Harvard University has revoked the tenure of Francesca Gino, a professor of business administration, who was accused of data manipulation. Gino, who had been fighting the allegations for nearly four years, denied the claims and filed a lawsuit against the blog authors and Harvard. The university’s spokesperson noted this is a rare occurrence in recent decades.
Gino, who was among the top-paid employees at Harvard in 2018 and 2019, received over $1 million in compensation annually. Her research previously focused on ethics and honesty, but she now finds herself at the center of a scholarly controversy. The Harvard Crimson highlighted that she was well-known for her work on ethical behavior before the allegations against her surfaced.
The controversy began in 2021, when researchers at Data Colada raised concerns over her data practices, suggesting evidence of fraudulent activity in studies spanning over a decade, including those published as recently as 2020. The blog’s authors, who remain anonymous, shared their concerns with Harvard Business School in the fall of 2021, but the university’s response was slow to act. As a result, Gino decided to file a lawsuit against the blog’s authors and the university, with parts of the legal process still in motion.
Gino publicly declared her innocence on her website, asserting that she did not manipulate data or commit academic fraud. She emphasized that her research was conducted with integrity and that the allegations are unfounded. Despite her denials, Harvard has taken the step of revoking her tenure, a seldom-used measure that underscores the gravity of the situation. Gino’s legal team has been contacted, but as of now, there has been no official statement from her side.
This case has raised broader questions about academic integrity and how institutions handle allegations of misconduct. With the outcome of the ongoing lawsuit yet to be determined, the academic community awaits further developments in this high-profile case. The case also reflects a growing trend of scrutiny towards data practices in research, which has led to increased calls for transparency and accountability in academic publishing.