Is narcissism an ill that has resulted in the corruption of human values in science? Do potentially overzealous leaders possess personality traits that makes them demi-gods in academia? There is evidence in science that some individuals in leadership positions may come across as having excessive egocentric personalities, but this may be induced by the academic environment in which they were raised, of increasingly cut-throat competition for grants and positions, itself driven by false incentives like impact factors and economic crises. These pressures may have driven individuals perceived as being narcissistic to become more self-assertive, and thus more socially visible. Narcissism is evidently, in some individuals, a natural response to a highly stressful and competitive academic environment driven by unnatural incentives. Does narcissism play any role in what appears to be an increase in retractions in the cancer literature? Some prominent cases of retractions in the cancer literature are examined.
