The career of a Cornell University marketing professor has come under clouds after a leading medical journal retracted six of his articles.
On Tuesday, Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) announced the retraction of Professor Brian Wansink‘s studies, after the university notified journal that it is unable to provide any assurances on the scientific validity of the studies.
“We regret that, because we do not have access to the original data, we cannot assure you that the results of the studies are valid,” Cornell wrote to JAMA after conducting an investigation.
Following the retraction of articles, Wansink has tendered his resignation. He is expected to retire from the university later this year.
In a statement, the university also revealed details of its investigation conducted by a faculty committee into his research.
“The process of review and investigation under both federal regulations and university policy requires fairness and confidentiality. For this reason, Cornell has not commented substantively on this matter. At this time, it is appropriate to convey the results of Cornell’s extensive review,” reads the statement.
“Professor Wansink committed academic misconduct in his research and scholarship, including misreporting of research data, problematic statistical techniques, failure to properly document and preserve research results, and inappropriate authorship.”
The university has further announced the review of Wansink’s prior research and has sought his cooperation.
