this post was submitted on 24 Nov 2023
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[โ€“] appel@whiskers.bim.boats 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

There are some statistical tests and methods you can do to quite easily spot fake data from what I remember. (The name has escaped me, sorry). Ie. To check if it has come from an RNG, or if it is too positive given the sample, etc. but you are right in that it is often enough to fool the review board and get something published. Often the data is only scrutinized with these methods thoroughly after it has been published.

[โ€“] AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

There was an infamous case a few years ago, which was caught because the researcher forgot to delete the fake-data-generating formula from the Excel file.