Harvard withdraws papers in dishonest expert scandal

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Dozens of academics are reviewing their research on behavioral science with Harvard Business School professor Francesca Gino after the university requested the withdrawal of at least two of her papers.

The comments confirm growing concerns over the integrity of work by foul play expert Gino, which was questioned in an analysis by the blog. data collada last month. The academics behind the blog suggested that the data underlying the studies behind the research papers had been manipulated.

The allegations were initially reported Chronicle of Higher Educationhas raised concerns among some 150 co-authors who worked with him on the papers for more than a decade.

They have also stimulated widespread debate about the implications for other scholars in the behavioral sciences and the role of universities and journals in controlling academic integrity.

The journal Psychological Science published a retraction last week after a recommendation from Harvard Business School’s Research Integrity Office that “an independent forensics firm engaged by HBS revealed discrepancies between the published data and the original data” and the original data for both. It was Repatriation said.

There are two articles from 2014 and 2015, “evil Genius? How dishonesty can lead to great creativity” and “Virtue of authenticity: How inauthenticity produces feelings of immorality and impurity”.

Data Colada also questioned a third paper published in 2020 in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, “Why Connect? Ethical consequences of networking with a promotion or prevention focus.

The American Psychological Association, which publishes the journal, said it was “aware of the concerns raised by this article.” A retraction is due to be published in the September issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

“At this time, we believe this is an isolated incident. However, we will remain in touch with the organization and will take appropriate steps if we have reason to consider withdrawing other articles.

The fourth paper asked by Data Kolada was already withdrawn.

Data Colada said it first contacted HBS in autumn 2021 to raise its concerns. Harvard has declined to comment on the investigation, but two withdrawals provide independent confirmation of its investigation.

Both statements also included the first concrete response from Gino’s attorneys, who have declined repeated requests to comment. Her HBS profile was recently changed to indicate that she is on administrative leave.

The retraction states: “A lawyer for the first author informed the journal that while Dr. Gino considered the retraction necessary, she disagreed with the reference to the original data, saying there was ‘no original data’ related to the research reported in the article. Data not available’.”

Harvard Business School and Gino did not respond to additional requests for comment.

According to Digital Magazine, several of Gino’s co-authors have joined an informal network called the Manny Co-Authors Project to investigate whether there are other cases of alleged fudging of the data. behavioral scientist,