We need to talk about academia

Exploring power, corruption and illusions of accountability

BlueSky: is coming

[We need to talk about academia @wnttaAcademia]

Those of us with evidence of malfeasance must do all we can to hold these people to account. The reputation of academia and trust in research are at stake. It is in the public interest that bad actors are held to account.

[Bruce E. Baker @BruceHistorian]

This feels like a bit of a moment. Do university managers (and those on governing bodies) realise they are not immune from responsibility now? Who will be next? (If I knew how to run a book on this, I would.)

[21group @21percentgroup]

Some universities are spending a lot of money on lawyers to protect misbehaving senior administrators or academics

It's contrary to their core values & makes the scandals worse

The money that is being used to hush the scandals up is public money

https://t.co/z6X6ryycJC

[21group @21percentgroup]

Cambridge academics urged to use transferable vote to prevent Lord Browne winning

Reported in @timeshighered, now @thetimes & @varsity

Election is Browne vs Anyone But Browne

The likely winner is best ABB candidate

@oxonpolis @GLJourno

[21group @21percentgroup]

Senior Royal Navy figure sacked after internal inquiry

Sounds like a fantasy to us in academia

University HR Director would manipulate investigation to exonerate anyone senior

Do the Navy not know the ABC of investigation rigging?

https://t.co/HsZY4aAQ8v

[21group @21percentgroup]

Profs Wyn Evans & Tony Booth are re-imagining the Cambridge Chancellorship at 2.00 pm Wednesday 2 July at Cambridge Union

Blog posting https://t.co/3GRGxxN2FB

All welcome, conversation will be filmed

@oxonpolis @VarsityUK @BBCCambs
@TheTab @nicolawoolcock @yourcambridgesu

[Spotting @Spottingthespot]

Fraud pays off! It even gets you a PhD from @tudresden_de. As usual the university is in full support of #papermill #fraud. Publishers are often blamed for the problems we are in, but it's far worse, institutes fully protect their frauds. 👇@UniJena

https://t.co/f3xfQCYoYV

[Spotting @Spottingthespot]

Trust in medical science? More retractions needed, but will publishers, @ElsevierConnect eg, effectively retract all the nonsense they published? Highly doubtful
https://t.co/RAUAaaOd16

[We need to talk about academia @wnttaAcademia]

If this is true, and lawyers wrote the letters I have seen, I'd say they aren't worth their money. But then I am measuring based on logic and truth, which seems to be the first casualty of these "processes."

#truthWillPrevail #academia

[21group @21percentgroup]

Savagely accurate comment on the @21percentgroup blog about the role of Human Resources in universities

https://t.co/ZzxJIdJX1g

As mordant as acid on silk

Highly relevant with the job losses incoming in Higher Education

[We need to talk about academia @wnttaAcademia]

You do have to wonder how they think such hubris is warranted. Based on what I have seen, to describe them as middling would be a compliment.

[21group @21percentgroup]

The Vice Chancellor had "an overbearing leadership style & a dislike of awkward questioning"

The report said "he demonstrated hubris in his role, which led to contempt towards people who offer criticism"

Every highly-paid uni administrator is like this

https://t.co/hYky75FUZC

[21group @21percentgroup]

This is the pledge card for the Chancellorship of
@Cambridge_Uni

Details of policies behind the six pledges are here

https://t.co/z61L9ZE99n

Chancellor should be helping to fix internal problems of the University

@oxonpolis @poppyeh @AnnaFazack1
@VarsityUK @TheTab @BBCCambs

[Publishing with Integrity @fake_journals]

Nature publishes peer review comments alongside new papers - Research Professional News https://t.co/iGcvsgMm1z

[We need to talk about academia @wnttaAcademia]

ICR failed to act on a whistleblowing report. When if the complainant asked if they needed to take the matter externally, the person handling the complaint said that that seemed like a threat. Like a homeowner threatening to call the police if a burglar doesn’t leave the house.

[Eileen Nugent @NugentEile51674]

@21percentgroup @nigelmaclennan @WhistleUK @JUSTICE4WBS Invoking whistleblowing policy will be met with organisational dysfunction & unconstrained amounts of unregulated work-related stress. Organisations that work on the assumption that whistleblowers have no legal protections in the British Legal System could be in for a surprise.

[Eileen Nugent @NugentEile51674]

@21percentgroup @nigelmaclennan @WhistleUK @JUSTICE4WBS Invoking whistleblowing policy will be met with organisational dysfunction & unconstrained amounts of unregulated work-related stress. Organisations that work on the assumption that whistleblowers have no legal protections in the British Legal System could be in for a surprise.

[21group @21percentgroup]

A Professor made 18 defamatory allegations against 3 of his colleagues who intervened to stop horrific bullying

The University of Shamebridge investigated allegations for almost 2 years before concluding that there was no evidence at all

https://t.co/KfzOMOKAWk

[Spotting @Spottingthespot]

People die because of publication #fraud or bad data👇Yet, it is still minimised or ignored in general. A project has been set up to combat these bad papers
https://t.co/2NOKoLvtyk

[21group @21percentgroup]

"Culture is set by people at the top. It's one of things I'd change as Chancellor" said Wyn Evans

@Cambridge_Uni has potential to inspire greater empathy, kindness, inclusion & public engagement with scholarship—but it's held back by its institutional culture

@oxonpolis

[21group @21percentgroup]

Together with @ForThe100_ we are carrying out survey to find the Hateful Eight

The 8 worst UK universities for discrimination, bullying, harassment & lack of care

Whether staff or student, if you have been mistreated, then please tell us in our survey

https://t.co/uzokqQEX87

[We need to talk about academia @wnttaAcademia]

@JMG_BMJ Why was JMG so keen to publish this paper before a full, independent assessment of author contributions was completed, as requested by the original author and initiator of this project, as he had been asking for nearly a year before it was published?

[We need to talk about academia @wnttaAcademia]

This is why I am committed to revealing all those involved in blatant corruption; corrupt people produce corrupt work. The truth will come out and will stay out and the corrupt and their enablers will be constantly reminded of it.

[Prof Nigel MacLennan, Leadership Coach @nigelmaclennan]

Leading Integrity

Why is corruption so common?

Only 1:100 people will whistleblow corruption at work.

Only 1:100 whistleblowers get justice in UK courts.

That means in 9999 cases out of 10,000, the corrupt know they have complete legal impunity & our system enables them.

[John Ruf @JohnRuf6]

At this point what does peer review even accomplish?

It doesn't claim to check the data. It doesn't claim to check the code. It just has a few people with clear horses in the race do a "vibes check", delay it for 5 years, and then someone else has to come along to debunk it?