Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

How a scandal in spider biology upended researchers’ lives

Although Jonathan Pruitt, the researcher at the centre of a retractions scandal, has resigned, former lab members and collaborators continue dealing with the fallout.
  1. Max Kozlov
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

After more than two years of allegations over data irregularities in his publications, Jonathan Pruitt, a behavioural ecologist and rising star in the field of spider behaviour, resigned from McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, in July. The resignation marks a turning point in a painful saga — but Pruitt’s former lab members and collaborators told Nature that they want more closure, as they continue to deal with the fallout. Aside from the time wasted on studies that are now retracted, they have struggled with the stigma of being associated with alleged misconduct and have found it difficult to once again trust co-workers and collaborators.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 608, 658-659 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-02156-2

Updates & Corrections

  • Correction 10 August 2022: An earlier version of this story placed evolutionary biologist Dan Bolnick at Yale University. He is at the University of Connecticut.

References

  1. Laskowski K. L. et al. Am. Nat. 187, 776–785 (2016).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Pruitt, J. N. & Goodnight, C. J. Nature 514, 359–362 (2014).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links