UPDATE: Disgraced Dutch Psychologist Returns Doctoral Degree

After a devastating report accusing him of fraud in dozens of papers, Dutch social psychologist Diederik Stapel has given up his doctor's title. The University of Amsterdam, where Stapel worked from 1993 until 1999, just issued a short statement (in Dutch) saying that he voluntarily relinquished the degree yesterday and returned his diploma.

The panel investigating Stapel's misconduct had concluded that it was impossible to determine whether his 1997 thesis was based on fraud, in part because the data had been destroyed. But it recommended that the university investigate whether Stapel could be stripped of his title, "on the grounds of exceptional academically unworthy conduct."