Data Fraud in Academic Studies

From Behavioral Science Weekly Roundup, 9-2-21

Dishonesty in Research About Honesty

Last year, a team of scientists wrote about their failure to replicate their own findings, published in 2012, reporting that they did not find significant differences in honesty depending on whether people affirmed their honesty by signing before or after making a statement. Now, it turns out that one of the studies in the 2012 paper is based on fabricated data. The investigation into the source of the fabricated data continues, but the discovery has already contributed to damaging the public’s trust in scientific research.

Details at https://mailchi.mp/behavioralpolicy/0vxgkqs4b2-436470. 

The report above links to the underlying evidence of data fraud at https://datacolada.org/98 which notes:

We have worked on enough fraud cases in the last decade to know that scientific fraud is more common than is convenient to believe, and that it does not happen only on the periphery of science. Addressing the problem of scientific fraud should not be left to a few anonymous (and fed up and frightened) whistleblowers and some (fed up and frightened) bloggers to root out. The consequences of fraud are experienced collectively, so eliminating it should be a collective endeavor.