Considerable demand for academic research and publications is not a new subject of discussion in the academic field. In Indonesia, there is increasing challenge and pressure to conduct scientific publications, making it a very competitive field for academics, particularly for lecturers and postgraduate students. The present study examines Indonesian scholars’ perceptions of academic publishing as a demand from institutions and the government, as well as their understanding of academic misconduct. We conducted a survey with open-ended questions to 55 scholars. The results suggest that Indonesian scholars are knowledgeable about academic publishing and believe that this obligation is inevitable and beneficial for them. To what extent academic misconduct in publications falls under their understanding, though, is still unclear. When presented with information on academic misconduct, in particular using unethical publication services, they show an ambiguous and inconsistent manner, as if the misconduct is understandable. Interestingly, they also reveal other ethically dubious behaviors that appear to be common among Indonesian scholars. The findings indicate that the issue of academic misconduct is still addressed ambiguously by using publication demands as a scapegoat to justify certain unethical publication practices.

对学术研究和出版物的巨大需求并不是学术界讨论的新话题。在印度尼西亚，进行科学出版物的挑战和压力越来越大，使其成为学术界竞争非常激烈的领域，尤其是对讲师和研究生而言。本研究考察了印度尼西亚学者对学术出版作为机构和政府需求的看法，以及他们对学术不端行为的理解。我们对 55 位学者进行了一项开放式问题调查。结果表明，印度尼西亚学者了解学术出版，并认为这项义务是不可避免的，对他们有利。然而，学术不端行为在多大程度上属于他们的理解范围，目前尚不清楚。当收到有关学术不端行为的信息时，特别是使用不道德的出版服务时，他们表现出模棱两可和前后矛盾的态度，好像不端行为是可以理解的。有趣的是，它们还揭示了印度尼西亚学者中似乎普遍存在的其他道德上可疑的行为。调查结果表明，学术不端问题仍然被模棱两可地解决，将出版要求作为替罪羊来为某些不道德的出版行为辩护。