 Distinct from altruism, scientists should act for the benefit of a common scientific enterprise, rather than for personal gain.He wrote that this motivation was borne out of institutional control (including fear of institutional sanctions), and from psychological conflict (due to internalisation of the norm).Merton observed a low rate of fraud in science ("virtual absence... which appears exceptional"), which he believed stemmed from the intrinsic need for 'verifiability' and expert scrutiny by peers ("rigorous policing, to a degree perhaps unparalleled in any other field of activity"), as well as its 'public and testable character'.