1. What are some of the consequences of LaCour’s behavior? For Broockman and Kalla? For Green? For other researchers in this field? For UCLA? For activists? LaCour’s behavior affected people all around the nation including himself. First off, he lost his credibility as a scientist as well as a job offer from Princeton University. Green also has a somewhat tarnished reputation given that he neglected his duties as a mentor and assisted in writing a false study. LaCour’s study also shifted other studies affecting research around the nation, “[The research] rerouted countless researchers’ agendas, inspired activists to change their approach to voter outreach, generated shifts in grant funding, and launched follow-up experiments.” Broockman and Kalla’s consequences seem less obvious to me. All the case paper said about them was that Broockman now works at Stanford University and the two of them published results of a new study that they conducted in Miami. In the future, researchers in this field will most likely have their work analyzed more closely than in the past, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Before any work is published it should be thoroughly checked to make sure the data is credible. False data can have many negative impacts in the scientific community as was shown in LaCour’s case. UCLA may be embarrassed for a short while, but it doesn’t seem that it will have a lasting effect. The university set their guidelines for treating data and the fault should rest mostly on LaCour.

  2. What are the responsibilities of individuals who co-author papers? What can or should a student (graduate or undergraduate) do when co-author is suspected of falsifying data? Individuals who co-author papers need to ensure that the data is reliable and unbiased first and foremost. Those who co-author papers are responsible for everything it says and should be sure that all individuals are ok with the final result. When a co-author is suspected of falsifying data the student should confront the individual and question the source of said data. If the individual ignores the accusation then the student should report the co-author to whoever is in charge of the study. If there is a disagreement regarding the paper or the data it should be acknowledged and dealt with by all the authors.