Jonathan Pruitt

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Jonathan Pruitt
Born
Jonathan Neal Pruitt

Florida
NationalityAmerican
Education
Scientific career
Fields
Institutions
ThesisSociality in the Spider Anelosimus studiosus: Behavioral Correlates and Adaptive Consequences (2010 (withdrawn))
Doctoral advisorSusan Riechert
Other academic advisors
  • Andy Sih
  • Jay Stachowicz
Websitepnb.mcmaster.ca/pruittlab/index.html

Jonathan Neal Pruitt is an American Associate Professor of behavioral ecology and former Canada 150 Research Chair in Biological Dystopias at McMaster University.[1][2] Pruitt's research, now in question, focused primarily on social spiders.[1] In early 2020, much of Pruitt's published research was identified as having serious data irregularities, and Pruitt was alleged to have fabricated research data.[3] By 2021, it was reported that Pruit "had a dozen papers retracted following allegations of data fraud", and that his doctoral dissertation had also been withdrawn.[4] On 12 November 2021, he was placed on a paid administrative leave by McMaster.[5]

Career[]

Pruitt achieved his doctorate at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville under his advisor Susan Riechert.[6] Pruitt completed a postdoc at the UC Davis Center for Population Biology and was hired as an assistant professor in the department at biological sciences that the University of Pittsburgh in 2011.[7] He later moved to UC Santa Barbara and then, in 2018, to McMaster University.[8] His research was previously funded by the National Science Foundation.[8][9]

Data irregularities[]

Concerns about the integrity of Pruitt's research first publicly emerged in January 2020.[10] In February 2020, McMaster University announced that it was reviewing 17 of his publications,[10] and 23 journals were reviewing publications by Pruitt.[8] By February 7, seven papers authored by Pruitt had been retracted or were in the process of being retracted.[10] Pruitt responded to the allegations by stating that the irregularities in his data were mistakes,[11] and he obtained legal counsel who cautioned journals and coauthors not to retract papers until institutional investigations were complete.[12]

Pruitt has been compared to Diederik Stapel and Jan Hendrik Schön, who were also considered rising stars in their fields before the discovery of their fraudulent publications.[13]

As of Nov 2021, Pruitt has had 16 of his research publications retracted, and six other papers have received an expression of concern.[14]

Retracted publications, Corrections, and Expressions of Concern[]

Complete list of retracted publications
Paper title Year Originally Published Journal Retraction notice or statement
Individual- and condition-dependent effects on habitat choice and choosiness 2011 Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Pruitt, Jonathan N.; DiRienzo, Nicholas; Kralj-Fišer, Simona; Johnson, J. Chadwick; Sih, Andrew (March 2021). "Retraction Note to: Individual- and condition-dependent effects on habitat choice and choosiness". Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 75 (3): 64. doi:10.1007/s00265-021-02997-3. S2CID 236695002.
Iterative Evolution of Increased Behavioral Variation Characterizes the Transition to Sociality in Spiders and Proves Advantageous 2012 The American Naturalist Oufiero, Christopher E.; Avilés, Leticia; Riechert, Susan E. (1 March 2021). "Retraction". The American Naturalist. 197 (3): 392. doi:10.1086/713144. PMID 33625972. S2CID 232040339.
Behavioral Types of Predator and Prey Jointly Determine Prey Survival: Potential Implications for the Maintenance of Within-Species Behavioral Variation 2012 The American Naturalist Oufiero, Christopher E.; Avilés, Leticia; Riechert, Susan E. (1 March 2021). "Retraction". The American Naturalist. 197 (3): 392. doi:10.1086/713144. PMID 33625972. S2CID 232040339.
Behavioral Types of Predator and Prey Jointly Determine Prey Survival: Potential Implications for the Maintenance of Within-Species Behavioral Variation 2012 The American Naturalist Bolnick, Daniel I.; Fox, Jeremy W.; Débarre, Florence; Dietrich, Emma I.; Phelps, Steve M.; Jordan, Alex; torminalis, Sorbus (1 August 2021). "Editorial Expression of Concern". The American Naturalist. 198 (2): 313–316. doi:10.1086/714867. PMID 34260876. S2CID 235590404.
Linking levels of personality: personalities of the 'average' and 'most extreme' group members predict colony-level personality 2013 Animal Behaviour Pruitt, Jonathan N.; Grinsted, Lena; Settepani, Virginia (August 2013). "RETRACTED: Linking levels of personality: personalities of the 'average' and 'most extreme' group members predict colony-level personality". Animal Behaviour. 86 (2): 391–399. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.05.030. S2CID 53171408.
Individual personalities shape task differentiation in a social spider 2013 Proceedings B Proceedings B Editor-in-Chief (10 March 2021). "Retraction: Individual personalities shape task differentiation in a social spider". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 288 (1946): 20210335. doi:10.1098/rspb.2021.0335. PMC 7944085. PMID 33715432.
Evidence of social niche construction: persistent and repeated social interactions generate stronger personalities in a social spider 2014 Proceedings B Laskowski, Kate L.; Pruitt, Jonathan N. (29 January 2020). "Retraction: Evidence of social niche construction: persistent and repeated social interactions generate stronger personalities in a social spider". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 287 (1919): 20200077. doi:10.1098/rspb.2020.0077. PMC 7015328. PMID 31992140.
Site-specific group selection drives locally adapted group compositions 2014 Nature Pruitt, Jonathan N.; Goodnight, Charles J. (October 2014). "Site-specific group selection drives locally adapted group compositions". Nature. 514 (7522): 359–362. Bibcode:2014Natur.514..359P. doi:10.1038/nature13811. PMID 25274310. S2CID 4394122.
Persistent social interactions beget more pronounced personalities in a desert-dwelling social spider 2014 Biology Letters Laskowski, Kate L.; Modlmeier, Andreas P.; DeMarco, Alex E.; Coleman, Anna; Zhao, Katherine; Brittingham, Hayley A.; McDermott, Donna R.; Pruitt, Jonathan N. (February 2020). "Retraction: Persistent social interactions beget more pronounced personalities in a desert-dwelling social spider". Biology Letters. 16 (2): 20200062. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2020.0062. PMC 7058948. PMID 32072862.
Individual differences in personality and behavioural plasticity facilitate division of labour in social spider colonies 2014 Animal Behaviour Holbrook, C. Tate; Wright, Colin M.; Pruitt, Jonathan N. (November 2014). "RETRACTED: Individual differences in personality and behavioural plasticity facilitate division of labour in social spider colonies". Animal Behaviour. 97: 177–183. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.09.015. S2CID 14255648.
Individual and Group Performance Suffers from Social Niche Disruption 2016 The American Naturalist Laskowski, Kate L.; Montiglio, Pierre-Olivier; Pruitt, Jonathan N. (February 2020). "Retraction". The American Naturalist. 195 (2): 393. doi:10.1086/708066. PMID 32017613. S2CID 211036135.
The Effect of Keystone Individuals on Collective Outcomes Can Be Mediated through Interactions or Behavioral Persistence 2016 The American Naturalist Pinter-Wollman, Noa; Keiser, Carl N.; Wollman, Roy (1 March 2021). "Correction". The American Naturalist. 197 (3): 390–391. doi:10.1086/712423. PMID 33625973. S2CID 232040338.
Prolonged food restriction decreases body condition and reduces repeatability in personality traits in web-building spiders 2016 Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Lichtenstein, James L. L.; DiRienzo, Nicholas; Knutson, Karen; Kuo, Candice; Zhao, Katherine C.; Brittingham, Hayley A.; Geary, Sara E.; Ministero, Sam; Rice, Henry K.; David, Zachary; Scharf, Inon; Pruitt, Jonathan N. (March 2021). "Retraction Note to: Prolonged food restriction decreases body condition and reduces repeatability in personality traits in web-building spiders". Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 75 (3): 63. doi:10.1007/s00265-021-02998-2.
The Achilles' heel hypothesis: misinformed keystone individuals impair collective learning and reduce group success 2016 Proceedings B Pinter-Wollman, N.; Wright, C. M.; Keiser, C. N.; DeMarco, A.; Grobis, M. M. (29 July 2020). "Retraction: The Achilles' heel hypothesis: misinformed keystone individuals impair collective learning and reduce group success". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 287 (1931): 20200255. doi:10.1098/rspb.2020.0255. PMC 7423664. PMID 33043869.
Female-Biased Sex Ratios Increase Colony Survival and Reproductive Output in the Spider Anelosimus studiosus 2018 The American Naturalist Lichtenstein, James L. L.; Kamath, Ambika; Bengston, Sarah; Avilés, Leticia (1 January 2021). "Retraction". The American Naturalist. 197 (1): 146. doi:10.1086/712483. PMID 33417529. S2CID 231201752.
Behaviour, morphology and microhabitat use: what drives individual niche variation? 2019 Biology Letters Costa-Pereira, Raul; Pruitt, Jonathan (August 2020). "Retraction: Behaviour, morphology and microhabitat use: what drives individual niche variation?". Biology Letters. 16 (8): 20200588. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2020.0588. PMC 7480150. PMID 32842899.
The adaptive value of gluttony: predators mediate the life history trade-offs of satiation threshold. 2010 Journal of Evolutionary Biology "Retraction: Pruitt, J.N., Krauel, J.J. 2010. The adaptive value of gluttony: predators mediate the life history trade-offs of satiation threshold". Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 34 (12): 1995. 20 December 2021. doi:10.1111/jeb.13972.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Marcus, Author Adam (29 January 2020). "Authors questioning papers at nearly two dozen journals in wake of spider paper retraction". Retraction Watch. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  2. ^ Chairs, Canada 150 Research (2017-05-08). "Canada 150 Research Chairs". www.canada150.chairs-chaires.gc.ca. Retrieved 2020-08-29.
  3. ^ "McMaster University researcher under fire for data irregularities". Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  4. ^ "Behavioral ecologist Jonathan Pruitt's PhD dissertation withdrawn", Retraction Watch, 11 November 2021
  5. ^ "As data probe concludes, spider biologist placed on leave, has Ph.D. thesis 'withdrawn'". www.science.org. Retrieved 2021-11-16.
  6. ^ Jonathan N. Pruitt, Pruitt Lab, McMaster University
  7. ^ "Dr. Jonathan Pruitt to Join Biological Sciences | Department of Biological Sciences | University of Pittsburgh". www.biology.pitt.edu.
  8. ^ a b c Pennisi, Elizabeth (31 January 2020). "Spider biologist denies suspicions of widespread data fraud in his animal personality research". Science. doi:10.1126/science.abb1258. S2CID 214403147.
  9. ^ "Jonathan Pruitt". 500 Queer Scientists. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  10. ^ a b c Viglione, Giuliana (13 February 2020). "'Avalanche' of spider-paper retractions shakes behavioural-ecology community". Nature. 578 (7794): 199–200. Bibcode:2020Natur.578..199V. doi:10.1038/d41586-020-00287-y. PMID 32047306.
  11. ^ "Top Spider Biologist's Research Under Fire". The Scientist Magazine®. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  12. ^ Pennisi, Elizabeth (12 March 2020). "Embattled spider biologist seeks to delay additional retractions of problematic papers". Science. doi:10.1126/science.abb7068. S2CID 216352739.
  13. ^ "Social Spiders and Science Fraud". Discover Magazine. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  14. ^ "Retraction Watch Database". Retraction Watch. Center for Scientific Integrity. Retrieved 2021-11-16.

External links[]

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