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So, my situation is as follows: I submitted a paper to a journal and continued to work on that line of research, specifically on the open problems I mentioned in the submitted paper.

Now, in the received reviews the referees call for more content in the form of addressing one of the before mentioned open problems in particular. I am fine with adding more content, especially since I have already done the work.

However, the solution to the problem fills an additional 25+ pages, an amount which would pad the paper to a very long length. I am not sure of how to proceed as I am quite convinced that merging the two projects would be too long for the journal.

I don’t know if I should

  1. merge the projects and hope for it not being too long,
  2. disagree with the referees opinion in my revision and state the situation,
  3. contact someone and get information before conducting the revisions?

Maybe as a more general question, how is it in general perceived to get a large lengthening in return to a call for more content?

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First, share your concerns with the editors. The reviewers may not have realized the extent of the work. If they agree that a long paper is fine, then write the long paper. If they don't want to do that then consider breaking the work into two papers with one referencing the other. You could even submit them simultaneously to the same journal.

But it would probably be worth checking that with the editors also. I'll guess they would consider that to be the better solution, but it is their call.

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First, many journals these days allow for "supplementary information", which does not go in the main paper, but is available for download at the journal's website for interested readers. You could add a brief summary of the new content to the main paper (say a page) and then refer the reader to the supplementary information section if they want all the details.

Another option is that you just submit a second paper with the new content (and then cite the second paper in the first one as "in preparation").

Either way, e-mail the editor with your recommendation first and ask if he agrees or has another suggestion for you.

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    In the second option, it's important to give the reviewers access to the other paper, either via upload to arXiv, or by submitting it as an additional resource together with their paper.
    – lighthouse keeper
    Commented Nov 26, 2019 at 5:26

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