Philosophy
The behavioral psychologist Marc Hauser has resigned from the Harvard faculty, 11 months after the university accused him of being “solely responsible” for eight counts of scientific misconduct.
Dr. Hauser, a leading researcher in his field, denied the Harvard charges and remained on leave while his case was referred to the Office of Research Integrity, the government body that investigates cases of scientific misconduct.
The office has not announced a verdict and is presumably still on the case, but a spokeswoman, Ann Bradley, said she could neither confirm nor deny that.
Dr. Hauser’s letter of resignation, dated July 7, implies that he is abandoning research as well as Harvard. He wrote that he “may return to research and teaching in the years to come” but meanwhile would pursue opportunities in the private sector and educational work with at-risk teenagers.
His letter was published Wednesday in The Boston Globe.
Harvard’s treatment of Dr. Hauser has occasioned some misgivings among other researchers, although he also has critics. The university raided his laboratory in 2007, after complaints by some of his students, and for the next 18 months Dr. Hauser did not know what he was being accused of.
Scientific misconduct is generally understood to connote grave offenses like fraud or plagiarism, but only three of Harvard’s charges were about published articles, and two of these concerned nothing more serious than missing data.
“Missing data is not scientific misconduct,” John E. Dahlberg, the chief investigator for the Office of Research Integrity, said last year. “The whole purpose of O.R.I. is to go after serious fraud and not the peccadilloes one might find in many labs.”
Dr. Hauser repeated the experiments and obtained the same results, which were accepted as valid by the two journals in question. The other five counts cited by the Harvard authorities apparently concerned errors that were corrected before publication.
Only one of the eight counts, about an article published in the journal Cognition in 2002, seemed to involve a possibly serious breach of research ethics. The experiment had problems that Dr. Hauser ascribed to an error in the computer-controlled protocol for alternating test and control experiments.
Marc Hauser update
Harvard scientist run amuck?
- 'bout Time...pull On The Reigns For Scientific Misconduct
"UK funders get tough on research misconduct" by Leila Sattary March 4th, 2013 Chemistry World Universities who do not take cases of research misconduct seriously could have their funding withdrawn. The new sanctions are set out in the revised ...
- For Scientific Results Concerning Human Health, Suspicion Is Cast Once Again--red Wine
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- Harvard Scientist Run Amuck?
"In Harvard Lab Inquiry, a Raid and a 3-Year Wait" by Nicholas Wade Augyst 13th, 2010 The New York Times Marc Hauser’s academic career was soaring when suddenly, three years ago, Harvard authorities raided his laboratory and confiscated computers...
- Harvard Senior In Big Trouble
I bet that none of his classes included a philosophy course on "ethics". "Harvard senior charged with forging his way into university" by Doug Stanglin May 18th, 2010 USA TODAY A 23-year-old Harvard senior has been jailed for allegedly forging his way...
- Rusi Taleyarkhan--falsified Research?
Rusi Taleyarkhan Ah, a revival of those old TV Saturday night fights. In this corner Rusi Taleyarkhan claiming he is innocent of fraudulent scientific reports on cold fusion and in this corner the Purdue committee claiming his papers were fraudulent....
Philosophy
Finality for Harvard professor Marc Hauser
"Scientist Under Inquiry Resigns From Harvard"
by
Nicholas Wade
July 20th, 2011
HoumaToday.com
by
Nicholas Wade
July 20th, 2011
HoumaToday.com
The behavioral psychologist Marc Hauser has resigned from the Harvard faculty, 11 months after the university accused him of being “solely responsible” for eight counts of scientific misconduct.
Dr. Hauser, a leading researcher in his field, denied the Harvard charges and remained on leave while his case was referred to the Office of Research Integrity, the government body that investigates cases of scientific misconduct.
The office has not announced a verdict and is presumably still on the case, but a spokeswoman, Ann Bradley, said she could neither confirm nor deny that.
Dr. Hauser’s letter of resignation, dated July 7, implies that he is abandoning research as well as Harvard. He wrote that he “may return to research and teaching in the years to come” but meanwhile would pursue opportunities in the private sector and educational work with at-risk teenagers.
His letter was published Wednesday in The Boston Globe.
Harvard’s treatment of Dr. Hauser has occasioned some misgivings among other researchers, although he also has critics. The university raided his laboratory in 2007, after complaints by some of his students, and for the next 18 months Dr. Hauser did not know what he was being accused of.
Scientific misconduct is generally understood to connote grave offenses like fraud or plagiarism, but only three of Harvard’s charges were about published articles, and two of these concerned nothing more serious than missing data.
“Missing data is not scientific misconduct,” John E. Dahlberg, the chief investigator for the Office of Research Integrity, said last year. “The whole purpose of O.R.I. is to go after serious fraud and not the peccadilloes one might find in many labs.”
Dr. Hauser repeated the experiments and obtained the same results, which were accepted as valid by the two journals in question. The other five counts cited by the Harvard authorities apparently concerned errors that were corrected before publication.
Only one of the eight counts, about an article published in the journal Cognition in 2002, seemed to involve a possibly serious breach of research ethics. The experiment had problems that Dr. Hauser ascribed to an error in the computer-controlled protocol for alternating test and control experiments.
Marc Hauser update
Harvard scientist run amuck?
- 'bout Time...pull On The Reigns For Scientific Misconduct
"UK funders get tough on research misconduct" by Leila Sattary March 4th, 2013 Chemistry World Universities who do not take cases of research misconduct seriously could have their funding withdrawn. The new sanctions are set out in the revised ...
- For Scientific Results Concerning Human Health, Suspicion Is Cast Once Again--red Wine
One wonders about the peer review process."University Suspects Fraud by a Researcher Who Studied Red Wine"byNicholas WadeJanuary 11th, 2012The New York TimesA charge of widespread scientific fraud, involving 26 articles published in 11 journals, was leveled...
- Harvard Scientist Run Amuck?
"In Harvard Lab Inquiry, a Raid and a 3-Year Wait" by Nicholas Wade Augyst 13th, 2010 The New York Times Marc Hauser’s academic career was soaring when suddenly, three years ago, Harvard authorities raided his laboratory and confiscated computers...
- Harvard Senior In Big Trouble
I bet that none of his classes included a philosophy course on "ethics". "Harvard senior charged with forging his way into university" by Doug Stanglin May 18th, 2010 USA TODAY A 23-year-old Harvard senior has been jailed for allegedly forging his way...
- Rusi Taleyarkhan--falsified Research?
Rusi Taleyarkhan Ah, a revival of those old TV Saturday night fights. In this corner Rusi Taleyarkhan claiming he is innocent of fraudulent scientific reports on cold fusion and in this corner the Purdue committee claiming his papers were fraudulent....