Well you aren’t going to get tenure unless you distort your results and it’s hard to change established habits.
That, and you select for the kind of people who are willing to fake results to further their own careers.
That, and you select for the kind of people who are willing to fake results to further their own careers.
Most types of fraud carry a $100-250k monetary penalty and up to 20, 25, 30 years in prison.
The number of people willing to fabricate research data decreases dramatically if you're going to have to pay the grant back from your $20/hr warehouse job after you spend the better part of a decade in a minimum security prison.
Bear in mind also that the vast majority of academic fraud isn’t cut and dried easily proved. It’s p hacking or “accidental” flaws in an analysis, or forgetting to mention some important detail.