@tante I smell horseshit all over this one. Has any investigator been named? Has any link to supposed documentary evidence terminated at a site provably under the control of any accused institution? I see no such, and there are no authors listed on the anonymously Google Drive-hosted "first draft."

No such academic misconduct if genuine would be anonymously disclosed; say better, the claim of responsibility would not itself be anonymously made, as here. Any statement from the institution would come via its spokespeople, or less likely the PI or other lead investigator for the study. Universities have money for lawyers and guards, and do not actually all that much fear Internet cranks. There would be a name and a press release. Thus far I find neither.

Ever hear of the Sokal affair? This appears to be something perhaps similar, that is, a fabrication with which I would not wish my name or reputation associated. You appear to have the public platform to investigate in a way I cannot. I recommend you do so.

@tante Even the prereg is anonymous. I see Simon also buys this. I hope you both don't regret it - I don't think much of you most of the time, if I'm to be honest, but I like him a lot and he usually does good work. I'd hate to see this splash on him. Maybe you and he should talk.

@alexis @tante I'll be honest: the idea that the moderators for /r/changeMyView might have either invented this story or been fooled by someone pretending to be an academic hadn't crossed my mind

@alexis @tante the bit where the moderators say "The Mod Team responded to this notice by filing an ethics complaint with the University of Zurich IRB" makes me think it's unlikely they were themselves mislead by a fake - which leaves the only option that the mod team themselves would have to be faking the entire scenario

I personally find it unlikely that the mod team for that 10+ yeqr old subreddit with a high reputation for being well managed would randomly decide to spin up a fake like that

@simon @tante I haven't intentionally suggested any theory of who or why. I have none to suggest. I'm only trying to talk about what and how, but I do feel pretty confident there is at least something on those scores worth an effort to rule out.

@alexis @tante what I've seen so far is enough for me to default to believing it - if the University of Zurich declare it not to be true I will both apologize and amplify their denial, but unless that happens (and I expect it won't) I'm defaulting to believing the moderator team