Yeah I agree with you, I guess I just keep coming back to "make the punishment so eye-wateringly harsh very few people are stupid enough to try it."
Most types of fraud carry a $100-250k monetary penalty and up to 20, 25, 30 years in prison.
The number of people willing to fabricate research data decreases dramatically if you're going to have to pay the grant back from your $20/hr warehouse job after you spend the better part of a decade in a minimum security prison.
The flip side is that if punishments are eye watering harsh then people will be even less willing to inflict them.
Bear in mind also that the vast majority of academic fraud isn’t cut and dried easily proved. It’s p hacking or “accidental” flaws in an analysis, or forgetting to mention some important detail.
Most types of fraud carry a $100-250k monetary penalty and up to 20, 25, 30 years in prison.
The number of people willing to fabricate research data decreases dramatically if you're going to have to pay the grant back from your $20/hr warehouse job after you spend the better part of a decade in a minimum security prison.