Results of study into serious violations of academic standards

The results of the study into serious violations of academic standards at Tilburg University have been published.

In Section 3.3 of the final report “Falende wetenschap: De frauduleuze onderzoekspraktijken van sociaal-psycholoog Diederik Stapel”, it is stated that “[i]n a small number of cases, the Levelt Committee has observed such a serious violation of academic standards that the Committee felt it necessary to confidentially report the names of those involved to the Rector Magnificus of Tilburg University.” Having studied these cases – which concerned three separate individuals –, the Tilburg University Executive Board is sad to say that the reported cases indeed involved sloppy and careless scholarship.

However, no violation of academic integrity similar to that committed by Stapel was involved here. It is important to make this distinction, as was also done by the Levelt Committee. Stapel’s academic fraud is of an entirely different order than the above-mentioned carelessness and sloppiness. Nevertheless, it is a matter of deep concern to the Executive Board and appropriate measures have been taken.