Star Harvard Scientist Who Studies Dishonesty Accused of Fabricating Research Data

Pants on fire! Harvard behavioral scientist who studies dishonesty is accused of fabricating data in multiple research papers

• Harvard Business School scholar Francesca Gino has been placed on leave
• She stands accused of fabricating data in several studies on honesty
• Now her own research partner is reviewing their studies for signs of fraud 

A Harvard behavioral scientist who studies dishonesty has been accused of fabricating data in research papers that she co-authored. 

Harvard Business School professor Francesca Gino is currently on administrative leave, after explosive allegations emerged challenging the credibility of her research.

In a blog post earlier this month, a trio of data researchers presented what they said was evidence of academic fraud in four studies co-authored by Gino, noting that they also 'believe that many more Gino-authored papers contain fake data'.

Gino was a rising star at Harvard, and her behavioral research studies relating to cheating, lying and dishonesty received widespread media coverage over the past decade.

But questions about her work first emerged regarding a 2012 study she co-authored, which purported to show that making people sign an honesty pledge at the beginning of a form, rather than the end, increases honest responses.

Harvard Business School professor Francesca Gino is currently on administrative leave, after explosive allegations emerged challenging the credibility of her research

That study was retracted in 2021 over apparent data fabrication by a different researcher who worked on the project, which cited three separate lab experiments to draw its conclusion.

However, data scientists Uri Simonsohn, Joseph Simmons, and Leif Nelson allege that the data fabrication in the study was deeper than originally suspected, and also implicated Gino. 

'That's right: Two different people independently faked data for two different studies in a paper about dishonesty,' the trio wrote on their blog DataColada, where they published the new evidence supporting their allegations.

Gino did not immediately respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com on Saturday afternoon. 

The three scientists published their concerns a day after the Chronicle of Higher Education reported on June 16 that Gino had been placed on administrative leave, amid an internal investigation at Harvard into the validity of her research.

One of Gino's co-authors on the 2012 research paper told The Chronicle that Harvard had informed him that the study Gino oversaw for the article appeared to include fabricated results. 

Gino was a rising star at Harvard, and her behavioral research studies relating to cheating, lying and dishonesty received widespread media coverage over the past decade

Gino joined the Harvard Business School faculty in 2010, after holding positions at the University of North Carolina and Carnegie Mellon University. 

She won awards and fawning media coverage for her trendy behavioral science research, which purported to reveal insights about how to subtly influence people's choices and behavior without them realizing.

But now, Gino's frequent research partner Maurice Schweitzer has spoken out, voicing fears that he himself was manipulated and conned in their work together.

Schweitzer, a behavioral scientist at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, told the New York Times he is now carefully reviewing the eight papers he co-authored with Gino for any indications of fraud.

He said that the allegations against Gino were causing '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.' 

The 2012 paper was based on three separate behavioral experiments, including one overseen by Gino that asked subjects to complete a worksheet with 20 puzzles, promising them $1 for each correctly solved puzzle.

Gino's frequent research partner Maurice Schweitzer says he is now carefully reviewing the eight papers he co-authored with Gino for any indications of fraud

The participants were then asked to fill out a form asking them how much money they earned from solving the puzzles, and were led to believe that lying on the form would be undetectable, when in fact the researchers could verify the number of puzzles solved.

The study found participants were more likely to report their puzzle income accurately when they were presented with an honesty pledge at the top of the form, rather than the bottom, where such attestations usually appear on tax returns.

In their DataColada blog post, the trio of scientists analyzed data from the experiment that was posted online, finding that metadata in an Excel file indicated the results had been tampered with in a way that bolstered the study's conclusion. 

The same scientists in 2021 exposed apparent data fabrication in a separate study conducted for the article, which relied on data provided by an insurance company.

The article was retracted by editors of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, where it had first appeared, following the 2021 blog post. 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12230013/Harvard-behavioral-scientist-studies-dishonesty-accused-fabricating-data.html

Art of the matter: Being creative is linked to being dishonest, say Harvard and Duke University researchers

 'unethical amnesia' was researched by Francesca Gino (left) and Maryam Kouchaki (right)

Prominent Harvard behavioral scientist Francesca Gino who undertook studies about honesty is under fire for fabricating papers that she worked on

Gino chalked up phony results tied to studies, including one focused on honest behavior, the New York Times reported.

Francesca Gino is one of Harvard Business School’s best-known behavioural scientists

Harvard University

Genetic History of the Chickpea

Study reveals genetic signatures of chickpea's cultural crossroads

by Casey McGrath, SMBE Journals (Molecular Biology and Evolution and Genome Biology and Evolution)

A map derived from Nikolai Vavilov's original depiction of chickpea domestication centers (Roman numerals) showing chickpea dispersal routes (arrows) from its center of domestication in Southwest Asia to South and Central Asia and East Africa. Inset shows the desi and kabuli market classes of chickpea. Credit: Igolkina, et al. 2023

With its nutty flavor and dense nutrient profile, the humble chickpea has captivated palates and nourished civilizations for millennia. From its ancient origins to its widespread use in modern kitchens and restaurants around the world, this legume demonstrates both culinary versatility and cultural significance. Despite prominence in traditional cuisines across several continents, the origin, diversification, and spread of chickpeas throughout the Middle East, South Asia, Ethiopia, and the western Mediterranean have remained a mystery.

A new study in Molecular Biology and Evolution titled "Historical routes for diversification of domesticated chickpea inferred from landrace genomics" sheds light on the profound effects of human migration and trade on chickpea's genetic heritage.

The study—led by Anna Igolkina from Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, Eric von Wettberg from the University of Vermont, and Sergey Nuzhdin from the University of Southern California—used genetic data from over 400 chickpea specimens collected in the 1920s and 1930s. The collection included both the desi and kabuli subtypes, which differ in color and size, despite the lack of a clear geographic or genetic boundary between the two.

Chickpea samples came from nine different geographic regions: northern Mediterranean, southern Mediterranean, Turkey, Lebanon, Ethiopia, the Black Sea, western Uzbekistan, eastern Uzbekistan, and India. To analyze the data, the researchers developed two new models, which they named popdisp (population dispersals) and migadmi (migrations and admixtures).

The authors used the popdisp model to understand how chickpeas dispersed within each of the geographic regions. They compared two scenarios, one in which chickpeas spread along routes that were easier for humans to traverse (i.e. possible historic trade routes), and one in which chickpeas dispersed over distances in a simple linear fashion, regardless of intervening geographic barriers.

According to Igolkina, "Our study reveals an intriguing finding regarding the genetic relatedness among chickpea landraces in different geographic regions. Contrary to the assumption that genetic similarity would be determined by linear distance, our results suggest that it is more influenced by human movement costs. This implies that the spread of chickpea within each region occurred predominantly along trade routes, rather than through simple diffusion."

Using the migadmi model, the scientists sought to uncover the origin of the Ethiopian desi population. "Ethiopian chickpeas have a unique flavor," says von Wettberg, "with the tartness of the black desi chickpeas that can be found in Indian varieties, but also a hint of sweetness."

Previous studies have suggested two possible origins for Ethiopian chickpeas—either an Indian origin supported by morphological similarities, or a Middle Eastern origin given the evidence of human migration from western Eurasia into East Africa around 4,500 years ago. Interestingly, the results revealed that both scenarios may be true, finding that Ethiopian chickpeas share ancestry from Indian, Lebanese, and Black Sea source populations.

von Wettberg notes "For me, the most exciting finding is that Ethiopian chickpeas are a mixture of Middle Eastern and South Asian ancestry. The cultural connection of Ethiopians to the Middle East is widely known, exemplified by their Semitic heritage. Less well known is the extent and importance of Indian Ocean trade routes, which were both an important maritime route of the Silk Road and a way by which agricultural and cultural exchange happened between South Asia and East Africa."

The migadmi model also revealed the possible origin of the kabuli type from a local desi chickpea population in Turkey. This disputes the linguistic suggestion that the kabuli type arose in Central Asia and is named after Kabul city (in modern Afghanistan).

While these results provide a fascinating look into the chickpea's natural history and its interconnectedness with human trade routes and migrations, the implications of this study extend far beyond chickpeas alone.

"The importance of this work lies not only in extending our knowledge of chickpea history but also in the development of the two new models, popdisp and migadmi," notes Igolkina. "These models can be applied together or separately to analyze migrations and admixtures in other species. The core modeling technique used in these models, compositional data analysis, allows for their extension to model multiallelic genetic markers. This is of particular interest when analyzing structural variants, analyses of which are becoming increasingly common."

von Wettberg concurs, "A central part of our work is developing new tools for examining complex migration patterns. We hope others will use these tools to investigate similar migration patterns, either in human-associated species like crops, pests, and mutualists, or in natural species."

More information: Anna A Igolkina et al, Historical routes for diversification of domesticated chickpea inferred from landrace genomics, Molecular Biology and Evolution (2023). DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msad110

Journal information: Molecular Biology and Evolution 

Provided by SMBE Journals (Molecular Biology and Evolution and Genome Biology and Evolution)

https://phys.org/news/2023-06-reveals-genetic-signatures-chickpea-cultural.html

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