Allegations of Sexual Misconduct, Accused Scientists, and Their Research

Does the scientific community sanction sexual misconduct? While scientific work should be judged regardless of who created it (Merton’s Norm of Universalism), the scientific community should also encourage “good citizenship” to promote an inclusive environment. Using a sample of scientists accused of sexual misconduct at U.S. universities, we find that their prior work is cited less after allegations surface. The effect weakens with increasing distance in the coauthorship network, indicating that researchers learn about the allegations through their peers. Among the closest peers, male authors react more strongly, suggesting that they feel a greater need to disassociate themselves from the accused. In male-dominated fields, the effects on citations appear to be muted. Accused scientists are more likely to leave academic research, to move to non-university institutions, and to publish less. Our results raise a number of ethical questions that the scientific community will need to answer going forward.

Publication
Widmann, Rainer; Rose, Michael E.; Chugunova, Marina (2022). Allegations of Sexual Misconduct, Accused Scientists, and Their Research, Max Planck Institute for Innovation & Competition Research Paper, No. 22-18. SSRN