In 2021, academic sleuths revealed that two experiments in the 2012 'signing first' honesty paper were fraudulent.
Notes on verification
Well-corroborated by Data Colada's detailed forensic analyses, BuzzFeed News reporting, and academic commentary. The 2021 discovery targeted one study (Study 3); the full detail of two separately fabricated studies emerged more clearly in 2023 follow-ups, so the exact 2021 framing is slightly compressed but substantially accurate.
Sources
- Inside an Academic Scandal: A Story of Fraud and Betrayal (hks.harvard.edu)
- https://datacolada.org/98 (datacolada.org)
- https://datacolada.org/109 (datacolada.org)
- https://reason.com/volokh/2021/08/22/a-big-study-on-honesty-turns-out-to-be-based-on-fake-data/ (reason.com)
- https://bigthink.com/the-present/honesty-pledge-study-fraud-dan-ariely/ (bigthink.com)
- https://behavioralscientist.org/harvard-professor-under-scrutiny-for-alleged-data-fraud/ (behavioralscientist.org)