What would you do about a dishonest advisor :S

[This_sucks]

Hi all,

Suppose you have discovered that your adviser has been dishonest in his/her research. The dishonesty is serious and could lead the advisor to lose his/her job if discovered. What do you do? Is there any way that you can tip people off to examine this person's work more carefully without implicating yourself? I have consulted several sources and it seems pretty clear that the whistle blower faces serious negative consequences, including loss of career. I'm not prepared to give up my career, but I'm also not prepared to stand by and let this person get away with this and contaminate the field. This person is an assistant professor.

I could hold off on reporting this incident until it is safer to do so (right now, it would be difficult to do this anonymously because the lab is so small). But a related issue arises: I don't want to work with this person anymore! Yet I don't want to give up the projects that I started. Now I feel very foolish for sharing my ideas, because I worry that if I walk away, then said advisor will continue the line of work. I also don't want to publish with this person because a) it sickens me to be associated with such a liar, and also there could be fall out for me when the truth is discovered, despite my work being completely honest. I don't want to make my name with someone like this, and I already have some alternatives that I can make work (i.e., collaborating with other people), but I'm torn about what to do with the existing work... Do I drop it? Continue the work and hope that my association with this person doesn't ruin me? I will do my dissertation with someone else, so it is not like all my work will be with this person. The option of just keeping the secret and hoping my advisor is never caught is not an attractive option for me, but I'm curious about what others think.

This all started because I had suspicions and wanted to uncover the truth for my peace of mind, so that I would know who I am dealing with. I don't regret this, but certainly things are infinitely more complicated now. This person is extremely well liked in my department and seems to have a well developed network of colleagues, especially for someone of such junior status. Furthermore, this person is the only junior faculty in my department - all energy is being invested in grooming this person for success, and the pressure is, of course, on. I don't know why my advisor decided to lie, and part of me doesn't care, but there certainly could be departmental dynamics, as well as personality flaws.

I will be most grateful to hear from anyone who has been in a similar situation or has been in graduate school long enough to know what the stakes are.

[anthro2009]

I think that you definitely need to say something - this could negatively affect you down the road, if you're publishing with this person and then they eventually get called out on being dishonest, and all the other people this research has worked/will work with, and anyone who is basing their own research on crappy work that's been published by this researcher, and just the credibility of the whole scientific community. Does anyone else in your department know about the dishonesty? Do you have tangible proof? If other people see the dishonesty and you can talk to them about it, you could report the person together. I can imagine how difficult it must be to report the person you work for, particularly when that person is in a very high-up position and you're still a grad student. I don't know if you've heard about the whole Marc Hauser situation at Harvard - he's a psych professor whose research assistants reported him, and he's been found guilty of academic misconduct:

http://chronicle.com/article/Document-Sheds-Light-on/123988/

Harvard is protecting the whistle-blowers. I think you would probably have a sympathetic audience, particularly given that this just happened and people are becoming more aware of how difficult it is to report a superior person. I think the key is to have tangible evidence and go to someone in the university, outside of your department. Good luck.

[This_sucks]

I think that you definitely need to say something - this could negatively affect you down the road, if you're publishing with this person and then they eventually get called out on being dishonest, and all the other people this research has worked/will work with, and anyone who is basing their own research on crappy work that's been published by this researcher, and just the credibility of the whole scientific community. Does anyone else in your department know about the dishonesty? Do you have tangible proof? If other people see the dishonesty and you can talk to them about it, you could report the person together. I can imagine how difficult it must be to report the person you work for, particularly when that person is in a very high-up position and you're still a grad student. I don't know if you've heard about the whole Marc Hauser situation at Harvard - he's a psych professor whose research assistants reported him, and he's been found guilty of academic misconduct:

http://chronicle.com...ight-on/123988/

Harvard is protecting the whistle-blowers. I think you would probably have a sympathetic audience, particularly given that this just happened and people are becoming more aware of how difficult it is to report a superior person. I think the key is to have tangible evidence and go to someone in the university, outside of your department. Good luck.

Thanks for your response. Yes, I'm aware of "Hausergate". From what I understand, the whistleblowers are former RAs and grad students who have left academia. It seems likely that Hauser had been doing this sort of thing for many, many years and no one reported him. (I personally think it is unlikely that people didn't know what was going on earlier, and I suspect some people opted not to tell.)

I agree with you that not saying anything is not really an option. So I'm coming to grips with the fact that I will likely have to drop the research I've been doing with this person and maybe pursue it with someone else instead. That aside, I'm looking for some kind of way of doing this where I won't be marked. Sure, it's nice in theory to do the right thing and expect not to have any negative consequences, but I'm wise enough to know that life, including academia, is not always fair...I'm not naive enough to think that I will emerge unscathed and I have no desire to sacrifice myself - nor should I have to, nor should anyone expect me to! So I'm looking for other, more discrete options...

No one else knows and I have no way of doing this anonymously, since even under cover of anonymity it would be obvious who made the report.

[anthro2009]

Try to plan for your transition out of your current lab as much as you possibly can before reporting your boss. See if there's anyone within the same department or at your school who would be able to take on your project (assuming the research is sound, despite the dishonest boss). If there is another faculty member in the department you can trust, talk to that person about how to plan before you report your boss. Also, it wouldn't hurt to have a list of other schools where you could potentially transition your project. If you report this dishonest researcher with solid evidence showing academic misconduct, it seems like the department should continue to pay you until you find a new job, or at least give you a reasonable amount of time to transfer to a new phd position. If they aren't supportive, i'm sure there are plenty of newspapers and science journals that would love an editorial about your situation, which would make the department look pretty bad for hanging you out to dry. I think people are very sensitive now about supporting people who report academic misconduct. Nature had an editorial article about the Hauser thing that was all about the human cost of scientific misconduct and how awful it is for the students who report an advisor.

[This_sucks]

Try to plan for your transition out of your current lab as much as you possibly can before reporting your boss. See if there's anyone within the same department or at your school who would be able to take on your project (assuming the research is sound, despite the dishonest boss). If there is another faculty member in the department you can trust, talk to that person about how to plan before you report your boss. Also, it wouldn't hurt to have a list of other schools where you could potentially transition your project. If you report this dishonest researcher with solid evidence showing academic misconduct, it seems like the department should continue to pay you until you find a new job, or at least give you a reasonable amount of time to transfer to a new phd position. If they aren't supportive, i'm sure there are plenty of newspapers and science journals that would love an editorial about your situation, which would make the department look pretty bad for hanging you out to dry. I think people are very sensitive now about supporting people who report academic misconduct. Nature had an editorial article about the Hauser thing that was all about the human cost of scientific misconduct and how awful it is for the students who report an advisor.

Thanks for your ideas. They are along the same lines as what I have been thinking. I think that I will have to be very careful about how I transition out of my current lab, because I don't want to raise suspicion and then have to deal with preemptive strikes against my reputation. That said, I don't see myself leaving this school, in part because I don't think going elsewhere will help me. I have a couple of other people I could work with here.

I do have someone in the department that I think I can trust, but he is a bit of an outsider....once a big name in his field, no longer publishing. It would be nice if I could confide in one of the more powerful faculty members and they could blow the whistle. They would have much less to lose, if anything. They could also possibly ask for information and uncover the fraud themselves, but this might be difficult. Also, I would need to build a relationship with a certain powerful faculty member before I could trust that this person would do things in a way that wouldn't implicate me. Or, I could anonymously tip off people in the field that they might want to try to replicate such-and-such finding. These are just ideas.

I really don't think this would make for a sensational news story, given the low status of the person involved. Marc Hauser is extremely well known, and at Harvard. My program is decent, but Harvard it ain't.

I wouldn't expect my dept to screw me over in terms of funding, etc., but my concern is more about stigma and people not wanting to work with me. I certainly don't want the reputation of a troublemaker. Unfortunately, I don't actually know how prevalent such transgressions are and how others might react to such whistleblowing. Some researchers might do things that are unethical but less damning, yet they may still feel defensive. Also, I think it is possible that some faculty might have a little bit of that ingroup/outgroup mentality, where the grad student can be regarded, by default, with some degree suspicion and contempt. I have seen this attitude towards undergrads and I don't doubt grad students could be viewed the same way.

Here's another thought I've had: This person's work, in my opinion, will not stand the test of time. It's trendy research that in the long run will not be part of the canon of important findings in the field (I think). So, assuming for a moment that my thoughts are true (I know I might be wrong), then how important is it to expose this person? What would be the point then? Let me say that I am personally disgusted by what this person has done and I think they don't deserve their job and that they are a poor excuse for a scientist. But perhaps (and this is a big "perhaps") this is not a good enough reason to file a report, given the assumption that this person will have no impact on science in the long run. This is a variation on the "science as self-correcting" argument. I am not saying I endorse this argument, but that I have considered it and am not sure what I think.

Do you have the title of the Nature article you mentioned? I'd love to read it. As you can imagine, I've been doing a lot of googling on this topic over the past few days.

[fuzzylogician]

Being the cynic that I am, I can completely understand your apprehension. If anything like that happened to me, I think I'd have a plan more or less like this: first, I don't think I could stand by and not say anything. The "science as self-correcting" argument is not without reason, but I don't think I could knowingly let someone get away with committing fraud the way you've described. Especially when, if found, it could have a negative impact on my career. On the other hand, I also understand the worry about the "whistle-blower" stigma. I think it's important to have a long-winded plan. If the fraud is exposed in 2-3-4 more years, that should be sufficient to cause this person trouble and stop their dishonest behavior. The first inevitable step you have to take is to distance yourself from this person as soon as possible. Unfortunately, that means you have to drop the research you've been doing with him. Or, if possible, you could transfer it to your new lab and continue working on it there. However, be mindful of ending up having to collaborate and publish with your current advisor. You don't want your name on the same publication as his, as everything he does could later be dismissed as fraudulent. After you've done this, it would be helpful if you chose a professor who you trust and build a relationship with him, so that when the time comes to report your advisor you have someone in your corner as well. I think you should give this stage at least a year and I'd suggest that during that time you don't hint to anyone that anything is wrong. If someone tries to replicate the bad findings by themselves, that's great. But don't speak too soon, before you have your safety net secured. After enough time has passed, and hopefully at a time when it's not automatically obvious that you were the one who talked, you could report your advisor. How to do that would depend on what your situation will be like when you do so. If you have a strong relationship with your new advisor or your chosen mentor, you could consult with them. Otherwise an anonymous email (which right now I think would be the way I'd choose) is also an option.

Luckily I don't have experience with dishonest advisors, but I've had my work stolen by my boss, who was the new "rising star", in a work situation several years ago. Unfortunately I can tell you that many people were not interested in hearing that he stole my work, even though I had proof, because a lot was invested in him. In fact, it ended up such that he is still working for the same company, and I had to go work elsewhere (which turned out to be excellent - better work and much better pay in my new position, but of course that was pure luck). That experience made me realize that the most important thing is my career and future, and exposing fraud is only second to that. I'd seriously suggest you worry about keeping your reputation more than about "doing the right thing". Be very careful about what you say and do, and start by distancing yourself from the dishonesty before you consider doing anything else.

[Genomic Repairman]

Informally bring up your concerns to another professor who you are on good terms with and who is not too close to your advisor or maybe talk to the department chairman. Be wary of the second option because they have to take it seriously and it will unleash quite a shit storm. The question of do it now or do it later. Lets see, you get your PhD in their lab and then they get busted for misconduct people will not only take a harsh view to them but you also, "I mean you were a trainee of theirs and you did your work underneath them, you might be a scumbag too." Better sooner than later as this will rot your conscience and always be in the back of your mind. Besides what if you bite your lip and the dude gets caught and fired while you are in the middle of your program. Take the hit early rather than later when more is on the line and restarting is much harder.

[This_sucks]

Informally bring up your concerns to another professor who you are on good terms with and who is not too close to your advisor or maybe talk to the department chairman. Be wary of the second option because they have to take it seriously and it will unleash quite a shit storm. The question of do it now or do it later. Lets see, you get your PhD in their lab and then they get busted for misconduct people will not only take a harsh view to them but you also, "I mean you were a trainee of theirs and you did your work underneath them, you might be a scumbag too." Better sooner than later as this will rot your conscience and always be in the back of your mind. Besides what if you bite your lip and the dude gets caught and fired while you are in the middle of your program. Take the hit early rather than later when more is on the line and restarting is much harder.

Sadly, I think the chairman is part of the problem, not the solution. That person is neglectful to the extreme, and I think this may have contributed to the feeling that no one is watching (because, in fact, no one is!) Seriously, there is something wrong when all the responsibility for making sure people are doing things by the books is on the shoulders of those who have the most to lose, and who most likely would lose everything - the lowly students and RAs. If the scientific community really wants to weed out the fraudsters, they need to make academic departments less hospitable to unethical practices.

I have no desire or intention to stay in this person's lab. The extrication process has already begun. Now I'm left thinking something that most grad students never have to worry about: How do I get my name OFF a paper that will eventually be written based on research we conceptualized together? And when I say eventually, I mean within the next year or so. There is another project that is my own "first year" project, that I can stall on indefinitely, I suppose. Another concern is that this may make me look like a slacker to her, but my plan is to build other relationships so that I don't have to rely on her for a reference in future. Of course, she will still know me and could be asked about me, and I will do my best not to give her much reason to say bad things.

[rising_star]

Your university should have an Ombudsman Office that you can consult on how best to protect yourself under the circumstances. I would go see them first, so that you can CYA in the event of something shady happening with your funding/advising/etc in the department.

[Genomic Repairman]

Now I'm left thinking something that most grad students never have to worry about: How do I get my name OFF a paper that will eventually be written based on research we conceptualized together? And when I say eventually, I mean within the next year or so.

Simple, you contact the journal editor, its actually quite easy to remove your name from a paper. The usual response is "Oh, we'll go ahead and take you off right now." In fact some journals have the authors either sign an authorship form and attest to the research through an e-form.

[This_sucks]

Simple, you contact the journal editor, its actually quite easy to remove your name from a paper. The usual response is "Oh, we'll go ahead and take you off right now." In fact some journals have the authors either sign an authorship form and attest to the research through an e-form.

Hmmm, I was thinking more along the lines of removing myself from the projects without giving her the impression that something is wrong. I really don't see how this will be possible.

[newms]

I thought this blog post by a prof about some prominent cases of fraud was relevant. His conclusion (depressingly) - Scientific fraud is a low-risk, high-reward activity. Whatever you decide to do, you need to disassociate yourself from the prof as soon as you can.

Edited September 7, 2010 by newms

[This_sucks]

I thought this blog post by a prof about some prominent cases of fraud was relevant. His conclusion (depressingly) - Scientific fraud is a low-risk, high-reward activity. Whatever you decide to do, you need to disassociate yourself from the prof as soon as you can.

Thanks for the link to the blog. It is a depressing conclusion. My hope, however, is that most people in science care more about discovery and truth than being a star.

Yes, I think you are right and I'm already in the process of disassociating myself from her - or ask I like to put it "extricating" (implying delicately removing myself from her lab without setting off the alarm bells in her head).