I had a bit of a eureka on this subject this afternoon: when looking at scientific fraud and who to blame, we (as a society) tend to focus on who stands to gain if the fraud is successful, but instead we should look at who stands to lose the most if the fraud is caught.
Let me explain via a 2x2 matrix (which I highly doubt will render properly, but here goes):
Actor | Fraud is successful | Fraud is caught
------------| -------------- | ----------------
Professor | Scenario A | Scenario B
Student | Scenario C | Scenario D
Scenario A: If a fraud is successful, the senior author gets a small benefit in the form of a slight raise, incremental increase in success rate of next grant, maybe an award, some endorphins from the praise. Very minor actually.
Scenario B: If the fraud is caught the senior author's career could be in shambles, like resigning from their tenured position, losing investors in spin-offs, humiliation, etc. They have a lot to lose.
Scenario C: In the event of a successful fraud, the student stands to gain a lot in the form of job prospects, future income, and generally accomplishing their life's ambitions. There is a huge payoff for the student in this scenario.
Scenario D: If they don't perpetrate fraud (to salvage a bad result), their career in academia is over, they have wasted 3-4 years of the life, which is the same outcome as if they did perpetrate fraud and got caught. The student has nothing to lose!
Let me explain via a 2x2 matrix (which I highly doubt will render properly, but here goes):
Actor | Fraud is successful | Fraud is caught
------------| -------------- | ----------------
Professor | Scenario A | Scenario B
Student | Scenario C | Scenario D
Scenario A: If a fraud is successful, the senior author gets a small benefit in the form of a slight raise, incremental increase in success rate of next grant, maybe an award, some endorphins from the praise. Very minor actually.
Scenario B: If the fraud is caught the senior author's career could be in shambles, like resigning from their tenured position, losing investors in spin-offs, humiliation, etc. They have a lot to lose.
Scenario C: In the event of a successful fraud, the student stands to gain a lot in the form of job prospects, future income, and generally accomplishing their life's ambitions. There is a huge payoff for the student in this scenario.
Scenario D: If they don't perpetrate fraud (to salvage a bad result), their career in academia is over, they have wasted 3-4 years of the life, which is the same outcome as if they did perpetrate fraud and got caught. The student has nothing to lose!