Harvard professor fired for academic fraud in study on lying

(Dan Tri) - Italian professor Francesca Gino - former lecturer at Harvard Business School - has just been fired for interfering with data in several studies on... lying behavior.

Ms. Francesca Gino used to be one of the highest paid employees at Harvard University (USA). She received a salary of up to 1 million USD/year before being fired recently for data fraud in scientific studies on... lying behavior.

According to Harvard University's Harvard Crimson news outlet, during 2018-2019, Ms. Gino was the 5th highest-paid faculty member at Harvard University, as a lecturer and behavioral science researcher at Harvard Business School.

Ms. Francesca Gino (Photo: NYP).

Gino's teaching career at the prestigious school ended last week, after the school officially determined that she had manipulated data from four studies to make her hypotheses more convincing.

The investigation resulted in Harvard revoking her faculty title and firing her, something that had not happened at Harvard since 1940.

The scandal in Ms. Gino's career began in 2023, when a group of three scientific researchers made allegations against Ms. Gino on a blog called Data Colada.

They published evidence that four studies co-authored by Ms. Gino between 2012 and 2020 showed signs of “data fraud.” Ms. Gino had previously authored 140 research papers.

When the allegations surfaced, a comprehensive investigation by Harvard University was conducted in 2022 and 2023. The investigation team thoroughly reviewed data, emails exchanged, and manuscripts from Ms. Gino and her colleagues. The school also hired an independent investigative unit to examine the data.

During the school’s investigation, Ms. Gino denied the allegations. She suggested that the errors originated with her assistants. She may have even been framed and that the research was deliberately sabotaged. However, the investigation team rejected both of these arguments.

The school has placed Ms. Gino on unpaid leave since the decision to suspend her teaching duties in 2023.

Before being accused, Ms. Francesca Gino was a prominent researcher in the American academic community. She had won many awards and was often mentioned in the media for her interesting research related to fraud and deception.

Harvard University campus (Photo: NYP).

After being suspended without pay, Ms. Gino continued to deny that she had committed data fraud and stated on her personal website: "One thing I am certain of is that I did not commit academic fraud, and did not manipulate data to produce desired results."

Ms. Gino has filed a lawsuit against Harvard University and three researchers behind the Data Colada blog for up to $25 million in damages. She claims that her reputation and honor have been damaged.

However, last September, a federal judge dismissed her lawsuit, arguing that people conducting academic research must be open to public criticism.

The decision to fire Ms. Gino was made by Harvard University amid the school facing great financial pressure, after the administration of US President Donald Trump froze funding and research grants for the school.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/giao-su-harvard-bi-sa-thai-vi-gian-lan-hoc-thuat-khi-nghien-cuu-ve-noi-doi-20250604141453349.htm