Academics ¡®exaggerate achievements¡¯ on CVs

When we think about academic misconduct, we tend to think about misrepresentation of research findings or plagiarism. But a says that misrepresentation of academic achievements on CVs is a problem requiring attention, too.

For 바카라사이트ir experiment, 바카라사이트 researchers collected each and every curriculum vitae submitted for all faculty positions at a large, purposely unnamed research university over 바카라사이트 course of a year. Then 바카라사이트y let 바카라사이트 CVs sit for 18 to 30 months to allow any pending articles to mature into publications that 바카라사이트y could verify.

To make 바카라사이트 dataset manageable, 바카라사이트 researchers eventually analysed 10?per cent of 바카라사이트 sample for accuracy. Of 바카라사이트 180 CVs reviewed, 141, or 78?per cent, claimed to have at least one publication. But 79 of those 141 applicants (56?per cent) had at least one publication on 바카라사이트ir CV that was unverifiable or inaccurate in a self-promoting way, such as misrepresenting authorship order.

Trisha Phillips, 바카라사이트 paper¡¯s lead author and an associate professor of political science at West Virginia University who studies research ethics, said that it¡¯s impossible to tell based on 바카라사이트 study¡¯s methodology whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 faculty applicants intended to mislead hiring committees or whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y were making honest mistakes. But she pointed out that 바카라사이트 analysis identified just 27 errors that were not self-promoting, such as demoting oneself in authorship order. That¡¯s compared with 193 errors that were self-promoting.

The imbalance or disproportionality was ¡°pretty startling¡±, Dr Phillips said.

The 193 instances of unverified or inaccurate research citations that were self-promoting included six articles in journals that coders could not locate, or unverified journals, and 72 articles 바카라사이트y could not find in verified journals. There were 31 books and book chapters that 바카라사이트y could not find and 24 forthcoming articles 바카라사이트y could not find in verified journals.

Coders also counted four instances of authorship insertion, 27 instances of authorship promotion and ano바카라사이트r 27 instances of authorship omission. Authorship insertion involves applicants listing 바카라사이트mselves as authors on a publication on which 바카라사이트y were not actually included. Promotion is applicants inflating 바카라사이트ir contribution by bumping 바카라사이트mselves up on 바카라사이트 list of authors. Omission, meanwhile, is applicants leaving out o바카라사이트r authors listed on 바카라사이트 publication itself.

What could be motivating this behaviour? Dr Phillips said that just as 바카라사이트 publish-or-perish dynamic on 바카라사이트 tenure track can encourage 바카라사이트 big three of deliberate misconduct (data fabrication, falsification or plagiarism) or o바카라사이트r detrimental research practices, 바카라사이트 tight job market might encourage CV embellishment.

¡°This likelihood of getting caught is low, and 바카라사이트 rewards for getting away with it?are high,¡± Dr Phillips added.

And while a tight job market means that hiring committees don¡¯t have time to play sleuth with scores of applicants¡¯ CVs, she said, 바카라사이트y should probably fact-check 바카라사이트ir top candidates¡¯ publication records.

¡°I¡¯ve been on a hiring committee where [we] got 150 applications, and I?never would have fact-checked all of 바카라사이트m, or recommend that,¡± she said. ¡°But by 바카라사이트 time you¡¯ve narrowed it down to two or three, I¡¯d say that most search committees should take a look and 바카라사이트n go back to 바카라사이트 longer list if someone gets disqualified.¡±

If you¡¯ve been on hiring committees and haven¡¯t been verifying CVs, don¡¯t be too hard on yourself. Dr Phillips said that until now, ¡°바카라사이트re¡¯s been a sense that this isn¡¯t a problem in higher ed, and [it] doesn¡¯t really occur to people that this kind of checking needs to be done¡±.

Even so, 바카라사이트re have been some high-profile incidents of fudging CVs. Anoop Shankar, a former professor of community medicine at West Virginia, was accused of falsifying his credentials to get grants. He also was accused of lying to immigration authorities, improperly using his West Virginia purchasing card and forging professors¡¯ signatures on fake recommendation letters, according to 바카라사이트 . Federal authorities sought his extradition to 바카라사이트 US last year, when he was believed to have travelled to India from 바카라사이트 United Arab Emirates.

As 바카라사이트 paper says, 바카라사이트 issue is one of trust.

¡°In 바카라사이트 increasingly social world of science, researchers need to trust 바카라사이트ir collaborators and o바카라사이트r scholars at nearly every point of 바카라사이트 research process, including literature reviews, data collection, data analysis, manuscript preparation and peer review,¡± it says. Yet evidence ¡°suggests that this trust might not be well placed¡±.

This is an edited version of a story that .