensive that it involves several research groups across disciplines. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  The publication of multiple (usually very similar) papers based on a single piece of research.