Florida State University Terminates Criminology Professor Eric Stewart Due to Research Misconduct

In a disturbing yet significant academic scandal, Florida State University has officially fired criminology professor Eric Stewart after almost 20 years of service.

The termination comes as a result of severe allegations of research misconduct and the subsequent retraction of six studies conducted by Stewart.

Stewart, previously known for his work on topics related to systemic racism and its impact on American society, faced allegations of extreme negligence in his research.

His studies, which delved into contentious social issues, included claims that “whites desired longer sentences for black and Latino individuals”.

However, these claims have now been discredited.

The controversy surrounding Stewart’s research first came to light four years ago when his former graduate student, Justin Pickett, blew the whistle on his research practices.

Pickett alleged that Stewart manipulated data to support preconceived conclusions, particularly in studies examining public perceptions of sentencing for minority populations.

Florida State University’s Provost James Clark formally notified Stewart of his termination, citing “incompetence” and “false results” as the primary reasons.

Clark also expressed his valid concerns about the impact of Stewart’s actions on the university’s reputation and the academic community at large.

“I do not see how you can teach our students to be ethical researchers or how the results of future research projects conducted by you could be deemed as trustworthy,” Clark wrote to Stewart, who has been absent from his role since March.

Clark said as well as the six officially retracted studies, other work by Stewart was “in doubt.”

“Because of your actions,” Clark continued, “decades of research that were once thought to be at the forefront of the Criminology discipline have been shown to contain numerous erroneous and false narratives.”

The retracted studies, published in major academic journals between 2003 and 2019, covered topics such as racial discrimination in the criminal justice system, public perceptions of minority communities, and the relationship between incarceration and various social factors.

One retracted study from 2019 suggested a link between historical lynchings and white people’s perceptions of black individuals as threats.

Another study in 2018 explored how white Americans viewed black and Latino individuals as “criminal threats.”

A 2015 study claimed that Americans wanted harsher sentences for Latinos due to their increasing population and economic success.

All of these studies have since been invalidated.

Despite the controversy surrounding his research, Stewart had risen to prominence as an influential figure in the field of criminology.

He boasted over 8,500 citations by other researchers, indicating the impact of his work within academia.

“The damage to the standing of the University and, in particular, the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice and its faculty approaches the catastrophic and may be unalterable,” said FSU Provost James J. Clark.

Stewart’s research had also received substantial funding, with over $3.5 million in grants from organizations and taxpayer-funded entities.

Funding sources included the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Justice, the National Institute of Mental Health, and more.

Furthermore, Stewart’s involvement in various university committees and academic decision-making processes allowed him to influence matters such as diversity, promotions, and academic dishonesty investigations.

In response to his termination, Clark expressed deep concern about the damage to the university’s standing and the faculty’s reputation.

“Graduate students have expressed their concerns with being connected to the situation by simply being in the same college as you,” Clark told Stewart.

The scandal has raised questions about the integrity of academic research and the need for robust oversight to prevent research misconduct and fraudulent data.

It serves as yet another reminder of the importance of maintaining the highest standards of academic rigor and ethics within the academic community.

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TPUSA