A Harvard dishonesty expert stands accused of fraud, and scholars who worked with her are scrambling

“We believe that many more Gino-authored papers contain fake data. Perhaps dozens.”

Things move fast sometimes. Less than a week ago, I published a story about Francesca Gino, a Harvard Business School professor, going on administrative leave amid allegations of data fabrication and a Harvard investigation. Then a group of data sleuths published detailed analyses of what they characterized as evidence of fraud in two of her studies (with two more to come), and hinted that they were just the tip of the iceberg.

The behavioral-science research community has been grappling with the “replication crisis” for more than a decade now. But even so, this news has been met with shock, confusion, panic, and sadness — especially among Gino’s collaborators. My colleague Nell Gluckman and I spent the last few days talking to some of them about what they’re starting to do in response, and what they wish they’d done differently in the past. (Gino did not return our requests for comment.) Here’s our story from today:

Gino’s collaborators have been poring through old papers, spreadsheets, computers, and emails, calling each other, and organizing a mass data audit on the fly. One told The Chronicle that he no longer stands by his work with her.

And some are looking with suspicion at the dishonesty researcher they once knew and trusted, a deeply disorienting sensation. A prolific body of studies, a record of headline-grabbing results, a dedication to running experiments on her own: These once looked like the hallmarks of a model scholar. What if they were warning signs?

“There’s so many of us who were impacted by her scholarship, by her leadership in the field,” Maurice Schweitzer, a business professor at the University of Pennsylvania, told The Chronicle, “and as a co-author, as a colleague, it’s deeply upsetting.”

I’ll be continuing to follow this story — please get in touch if there’s anything you think I should know. In the meantime, read the full story here (free to read by making an account with your email address).