what LaCour, like Sanna, Smeesters, and Stapel before him, got from his data fabrication was control. The study fit the exact specifications required to convince Science’s peer reviewers it was worth publishing. It was what the publication system and the university job market appeared to demand: not a snapshot of a messy reality where results can be unclear and interpretations uncertain, but a clean, impactful result that could immediately translate to use in the real world.
