4 ms·

I was once told a story by a professor at my undergrad about a new sessional instructor that just arrived at the school. Apparently a couple of years before, th

I was once told a story by a professor at my undergrad about a new sessional instructor that just arrived at the school. Apparently a couple of years before, this sessional instructor was one of the top PHD students the country. He was going to grad school at one of the most prestigious universities, and his supervisors were the leading authors in their field. He published regularly since undergrad, and was teaching a couple of classes. One day, he found out that his supervisors were faking their results. These results were crucial to a couple massive papers for his supervisors. So he blew the whistle on his supervisors, and the papers got redacted. There were a couple of disciplinary measures for his supervisors, but within a few months they were back at work. This sessional instructor, however, was now blacklisted in his field. His advisors were editors for the top journals, and they had many connections to other researchers. I don't think he ever managed to finish his PHD, but they hired him as a sessional instructor for a couple classes at my school anyway. I think he now sells cars on the side to pay his bills.

rleigh 8y ago
I know an ex-postdoc who's promising career was cut short by also identifying and exposing fraud. I suspect it's more common than we think, and it's thoroughly wrong that being honest and professional can ruin your career in a moment. If you find all your research was based on fabricated data, what choice do you have? Expose it, or knowingly continue the fraud and be equally culpable. You're ruined either way. The deeper problem is the environment which drives people to commit fraud in the first place. These whistleblowers are victims of that. As someone who left after my PhD due to not having a good publication record, I've seen the nature of the pressure to suceed at all costs to advance in your career. It's brutal. I doubt most start out with bad intentions, but fraud is the ticket to success for a significant minority.
sonnyblarney 8y ago
Someone should really make a film about this. 'The Academic'. You know, gritty, rugged. Like 'Godsford Park' but more about the politics of the fields of research. Through in a little bit of nuanced/amgiguous sex scandal as well. Get Ryan Gosling to play the bad guy for once.
overeater 8y ago
There's a reason hearsay isn't accepted in courts because of its unreliability. But this doesn't strike me as potentially true at all. No university I know of would not take intentional academic fraud seriously. Even the mere mention of it would result in a serious investigation at minimum. It is the most alarming of accusations, and if it were found to be true, would utterly and permanently destroy a career.

rleigh 8y ago

I know an ex-postdoc who's promising career was cut short by also identifying and exposing fraud. I suspect it's more common than we think, and it's thoroughly wrong that being honest and professional can ruin your career in a moment. If you find all your research was based on fabricated data, what choice do you have? Expose it, or knowingly continue the fraud and be equally culpable. You're ruined either way. The deeper problem is the environment which drives people to commit fraud in the first place. These whistleblowers are victims of that. As someone who left after my PhD due to not having a good publication record, I've seen the nature of the pressure to suceed at all costs to advance in your career. It's brutal. I doubt most start out with bad intentions, but fraud is the ticket to success for a significant minority.

sonnyblarney 8y ago

Someone should really make a film about this. 'The Academic'. You know, gritty, rugged. Like 'Godsford Park' but more about the politics of the fields of research. Through in a little bit of nuanced/amgiguous sex scandal as well. Get Ryan Gosling to play the bad guy for once.

overeater 8y ago

There's a reason hearsay isn't accepted in courts because of its unreliability. But this doesn't strike me as potentially true at all. No university I know of would not take intentional academic fraud seriously. Even the mere mention of it would result in a serious investigation at minimum. It is the most alarming of accusations, and if it were found to be true, would utterly and permanently destroy a career.