The perceived causes of research misconduct among faculty members in the natural, social, and applied sciences

Little research has investigated the conditions that lead to research misconduct. To develop effective intervention/prevention strategies, this void must be filled. This study administered a mixed-mode survey (i.e. mail and online) to a stratified random sample of tenured and tenure-track faculty in the natural, social, and applied sciences (N = 613) during the 2016–17 academic year. The sample includes scholars from 100 universities in the United States. Participants were asked about the extent to which they believe a variety of known criminogenic factors contribute to research misconduct in their field. Descriptive results show that professional strains and stressors (e.g. pressure to secure external funds and publish in top-tier journals) are most widely perceived to cause misconduct, followed by the low probability of detecting misbehavior. Results from the MANOVA model show that this pattern of perceived causes remains the same for scholars across scientific fields. Implications for future research are discussed.