Study on how to reduce low-quality science fails quality control

An influential paper on how to stamp out low-quality science has been retracted, after its authors were found to have broken the very rules they said others should be following.

For years psychologists and sociologists have been wrestling with a so-called “replication crisis”, where experiments published in journals fail to produce the same results when others try to repeat them.

A famous example involves the so-called marshmallow test. In 1972, researchers reported that small children who were able to resist a small but immediate reward — one marshmallow now — in favour of a larger delayed reward — two marshmallows later — went on to lead more successful lives.

The findings, which implied patience was a key to happiness, were cited hundreds of times. In

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