Guilt by Association: How Scientific Misconduct Harms Prior Collaborators

Abstract

Die Dis cus si on Pape rs die nen einer mög lichst schnel len Ver brei tung von neue ren For schungs arbei ten des ZEW. Die Bei trä ge lie gen in allei ni ger Ver ant wor tung der Auto ren und stel len nicht not wen di ger wei se die Mei nung des ZEW dar.Dis cus si on Papers are inten ded to make results of ZEW research prompt ly avai la ble to other eco no mists in order to encou ra ge dis cus si on and sug gesti ons for revi si ons. The aut hors are sole ly respon si ble for the con tents which do not neces sa ri ly repre sent the opi ni on of the ZEW. show that the negative effects of scientific misconduct spill over to uninvolved prior collaborators: compared to a control group, prior collaborators of misconducting scientists, who have no link to the misconduct case, are cited 8 to 9% less afterwards. We suggest that the mechanism underlying this phenomenon is stigmatization by mere association. The result suggests that scientific misconduct generates large indirect costs in the form of mistrust against a wider range of research findings than was previously assumed. The broad fallout of misconduct implies that potential whistleblowers might be disinclined to make their concerns public in order to protect their own reputation and career.

Detecting academic fraud using Benford law: The case of Professor James Hunton

“…Third, there are significant costs to authors whose papers are retracted as a result of a co-author's fraudulent behaviour, especially for more eminent authors (Azoulay et al, 2017). Even innocent prior collaborators suffer from 'stigmatization by association' and incur the cost of mistrust (Hussinger and Pellens 2019).…”

“…For example, by requesting the original dataset and code or an explanation as to why the data may not be expected to conform to such a distribution. This process will not prevent fraudulent behaviour, and to the best of our knowledge nor do any of the current (or suggested) policy recommendations (Hussinger and Pellens, 2019;Necker, 2014;Cox et al, 2018). Utilising BL should, however, potentially make the task more difficult and riskier for the fraudster (like a burglar alarm for a criminal).…”

“…One could argue these are a few 'bad apples' and we should not be overly alarmed. Even if this is true, unfortunately the actions of a few can have huge ramifications for individual academic's careers (Hussinger and Pellens, 2019;Mongeon and Larivière, 2016;Jin et al, 2013) and the academic community as a whole. For example, as noted by Reich (2009), Professor Schön (with 32 retractions to his name due to fabricated data) misled other scientists, consequently at least a dozen laboratories wasted time and money chasing "rainbows" with millions of dollars' worth of US Government Research commissioned to follow up on his fraudulent claims.…”

The Prevalence of Scientific Misconduct and Principles of the Contemporary Scientists

“…Plagiarism, fabrication and falsification are often recognized as the core elements of scientific misconduct 9 . The first one can be attributed to misconducts in publication ethics.…”

Institutions And Institutional Environment In The Scenario Forecasting Of Research Potential Development

“…At the same time, the role of the business sector is growing; its share in Germany, Denmark, Korea, and the United States accounts for more than 60% of all expenditures on science; in Japan, Switzerland and Sweden -70%, while in Russia this share is only about 30% (Gokhberg, Zaichenko, Kitova, & Kuznetsova, 2011). The educational system and creative environment (Yang, Hong, Lee, & Lin, 2019), teamwork (Yu, Dino, Lee, & Xia, 2019), transfer of norms of the scientific ethos and sanctions for improper behavior of the researcher (Hussinger & Pellens, 2019) play a significant role in developing science. The influence of external factors consists not only in imposing restrictions and providing opportunities for the scientific community, but disseminating scientific discourse which goes beyond the narrow professional environment.…”