One week ago, the news broke that the University of Amsterdam is recommending the retraction of a 2012 paper by one of its professors, social psychologist Prof Jens Förster, due to suspected data manipulation. The next day, Förster denied any wrongdoing.
Shortly afterwards, the Retraction Watch blog posted a (leaked?) copy of an internal report that set out the accusations against Förster. The report, titled
Suspicion of scientific misconduct by Dr. Jens Förster,
is anonymous and dated September 2012. Reportedly it came from a statistician(s) at Förster's own university. It relates to three of Förster's papers, including the one that the University says should be retracted, plus two others. A vigorous discussion of the allegations has been taking place in this Retraction Watch comment thread. The identity and motives of the unknown accuser(s) are one main topic of debate; another is whether Förster's inability to produce raw data and records ...
