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Another case of academic fraud highlights cheating in the sciences by Shane Cessna Many people think that science is about impartial observation and the reporting of facts. But scientists, like all human beings, have biases, agendas and belief systems that cause them to interpret facts in a certain way. It’s normal for people to want to also convince others of what they believe, and unfortunately they sometimes stretch the point in trying to get others on board. Also, in the research world it’s all about tenure and funding. If one makes a spectacular claim or find, money and notoriety often...

When you hear about well-regarded scientists making up data in their studies, it's easy to wonder, What were they thinking?A New York Times Magazine .... profiled Diederik Stapel, a psychologist, former dean of the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Tilburg University in the Netherlands, and author of at least 55 papers with totally made-up data. ..... The first time he did it followed a predictable story line. He tested a hypothesis, he didn't find the answer he wanted, and then he didn't want to have to redo the experiment or face the fact that he'd "wasted" all that...

A well-known psychologist in the Netherlands whose work has been published widely in professional journals falsified data and made up entire experiments, an investigating committee has found. Experts say the case exposes deep flaws in the way science is done in a field, psychology, that has only recently earned a fragile respectability. The psychologist, Diederik Stapel, of Tilburg University, committed academic fraud in “several dozen” published papers ... In a prolific career, Dr. Stapel published papers on the effect of power on hypocrisy, on racial stereotyping and on how advertisements affect how people view themselves. Many of his findings appeared...

One of the Netherlands' leading social psychologists made up or manipulated data in dozens of papers over nearly a decade, an investigating committee has concluded. Diederik Stapel was suspended from his position at Tilburg University in the Netherlands in September after three junior researchers reported that they suspected scientific misconduct in his work. Soon after being confronted with the accusations, Stapel reportedly told university officials that some of his papers contained falsified data. The university launched an investigation, as did the University of Groningen and the University of Amsterdam, where Stapel had worked previously. The Tilburg commission today released an...