Probably not — the incentives are too strong. But a few reformers are trying. We check in on their progress, in an update to an episode originally published last year. (Part 2 of 2) SOURCES:Max Bazerman, professor of business administration at Harvard Business School.Leif Nelson, professor of business administration at the University of California, Berkeley Haas School of Business.Brian Nosek, professor of psychology at the University of Virginia and executive director at the Center for Open Science.Ivan Oransky, distinguished journalist-in-residence at New York University, editor-in-chief of The Transmitter, and co-founder of Retraction Watch.Joseph Simmons, professor of applied statistics and operations, information, and decisions at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.Uri Simonsohn, professor of behavioral science at Esade Business School.Simine Vazire, professor of psychology at the University of Melbourne and editor-in-chief of Psychological Science. RESOURCES:"How a Scientific Dispute Spiralled Into a Defamation Lawsuit," by Gideon Lewis-Kraus (The New Yorker, 2024)."The Harvard Professor and the Bloggers," by Noam Scheiber (The New York Times, 2023)."They Studied Dishonesty. Was Their Work a Lie?" by Gideon Lewis-Kraus (The New Yorker, 2023)."Evolving Patterns of Extremely Productive Publishing Behavior Across Science," by John P.A. Ioannidis, Thomas A. Collins, and Jeroen Baas (bioRxiv, 2023)."Hindawi Reveals Process for Retracting More Than 8,000 Paper Mill Articles," (Retraction Watch, 2023)."Exclusive: Russian Site Says It Has Brokered Authorships for More Than 10,000 Researchers," (Retraction Watch, 2019)."How Many Scientists Fabricate and Falsify Research? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Survey Data," by Daniele Fanelli (PLOS One, 2009).Lifecycle Journal. EXTRAS:"Why Is There So Much Fraud in Academia? (Update)" by Freakonomics Radio (2024)."Freakonomics Goes to College, Part 1," by Freakonomics Radio (2012).
Full Episode
Hey there, it's Stephen Dubner. This is the second and final part of a series we are revisiting from last year. Stick around for an update at the end of the episode. Last week's episode was called Why is there so much fraud in academia? We heard about the alleged fraudsters. We heard about the whistleblowers and then a lawsuit against the whistleblowers.
My very first thoughts were like, oh my God, how's anyone going to be able to do this again?
We heard about feelings of betrayal from a co-author who was also a longtime friend of the accused.
We once even got to the point of our two families making an offer to a developer on a project to have houses connected to each other.
We also heard an admission from inside the house that the house is on fire.
If you were just a rational agent acting in the most self-interested way possible as a researcher in academia, I think you would cheat.
That episode was a little gossipy, for us at least. Today, we are back to wonky, but don't worry, it is still really interesting. Today, we look into the academic research industry, and believe me, it is an industry.
And there is misconduct everywhere, from the universities.
The most likely career path for anyone who has committed misconduct is a long and fruitful career.
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