Jonathan Pruitt

Jonathan Neal Pruitt is a former academic researcher.[1] He was an Associate Professor of behavioral ecology and Canada 150 Research Chair in Biological Dystopias at McMaster University.[2][3] Pruitt's research focused primarily on animal personalities and the social behavior of spiders and other organisms.

Jonathan Pruitt
Born
Jonathan Neal Pruitt

Florida
NationalityAmerican
Education
Scientific career
Fields
Institutions
ThesisSociality in the Spider Anelosimus studiosus: Behavioral Correlates and Adaptive Consequences (2010 (withdrawn))
Doctoral advisorSusan Riechert
Other academic advisors
  • Andy Sih
  • Jay Stachowicz

In early 2020, some of Pruitt's research was identified as having data irregularities, and Pruitt was alleged to have manipulated data.[4] An investigation by McMaster found that Pruitt had "engaged in fabrication and falsification.”[5] In 2021 it was reported that Pruitt "had a dozen papers retracted following allegations of data fraud", and that his doctoral dissertation had also been withdrawn. He resigned from McMaster in 2022 after receiving confidential settlement terms.

Early life

Pruitt was raised in Central Florida.[6] He attended Polk Community College,[7] now Polk State College, and subsequently continued his studies at the University of South Florida and University of Tennessee, Knoxville.[6]

Career

Pruitt received a doctorate at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (since retracted) under his advisor Susan Riechert.[8] Pruitt completed a postdoc at the UC Davis Center for Population Biology under the supervision of Andy Sih and Jay Stachowicz and was hired as an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh in 2011.[9] He later moved to UC Santa Barbara and then, in 2018, to McMaster University.[10] His research was funded by the National Science Foundation.[10][11]

Data irregularities

Concerns about the integrity of Pruitt's research first publicly emerged in January 2020.[12] In February 2020, McMaster University announced that it was reviewing 17 of his publications,[12] and 23 journals were reviewing publications by Pruitt.[10] By February 7, seven papers authored by Pruitt had been retracted or were in the process of being retracted.[12] Pruitt responded to the allegations by stating that the irregularities in his data were mistakes,[13] and he obtained legal counsel who cautioned journals and coauthors not to retract papers until institutional investigations were complete.[14]

In 2020, UT Knoxville "withdrew" Pruitt‘s dissertation.[15][16] In November 2021, Pruitt was placed on a paid administrative leave by McMaster,[17] and in July 2022 he resigned from his university position.[18] As of 2022 Pruitt was a Florida high school science teacher.[1]

Pruitt has been compared to Diederik Stapel and Jan Hendrik Schön, who were also considered rising stars in their fields before the discovery of their fraudulent publications.[19]

As of 2023, Pruitt has had 15 of his research publications retracted, 11 other papers have received an expression of concern, and four other papers have been corrected.[20]

See also

References
  1. Kozlov, Max (10 August 2022). "How a scandal in spider biology upended researchers' lives". Nature. 608 (7924): 658–659. Bibcode:2022Natur.608..658K. doi:10.1038/d41586-022-02156-2. PMID 35948677. S2CID 251494132.
  2. Marcus, Adam (29 January 2020). "Authors questioning papers at nearly two dozen journals in wake of spider paper retraction". Retraction Watch. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  3. Chairs, Canada 150 Research (2017-05-08). "Canada 150 Research Chairs". www.canada150.chairs-chaires.gc.ca. Retrieved 2020-08-29.
  4. Semeniuk, Ivan. "McMaster University researcher under fire for data irregularities". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  5. Kincaid, Ellie (10 May 2023). "Spider researcher Jonathan Pruitt faked data in multiple papers, university finds". Retraction Watch. Center for Scientific Integrity. Retrieved 2023-05-11.
  6. "Jonathan Pruitt". 500 Queer Scientists. Retrieved 2021-12-28.
  7. Staff Writer. "Polk Community College". The Ledger. Retrieved 2021-12-28.
  8. Jonathan N. Pruitt Archived 2021-05-07 at the Wayback Machine, Pruitt Lab, McMaster University
  9. "Dr. Jonathan Pruitt to Join Biological Sciences | Department of Biological Sciences | University of Pittsburgh". www.biology.pitt.edu.
  10. Pennisi, Elizabeth (31 January 2020). "Spider biologist denies suspicions of widespread data fraud in his animal personality research". Science. doi:10.1126/science.abb1258. S2CID 214403147.
  11. "Jonathan Pruitt". 500 Queer Scientists. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  12. Viglione, Giuliana (13 February 2020). "'Avalanche' of spider-paper retractions shakes behavioural-ecology community". Nature. 578 (7794): 199–200. Bibcode:2020Natur.578..199V. doi:10.1038/d41586-020-00287-y. PMID 32047306.
  13. "Top Spider Biologist's Research Under Fire". The Scientist Magazine®. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  14. Pennisi, Elizabeth (12 March 2020). "Embattled spider biologist seeks to delay additional retractions of problematic papers". Science. doi:10.1126/science.abb7068. S2CID 216352739.
  15. "Sociality in the Spider Anelosimus studiosus: Behavioral Correlates and Adaptive Consequences". TRACE Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. University of Tennessee Knoxville. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  16. "Behavioral ecologist Jonathan Pruitt's PhD dissertation withdrawn", Retraction Watch, 11 November 2021
  17. Pennisi, Elizabeth. "As data probe concludes, spider biologist placed on leave, has Ph.D. thesis 'withdrawn'". Science.org. Retrieved 2021-11-16.
  18. "Embattled spider biologist resigns university post". www.science.org. Retrieved 2022-07-12.
  19. Neuroskeptic. "Social Spiders and Science Fraud". Discover Magazine. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  20. "Retraction Watch Database". Retraction Watch. Center for Scientific Integrity. Retrieved 2023-04-17.


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