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/sci/ - Science & Math

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12790248 No.12790248 [Reply] [Original]

My advisor made me publish inaccurate results in a good journal when I was unskilled and didn't know everything. I've come across this paper recently and I don't know what am I supposed to do in this situation. Any advice?

The story is simple. We had to write a paper in no time. We stumbled upon very stupid equation that we weren't able to solve. My advisor said that he has solved it, showed me the answer and said that if we won't publish it, I won't get my master and also I won't find money for my research.

We added some weird and intentionally complicated math to advocate the intentionally wrong answer. Mostly because we have proven that the answer gives consistent numerical simulations.

5 years later, the whole my research is based on this wrong answer. I'm writing my PhD. And I'm hating myself for agreeing to publish it. I've decided to leave the academia because of this mistake and the fact that my research is actually a trash. But what would be the right thing to do in my situation? Should I write to the journal, saying that I had published intentionally wrong result and therefore be a reason they add all of the co-athors of this paper (6 of them are currently working in academia) to a black list?

>> No.12790263

You knew it was wrong?

>> No.12790269

>>12790248
If this is true you must be really lost if you have to resort to 4chan for advice.

>> No.12790271

>>12790263
Yes, I should rot in hell

>> No.12790277

>>12790269
I'm too ashamed of this to reveal it to any of my friends in science.

>> No.12790283

>>12790248
It depends on whether you value scientific ethics or your morals. If you do write to the journal don’t be surprised if your masters and degree are retracted. Are you willing to sacrifice that and many potential careers for scientific integrity? Plus, this kind of behaviour does seem to be increasingly more common.

>> No.12790289

>>12790271
Yeah,, that's bad. You shouldn't have done that, you have no one to blame but yourself. It's career suicide to admit it, but it's also career suicide to do it in the first place.

>> No.12790293

>>12790289
He was between a rock and a hard place yet chose to jump off the cliff

>> No.12790295

>>12790248

God, dude, if you can demonstrate that the answer he got is wrong, then go for it. You'll get your side of the story in first. You've already decided to leave academia, so it's not even going to hurt you. Just do your good deed already.

>> No.12790329

>>12790283
This is pretty much it OP. Modern day society punishes you for doing the right thing and encourages immoral behavior. Your situation is fairly common, but a lot of people would not even hesitate to do what's personally best for them. Some even engage in double think and convince themselves they are right when they know they are wrong.

Society is fucked.

>> No.12790345

>>12790329
I could never tell whether we were in Brave New World or 1984 - now I think we’re in both

>> No.12790406

>>12790289
>>12790295

Well, yes, thank you, guys. It's my fault and I should write to the journal

>> No.12790408

>>12790248
Send a new manuscript showing where the error is and explaining how the results were wrong. You get one extra, free paper.

>> No.12790432

>>12790408
Why? Why would anyone would want to publish it, knowing that I was cheating earlier?

>> No.12790468

>>12790432
to be a good POOBLISHER

>> No.12790554

>>12790432
don't write it as 'we cheated earlier', write it as 'oops we were wrong and here's the correction'

>> No.12790663

>>12790554
Oopsie, we faked results to get money

>> No.12791405

>>12790554
Happy accidents happen in science all the time. If your simulations are reasonable then the math might be closer to the truth than you realize. There's no reason to trash careers over this, just try to be more ethical in the future.

>> No.12791416

>>12790248
Shit sucks. Either send in a correction to disprove or prove your original equation. Or just YOLO and put the citation to the paper here.

>> No.12791722

>>12790248
how do you know that its inaccurate if it gives reliable results for numerical simulations?
how did your advisor come up with his answer? did he derive it analytically?
if the results are at least somewhat accurate and the approximation you linked works somewhat for simulations then wheres the issue?
you failed to derive the method properly, this doesnt mean that there is no merit to the method.

also you can give the equation and have anons try their luck.
>My advisor said that he has solved it, showed me the answer and said that if we won't publish it, I won't get my master and also I won't find money for my research
well then thats on him? as long as you are doing your research properly and know that this is terrible practice.
also you can always just write a follow up paper where you expand on your methodology.

>> No.12791751

>>12790408
>>12790554
This is the gargantuan brain take.

>> No.12792574

Just admit your mistake anonymously on some sort of online forum and get on with your life OP

>> No.12792764

>>12790554
>>12790248

I'm guessing that this can't be passed off as an honest mistake though, right?

What field is this btw?

>> No.12792792

>>12790345
We're in The Schrodinger's Cat Trilogy actually

>> No.12792795

>>12790248
Invent a different persona and debunk your shit inder its name

>> No.12792972
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12792972

>>12790345
Go back to pol, schizo

>> No.12793004

>>12790248
You would have to be retarded to write to the journal to tell them this story. You're already retarded for basing your PhD on wrong results, what the hell were you thinking? Your best bet would be to publish a correction paper in that same journal. Intentionally publishing false results and accidently publishing false results is, functionally, the same thing with respect to the outcome. You have no reason to report intentionality, how naïve are you?

>> No.12793040

>>12792792
That's why I've been seeing all those fnords.

>> No.12793425

>>12790248
>Mostly because we have proven that the answer gives consistent numerical simulations.

Send a request to the journal for a notice to be added that the answer is wrong and therefore it is unknown why the simulations are consistent and well behaved. Someone will find the paper and find your mistake. I wrote a paper for my Masters, it did ok, up to 30 citations now, but I've got at least 100 e-mails about and more than a handfull of those requested that I clarify steps in one of the proof.

It will be retracted some day. And that retraction can either be career destroying or a minor setback. It might even be good for you if you request a full retraction. Lie and say you didn't see the mistake at publication, only after recently reviewing it. Inform all your co-authors of your intentions. Just don't take it to your grave, but also attempt to not destroy your career.

>> No.12793442

>>12792764
I assume OP is in maths or physics and from a central European country

>> No.12793460

>>12790295
>You've already decided to leave academia, so it's not even going to hurt you.

Yeah, nah, there is nothing the research community, including those in industry, hates more than liars and especially when dishonesty was used to get competative grants. OP _NEEDS_ to get ahead of this, if someone else finds out first he is done for. The best he could hope for is some low paid position at a midling who's HR team is too lazy to Google him. Don't believe me? Look at the retraction watch reports of researchers made toxic, they never find work again.

>> No.12793470

>>12793004
This. Just handwave some bullshit about this being found incorrect and publish a nee paper stating it is incorrect because blah blah blah.

>> No.12793607

>>12792972
Stick your head in deeper