A renowned honest professor at Harvard University who studies why people cheat and falsify work data should be fired, a university study released this week finds. did.
Francesca Gino, a star behavioral scientist at Harvard Business School whose research focuses on fraud, has a hypothesis: They found that four studies had tweaked their observations to improve their results. .
“The committee concluded that Professor Gino engaged in multiple acts of research misconduct in all four studies at issue in these allegations,” the report said.
Gino, a star academic who has written more than 140 academic papers and won numerous awards, came under fire last year after a trio of behavioral scientists published a series of explosive posts on his blog Data Colada. was bathed in The contents are four academic papers published between 2012 and 2020, and the Harvard professor co-authored the paper that “contained fraudulent data.”
A university report detailed that Harvard University began a preliminary investigation into Gino’s research in October 2021 after Data Colada researchers raised concerns about the paper’s sketchy data with the university. .
The full-scale investigation was conducted in 2022 and 2023, with three HBS faculty interviewing Gino and those who collaborated on the paper, as well as reviewing her data, emails, and manuscript of the paper. An outside forensics firm was also hired to analyze her research data.
When asked about problems with his research, Gino told investigators that either he or his research assistant had made a mistake in handling the data, or that someone “with malicious intent” had stolen the data, according to the university’s report. He said there was a possibility that it had been tampered with.
Investigators rejected both theories and submitted their findings to HBS’s dean of data in March 2023, recommending that the school place him on unpaid leave and begin termination proceedings.
“The investigative committee believes that the seriousness of the research misconduct committed by Professor Gino warrants appropriately severe institutional action,” the report said.
Investigators also recommended that the university audit Gino’s research and require retractions of three of his papers. The fourth paper had already been retracted at the time of the investigation.
The report is a key document in the $25 million lawsuit Gino filed in Boston federal court in August against Harvard University, Data University, and Data Colada researchers.
In his petition to the court, Gino claimed that, in addition to his Data Colada blog, the school’s investigation and decision to place him on administrative leave starting in June 2023 has cost him income, career opportunities, and reputational damage. .
Harvard filed the report in defense of an ongoing lawsuit, and a federal judge on Tuesday ruled to unseal the report over Gino’s objections.
Gino’s lawyers said the report proves “Harvard found no evidence” that Gino altered the data.
“The silver lining is that people will see for themselves that this investigation was a sham,” attorney Andrew Miltenberg told the Post.
Gino has previously denied any wrongdoing.
Harvard University did not respond to a request for comment.
