I find myself growing increasingly curious about a new book that has just been released. Two recent reviews – one in Science and another in Education Next – put Max Bazerman’s Inside an Academic Scandal firmly in the spotlight. The more I read about it, the more I want to get my hands on it myself. I suspect this book will be a great addition to Science Fictions by Stuart Ritchie.

The book centres on the now notorious “signing first” study, which once caused quite a stir. The idea seemed brilliantly simple: ask people to sign their name at the top of a form. They would provide more honest answers. Governments, companies, and universities eagerly embraced the finding. But it was all built on fabricated data. Francesca Gino and Dan Ariely, two of the biggest names in behavioural science, were eventually revealed to have manipulated the datasets.

Painful and fascinating

That is what makes the story not only painful but also fascinating. Ariely, after all, is no minor figure. He is one of the most widely read behavioural scientists of the past two decades. His books on irrational behaviour are international bestsellers. Moreover, his TED talks have reached millions. This is why the scandal cuts so deep. If even someone with Ariely’s reputation is not beyond suspicion, what does that mean for the field as a whole?

The two reviews bring different angles. Science offers a factual reconstruction. It shows how Bazerman, a co-author but not implicated in the fraud, painstakingly describes how he became entangled in the events. Education Next is far more sceptical. It raises the broader question of whether social science itself is less reliable than many would like to believe.

It is precisely this combination that makes me want to read the book. Not only to understand how such a scandal could unfold, but also to follow the larger debate about the state of social science. Whether you admired Ariely’s work or doubted the promises of behavioural economics and behavioural psychology, this case speaks to something bigger.