Harvard Scientist Who Studied Honesty, Accused Of Lying About Research

In a surprising turn of events, a prominent Harvard behavioral scientist, known for her research on honesty, has been accused of data fraud, New York Times reported. Professor Francesca Gino now finds herself at the centre of controversy as multiple behavioural science studies she co-authored are under scrutiny for falsified results. She has published 135 articles since 2007.

Ms Gino has been placed on leave after three other researchers alleged that she falsified data results. 

Max Bazerman, a professor at HBS and co-author of a 2012 paper with Francesca Gino, revealed that Harvard had informed him that one of the studies by her used fraudulent data. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, Mr Bazerman said that the university provided a 14-page document that included “compelling evidence” of data falsification, including the discovery that someone accessed a database and added and altered data in the file. 

Two years ago, other researchers began questioning her research over a 2012 study in which she evaluated the impact of honesty pledges at the beginning and end of forms. 

Further, a blog called DataColada, run by behavioural science academics, published a series of posts outlining evidence of fraud in four academic papers co-authored by Ms. Gino.

''We discovered evidence of fraud in papers spanning over a decade, including papers published quite recently (in 2020). In the fall of 2021, we shared our concerns with Harvard Business School. Specifically, we wrote a report about four studies for which we had accumulated the strongest evidence of fraud. We believe that many more Gino-authored papers contain fake data. Perhaps dozens'', the blog authors wrote, as per The Guardian.

The scholars emphasized that to their knowledge, none of Ms Gino's co-authors were involved in or aware of the data fabrication.

The allegations against her have sent shockwaves through the academic community.

Maurice Schweitzer, a former colleague of Ms. Gino's, told the New York Times that the allegations have created “reverberations in the academic community [because she is someone with] so many collaborators, so many articles, who is really a leading scholar in the field.”

According to New York Post, Ms. Gino has been honored as one of the top 40 Business Professors under 40 and has notched numerous awards.