"There is pressure to publish as scientists [...] There are labs that are run by big egos who might say to a young researcher, “Why did your experiment fail? I will hire someone else who will make it work [...] The graduate students and the postdocs might be the ones photoshopping, but who is responsible for the atmosphere and the integrity of the lab? That’s the professor" - @ElisabethBik
I don't recognise any of those scenarios. Have worked with a few massive egos, however they would never have faked anything and never have pressured anyone else to. This was in Forensic Science and a University.
Am aware of pressure in some medical science environments to get publications out and am aware that there has been some fraudulent publication there.
They are all to blame. The PI for creating a toxic environment and failing to provide training and oversight and the ECRs for performing acts they know are improper.
@erinnacland@ElisabethBik@academicchatter I really appreciate that quote: have witnessed 3 cases of scientific fraud being discovered (1 after publication, 2 caught before), and in all cases PhD/postdocs came from labs where PI did not take kindly to data that opposed their pet theory. It doesn't make the data fabrication right, but I wish there was more research done into the environment that creates it, not letting the PIs get away scot-free in these situations.
We have reached a point in academia that there is now a cost associated with failure - career, personal etc. This incentivizes fraud and is anti-thetical to science. Ironically, the tenure system was invented precisely to shield scientists from these costs and promote science.
@failedLyndonLaRouchite@erinnacland@ElisabethBik@academicchatter As it says ... tenure is created for academic freedom. I count the freedom to explore high-stakes blue skies research without the threat of personal costs an important part of academic freedom as it pertains to science.