Harvard professor who studies dishonesty faces charges of data tampering: NPR

Francesca Gino has been teaching at Harvard Business School for 13 years.

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Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

Francesca Gino has been teaching at Harvard Business School for 13 years.

Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

Francesca Gino, a prominent Harvard Business School professor known for researching dishonesty and unethical behavior, was accused of submitting paper that contained false results.

Gino has authored dozens of captivating studies in behavioral science, consulting for some of the world’s largest companies like Goldman Sachs and Google, as well as dispensing advice on news outlets, such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and even NPR.

But in the past two weeks, several people, including a colleague, have come forward claiming that Gino allegedly tampered with data in at least four newspapers.

Gino is currently on administrative leave. Harvard Business School declined to comment when that decision was made and the allegations generally.

In a statement shared on LinkedInthe professor said she was aware of the claims but did not deny or admit any wrongdoing.

« As I continue to weigh these allegations and weigh my options, I am limited in what I can say publicly, » Gino wrote on Saturday. « I want to assure you that I take them seriously and they will be addressed. »

The scandal was first reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education earlier this month. Over the past year, according to the news report, Harvard had been investigating a number of documents involving Gino.

The university found that in a 2012 paper it appeared that someone had added and altered figures in its database, said Max H. Bazerman, a Harvard Business School professor who has worked with Gino in the past. The record.

The study itself looked at whether honesty in tax and insurance documents differed among participants who were asked to sign truthfulness statements at the top of the page versus the bottom. Proceedings of the National Academy of Scienceswho had published the researchhe withdrew it.

Shortly after the story, Date pasted, a group of three investigators, has come forward with similar allegations. After examining a number of Gino’s works, the team said they found evidence of fraud going back over a decade, most recently in 2020.

« In particular, we wrote a report on four studies for which we had accumulated the strongest evidence of fraud. We believe that many other documents written by Gino contain false data. Perhaps dozens, » DataColada wrote.

The group said it shared its concerns with Harvard Business School in 2021.

Gino has contributed to over a hundred academic papers on entrepreneurial success, promoting confidence in the workforce, and just last year published a study titled « Case Study: What’s the Right Career Move After a Public Bankruptcy? »