ABSTRACT

It has been argued by a number of commentators that those who would fabricate data or engage in outright plagiarism must be suffering from some sort of mental impairment. But a more sociological view of scholarly misconduct suggests that the competitive structure, not individual pathology, is ultimately responsible for these departures from the norms of science. There have been studies, however, pointing to personality traits such as narcissism and psychopathy as possible explanations. It is important to note that not all individuals offend for the same reasons. Individual scholars can also have major stressors in their lives such as family illness or death, relationship problems, and financial strains among other stressors. The authors argue that the structure of academic work and cultural issues can interact with individual and situational factors to increase the likelihood of departures from acceptable practice.