News Summary

• A recent case of scientific fraud by a colleague at Radboud University prompted me to go off on a long rant on social media.
• Vox asked me to share it here in slightly edited form.
• The real issue here is the misalignment of incentives with the desired outcomes.
• We get rewarded for telling simple and clean stories – preferably the kind of stories others want to hear.
• We are not rewarded for being open about how complex, messy and uncertain research results can be.
• For spending the time, effort and money needed for collecting high-quality data when there are cheaper short-cuts available.
• For showing how variable our results are, depending on the models we choose apply to our data.
• For admitting that the data are simply too noisy to provide a clear signal.
• For taking the time that is necessary to complete research projects that adhere to FAIR principles, rather than just pumping out another publication.