Hey there, it's Stephen Dubner. This is the second and final part of a series we are revisiting from last year.

Stick around for an update at the end of the episode.

Last week's episode was called Why Is There So Much Fraud in Academia?

We heard about the alleged fraudsters, we heard about the whistleblowers, and then a lawsuit against the whistleblowers.

My very first thoughts were like, oh my God, how's anyone going to be able to do this again?

We heard about feelings of betrayal from a co-author who was also a longtime friend of the accused.

We once even got to the point of our two families making an offer to a developer on a project to have houses connected to each other.

We also heard an admission from inside the house that the house is on fire.

If you were just a rational agent acting in the most self-interested way possible,

as a researcher in academia, I think you would cheat.

That episode was a little gossipy, for us at least. Today we are back to wonky, but don't worry,

it is still really interesting. Today we look into the academic research industry, and believe

me, it is an industry. And there is misconduct everywhere from the universities.

The most likely career path for anyone who has committed misconduct is a long and fruitful career.

Because most people, if they're caught at all, they skate.

There's misconduct at academic journals, some of which are essentially fake.

There may be something that sounds a lot less nefarious than what I just described, but that is actually what's happening.

And we'll hear how the rest of us contribute, because after all, we love these research findings.

You know, you wear red, you must be angry, or if it says that this is definitely a cure for cancer.

We'll also hear from the reformers who are trying to push back.

It was a tense few months, but in the end, I was allowed to continue doing what I was doing.

Can academic fraud be stopped? Let's find out.

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