Behavioural science
Francesca Gino: Harvard Business School data allegations, 2021 to 2026
Harvard Business School
Disputed in court Harvard found research misconduct and revoked her tenure in May 2025. Her breach of contract and discrimination suit and Harvard's counterclaim were pending in federal court as of September 2026, with trial scheduled for December.1,6,7
Papers
| Paper | Action | Date | Reason stated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Signing at the beginning makes ethics salient and decreases dishonest self-reports in comparison to signing at the end (Shu, Mazar, Gino, Ariely and Bazerman) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2012 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.12097461098,4,3 | Retracted | 13 September 2021 | Retracted after Data Colada alleged the data in a field experiment in the paper were fabricated. Fortune reported she was not responsible for that experiment. |
| Evil Genius? How Dishonesty Can Lead to Greater Creativity Psychological Science, 2014 https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976145207143,9 | Retracted | 6 July 2023 | Withdrawn at the request of the university, according to Fortune citing the Financial Times. |
| The Moral Virtue of Authenticity: How Inauthenticity Produces Feelings of Immorality and Impurity Psychological Science, 2015 https://doi.org/10.1177/095679762311875963,5 | Retracted | 6 July 2023 | Withdrawn at the request of the university, according to Fortune citing the Financial Times. The notice text was not read. |
Investigations
- Harvard Business School faculty investigation committee, 2023A three-person committee found her responsible for research misconduct, after which the dean placed her on unpaid leave and began tenure revocation proceedings, according to Poetsandquants.2
- Harvard Corporation, May 2025Revoked her tenure and ended her employment, the first tenure revocation at Harvard in roughly 80 years according to The Harvard Crimson.1,6
- US District Court for the District of Massachusetts (Judge Myong J. Joun), September 2024Dismissed her defamation and related claims against Harvard and all claims against the Data Colada authors, and allowed her breach of contract claim against Harvard to proceed. Her Title IX gender discrimination claim was not part of the motion, according to The Harvard Crimson.10,2
- US District Court for the District of Massachusetts, September 2026Harvard moved for summary judgment in June 2026 and Gino opposed it. Harvard's counterclaim alleges she gave investigators a falsified dataset, which she denies. The Crimson reported in September 2026 that trial was scheduled to begin on 7 December.6,2,7
Response
She maintains she has never falsified or fabricated data (Poets and Quants), and told GBH News in 2026 that she hopes co-authors and the public will look at my side.2,7
Sources
- The Harvard Crimson, Harvard revokes Gino's tenure (27 May 2025)
- Poets and Quants, Francesca Gino Harvard lawsuit (12 September 2025)
- Fortune, Harvard Business School professor retractions (12 July 2023)
- Data Colada, [98] Evidence of Fraud in an Influential Field Experiment About Dishonesty (17 August 2021)
- Psychological Science (Association for Psychological Science), Retraction Notice to The Moral Virtue of Authenticity (6 July 2023)
- The Harvard Crimson, Harvard and Gino near trial (9 September 2026)
- GBH News, Francesca Gino lost her Harvard tenure. Now she's taking the university to court (16 September 2026)
- PNAS, via Crossref, Signing at the beginning makes ethics salient and decreases dishonest self-reports, Crossref metadata (retraction notice 10.1073/pnas.2115397118) (13 September 2021)
- Psychological Science, via Crossref, Evil Genius? How Dishonesty Can Lead to Greater Creativity, Crossref metadata (retraction notice 10.1177/09567976231187595) (6 July 2023)
- The Harvard Crimson, Judge dismisses Gino's defamation claims against Harvard and Data Colada (12 September 2024)