A Sleuth’s Stories on Detecting and Revealing Large-Scale Research Fraud
08-15, 12:00–12:50 (US/Eastern), Little Theatre

In this talk, the speaker will share how they stumbled into this work by accident and what it’s like to operate as a scientific sleuth within academia. The bulk of the presentation will focus on real-world cases of research fraud and misconduct, spanning fields from neurodegenerative diseases to chemistry, physics, and materials science. The talk will, through these examples, explore: the techniques and tools used to detect irregularities; how issues are reported to journals and publishers; the distinction between honest mistakes and deliberate manipulation; the collateral damage caused by misconduct, including its impact on public trust in science. The final section will examine the social and economic drivers of research fraud - and outline the systemic changes needed, globally, to break this cycle and restore integrity in science.

Mu Yang is a behavioral neuroscientist at Columbia University Medical Center. She is also a “sleuth” whose reports have led to over 180 retractions since 2022. She had a lead role in the Eliezer Masliah (the former director of neuroscience at the National Institute on Aging (NIA)) case.
bluesky: @mumumouse2
linkedin: mu-yang-11229436/
x/twitter: @mumumouse2

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