The Mayhem of Animal Research

This article can be found at http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2010/09/20/harvard_misconduct_case_casts_shadow_over_other_research/?page=1
    Academic morality rarely comes up in the news, but this is a story about the scientific misconduct of a leading psychology professor at Harvard, Marc Hauser. He is known for his work in defining characteristically human cognitive abilities through animal behavior research. One of his main questions is: “Can nonhuman animals tell what others’ intentions are?”
    The realm of animal behavior research is a bit abnormal. Since the experiments done must be rigorously precise and unbiased, the research is based on a non-orthodox system of checks and balances between professors: “if multiple observers do not report seeing the same behaviors, the data can’t be used.” In Hauser’s case, he repeated an experiment done in 1995, and published a paper on it without retracting or correcting the original 1995 paper. Apparently this is an academic no-no, so he got busted.
    The writing is mediocre. The writer of the story, Carolyn Johnson, takes her time in fleshing out all the details—a strategy which doesn’t work in her favor. She doesn’t say what the nature of Hauser’s scientific work is until the end of the first page, and she doesn’t say what Hauser actually did wrong until the second page. The beginning paragraphs are unnecessary filler (discussion of the reaction to the misconduct case by other Harvard professors). Her explanations of the misconduct charges towards the end were also a bit unclear.