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To: Elsevier

Subject: Urgent call for editorial change at Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes (OBHDP)

Dear Elsevier Leadership,

We, members of the academic research community, write to express our grave concerns regarding the current editorial leadership of OBHDP and its connection to recently uncovered research misconduct. The integrity of academic publishing rests upon editorial independence and absence of conflicts of interest. Recent events have raised serious questions about whether OBHDP can maintain these standards under its current leadership.

A current Co-editor-in-chief of OBHDP, Dr. Maryam Kouchaki, has an extensive publication history with Dr. Francesca Gino, whose work has recently faced serious allegations of research misconduct.

The collaboration has resulted in 19 papers, two of which have already been retracted:

Retracted papers:

1. Gino, F., Kouchaki, M., & Casciaro, T. (2020). Why connect? Moral consequences of networking with a promotion or prevention focus. Journal of personality and social psychology, 119(6), 1221.
2. Gino, F., Kouchaki, M., & Galinsky, A. D. (2015). The Moral Virtue of Authenticity: How Inauthenticity Produces Feelings of Immorality and Impurity. Psychological Science, 26(7), 983-996.

Co-authored papers published in OBHDP:

1. Gino, F., & Kouchaki, M. (2020). Feeling authentic serves as a buffer against rejection. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 160, 36-50.
2. Chui, C., Kouchaki, M., & Gino, F. (2021). “Many others are doing it, so why shouldn’t I?”: How being in larger competitions leads to more cheating. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 164, 102-115.

Additional co-authored papers:

1. Kouchaki, M., & Gino, F. (2016). Memories of unethical actions become obfuscated over time. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(22), 6166-6171.
2. Kouchaki, M., Gino, F., & Feldman, Y. (2019). The ethical perils of personal, communal relations: A language perspective. Psychological Science, 30(12), 1745-1766.
3. Kouchaki, M., Oveis, C., & Gino, F. (2014). Guilt enhances the sense of control and drives risky judgments. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143(6), 2103.
4. Kouchaki, M., & Gino, F. (2015). Dirty deeds unwanted: The use of biased memory processes in the context of ethics. Current Opinion in Psychology, 6, 82-86.
5. Kouchaki, M., Gino, F., & Jami, A. (2014). The burden of guilt: heavy backpacks, light snacks, and enhanced morality. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143(1), 414.
6. Casciaro, T., Gino, F., & Kouchaki, M. (2014). The contaminating effects of building instrumental ties: How networking can make us feel dirty. Administrative Science Quarterly, 59(4), 705-735.
7. Casciaro, T., Gino, F., & Kouchaki, M. (2016). Managing yourself—Learn to love networking. Harvard Business Review, 94(5), 104-107.
8. Jiang, L., Kouchaki, M., & Gino, F. (2018). Attribution of Authenticity: The Benefits of Self-Disclosure of Unfavorable Information. Advances in Consumer Research, 46, 616-617.
9. Kouchaki, M., Jami, A., & Gino, F. (2017). It’s Mine, But I’ll Help You: How Ownership Salience Increases Prosocial Behavior. Advances in Consumer Research, 45, 716-717.
10. Markowitz, D. M., Kouchaki, M., Gino, F., Hancock, J. T., & Boyd, R. L. (2023). Authentic first impressions relate to interpersonal, social, and entrepreneurial success. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 14(2), 107-116.
11. Jami, A., Kouchaki, M., & Gino, F. (2021). I own, so I help out: How psychological ownership increases prosocial behavior. Journal of Consumer Research, 47(5), 698-715.
12. Kc, D. S., Staats, B. R., Kouchaki, M., & Gino, F. (2020). Task selection and workload: A focus on completing easy tasks hurts performance. Management Science, 66(10), 4397-4416.
13. Markowitz, D. M., Kouchaki, M., Hancock, J. T., & Gino, F. (2021). The deception spiral: Corporate obfuscation leads to perceptions of immorality and cheating behavior. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 40(2), 277-296.
14. Gino, F., Kouchaki, M., & Casciaro, T. (2021). Networking Without Dread. Harvard Business Review, 99(2), 24-24.
15. KC, D. S., Staats, B. R., Kouchaki, M., & Gino, F. (2017). Task selection and workload: A focus on completing easy tasks hurts long-term performance. Harvard Business School working paper series# 17-112.

This extensive collaboration presents a clear conflict of interest in the investigation of papers authored by Dr. Gino that appear in OBHDP. The current situation poses several serious concerns:

1. Conflict of interest: The current co-editor’s extensive collaboration history with Dr. Gino creates an untenable position for making unbiased decisions about the investigation of papers co-authored by Dr. Gino.
2. Journal integrity: Two papers co-authored by Dr. Kouchaki and Dr. Gino have already been retracted from other journals, raising questions about the integrity of their other collaborative work, including papers published in OBHDP.
3. Public trust: The academic community’s trust in OBHDP’s peer review and editorial processes may be compromised by this situation.

We therefore call upon Elsevier to take the following immediate actions:

1. Appoint an interim Editor-in-chief with no publication history with Dr. Gino to oversee a thorough review of all papers authored or co-authored by Dr. Gino in OBHDP.
2. Establish an independent committee to review the journal’s editorial processes and recommend reforms to prevent close relationship between successive editorial teams.
3. Implement a transparent process for investigating potential research misconduct that includes clear guidelines for handling conflicts of interest.
4. Create and enforce stronger policies regarding editorial conflicts of interest, particularly concerning collaboration histories between editors and authors under investigation.

The reputation of OBHDP and the integrity of academic publishing in organizational behavior and psychology depend on swift and decisive action. We urge you to take these steps to restore confidence in OBHDP’s editorial processes and maintain its standing as a premier journal in our field.

Sincerely,
The Research Community

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