Ryan Briggs

Raising kids & bread & grant money. Cleaning data & diapers & fish. EA (bed nets not light cone). Social scientist.

[Ryan Briggs @ryancbriggs]

I have a new paper. We look at ~all stats articles in political science post-2010 & show that 94% have abstracts that claim to reject a null. Only 2% present only null results. This is hard to explain unless the research process has a filter that only lets rejections through.

[Eric Levitz @EricLevitz]

This editorial is appalling. It omits any mention of Arday's serial fabulism or his attempt to intimidate -- and direct law enforcement against -- a journalist investigating his misconduct. It appears to characterize his fabrication of academic credentials and biographical details as aspects of "how Arday conducted aspects of his personal life."

The editorial also ignores that his plagiarism is an established fact that any truth-seeking publication could itself confirm by referencing publicly available documents. Instead, Nature chooses to ignore the observable realities, while inviting readers to conclude that the charges were trivial or false.

The British tabloid press is disgraceful. This story was grossly over-covered and the attention it attracted surely reflected racial resentments. But it's crazy that the editorial leadership of a flagship scientific journal would publish a willfully dishonest polemic on a culture war controversy.

Nature is effectively advertising a willingness to prioritize its political sympathies over factual accuracy. That undermines its own more essential work -- along with the broader project of cultivating public trust in, and agreement upon, scientific truths.

[Ryan Briggs @ryancbriggs]

@melissabaker712 As a Raptors fan…

[Jesse Singal @jessesingal]

this is really, really, really, really bad. it's bad that there are no longer institutions that we can trust to at least try, a little, to stay above the fray. it's doubly bad when they are the most prestigious truthseeking institutions in the world. i want a different timeline

[Ryan Briggs @ryancbriggs]

@elisaxchen I agree that the norms here are sadly not so clear

[Ryan Briggs @ryancbriggs]

It isn't a "requirement" to meet with a grad student criticizing your work, but if someone has published on a topic then they should be **delighted** if someone decides to help them produce a more accurate answer for free. Anything else makes me question their motives

[Alex Zevelev ✡️ from 🇺🇦 @AlexZevelev]

To what extent are scholars required to answer emails/meet with grad students (or other researchers) working on research related to their work?

Not sure if they have some kind of moral or professional duty…
But everyone’s time is very scarce

[Ryan Briggs @ryancbriggs]

@elisaxchen For a published article in the past 20 years, I think they do. But it’s a failure of the journals system if you’re in this position

[Shams Charania @ShamsCharania]

BREAKING: The NBA has ruled on the Los Angeles Clippers in for salary cap circumvention investigations on Kawhi Leonard after yearlong probe -- stripping the franchise of 5 first-round picks, issuing a $30 million fine to owner Steve Ballmer and suspensions for Ballmer, Lawrence Frank and Gillian Zucker, sources tell ESPN.

Kawhi Leonard will have to pay $700,000 in restitution for improper benefits by the Clippers for his uncle and former business rep, Dennis Robertson. No contract void or suspension for Leonard. And Robertson -- who was fired by Leonard in June -- is being banned by the NBA from all business dealings.

[Stuart Ritchie @StuartJRitchie]

It’s really important that society has institutions that can be trusted to tell the truth and to be fair and reasonable.

This editorial, which launders the reputation of an obvious conman, makes clear that Nature is no longer such an institution. What’s left?

[Michael Geist @mgeist]

Grateful to be named to Canadian Lawyer's Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers in Canada for 2026, with the nomination citing both my digital policy work and my work on antisemitism. Thanks to the person who nominated me and to everyone who voted in support.
https://t.co/OwvvrQjl0C

[Ryan Briggs @ryancbriggs]

@SEAsheltie @akoustov See also:

[Kevin A. Bryan @Afinetheorem]

1) Huge shift in female and black/Native hiring (both are overrepresented now), 2) controlling for career stage and so on, ~12-15% drop in h-index of awardees, 3) the sciences just hired Asian people to comply, 4) social sciences hired many folks with "activist" language 2/3

[Ryan Briggs @ryancbriggs]

Our courts have tendency to view jobs and awards not as having a social purpose (maximize impact per $, etc), but as a kind of token that should be distributed in a way that can favour but never disfavour a list of groups that amounts to “everyone but straight white men” (for real). This is just how they operate. The only solution is to make it so such discrimination is illegal.

[Ryan Briggs @ryancbriggs]

@akoustov we would need to change the underlying law, which explicitly permits this kind of thing. in general, we need to *massively* restrain our courts. it's an uphill battle

[Benjamin Parry @_benjaminparry]

Exceptionally important. A must read thread and report if you care about excellence, the humanities, or Canadian education.

When the Canada Research Chairs were started it was an amazing program — international successes. New rules introduced in the 2010s created a heavy, discriminatory EDI requirements in hiring choices that have dramatically reduced the quality of recipients.

The problem continues to get worse. There has been no progress.

[Kevin A. Bryan @Afinetheorem]

The language here is quite strong, but no matter your politics, the data is interesting. Canada Research Chairs (biggest govt grant funding in Canada) after a court ruling became much harder to give to white men about a decade ago. What was the result? 1/3

[Ryan Briggs @ryancbriggs]

@RexDouglass “wow humblebrag for saying you all think”

[Ryan Briggs @ryancbriggs]

you think that's bad? I think like an economist

[Bia @BeatrizGietner]

I realized today that I tend to think like a lawyer
This can’t be good

[Jeffrey Sachs @JeffreyASachs]

I've lived in Canada for almost 20 years and been involved in academia for all of them, but I still find this shocking and deeply wrong.

[Justin Sandefur @JustinSandefur]

Yes, clever theorists like Acemoglu can build a model to justify whatever conclusion they want.

But not to worry, applied microeconometricians can manufacture evidence for it. 🫠

[Jon Fiva @JFiva]

Some crazy stats from this new JEL paper:

- IV est. average 3–10x OLS (meta analysis)
- Sign. results 30x more likely to be published in experimental econ (Andrews & Kasy)
- <2% of empirical polisci report null-only findings in abstracts (Briggs et al.)

https://t.co/rbpoQctWxU

[Ryan Briggs @ryancbriggs]

@BeatrizGietner 😭