Draft version 1.7 beta — Revised October 29, 2026
← Return to the table in Chapter 4, § 5
Conflict of interest
A topic page linked from Chapter 4, § 5, Examples of Reported Violations of Enforceable Ethics Codes.
Definition
As already noted in Section 3.3.3 of this Primer, Black's Law Dictionary defines a conflict of interest as "a real or seeming incompatibility between two interests that one possesses or is obligated to serve, especially when one of those interests might benefit the person to whom both are entrusted."1 According to the "Ethics Unwrapped" resource, "A conflict of interest arises when what is in a person's best interest is not in the best interest of another person or organization to which that individual owes loyalty." 2 Situations in which a personal interest and an obligation or duty to another (e.g., to science, the public, or an employer) are aligned — not divergent — can also be a conflict of interest if you seek to achieve greater benefit for yourself rather than focusing on your duty to the other interest. 3
Mike Martin and Roland Schinzinger define conflicts of interest in Ethics in Engineering 4 as follows:
Professional conflicts of interest are situations where professionals have an interest that, if pursued, might keep them from meeting their obligations to their employers or clients... ...[They] typically arise when two conditions are met: (1) the professional is in a relationship or role that requires exercising good judgment on behalf of the interests of an employer or client, and (2) the professional has some additional or side interest that could threaten good judgment in serving the interests of the employer or client—either the good judgment of that professional or the judgment of a typical professional in that situation.
Conflict of interest is explicitly considered in the ethics codes or guidelines of all eight of the reference groups I chose to represent the geosciences community, listed below. Only "plagiarism" was included in as many published ethics documents. ASBOG included conflict of interest as one of the 13 ethical issues in its Task Analysis surveys in 2010 and 2015, each of which was completed by a few thousand respondents—professional geoscientists and academics in the United States and Canada.5-7 The results of those surveys indicated that conflict of interest was among the most frequent problem areas, and that it was considered a very serious problem.
Relevant provisions in geoethics codes
AAPG – § 3a, 3b; AEG – § 2.4; AGI – § 1.6; AGU – § III-B9, VI-C11; AIPG – § 2.3.1, 3.1.1, 3.1.2, 3.1.3, 3.2.2, 3.2.3; ASBOG – § 16-4d, 16-5a-c, 16-6b-c; CAL – § d1-5; GSA – § X5, separate policy document.
Code Abbreviations
- AAPG — American Association of Petroleum Geologists, AAPG Code of Ethics (2024), Link to current document
- AEG — Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologists, AEG Code of Conduct (2018), Link to current document
- AGI — American Geosciences Institute, AGI Guidelines for Ethical Professional Conduct (2015), Link to current document
- AGU — American Geophysical Union, AGU Scientific Integrity and Professional Ethics (2023), Link to current document
- AIPG — American Institute of Professional Geologists, AIPG Code of Ethics (2019), Link to current document
- ASBOG — Association of State Boards of Geology, Model Rules and Regulations, Section 16, Code of Ethics (2019), Link to current document; see pages 27 to 29.
- Cal — Regulations Relating to the Practices of Geology and Geophysics, California Code of Regulations, Title 16, Division 29, Section 3065, Professional Standards and Code of Professional Conduct – Professional Geology and Professional Geophysics (2026), Link to current document; see pages 30 to 33.
- GSA — Geological Society of America, GSA Code of Ethics & Professional Conduct (2023), Link to current document
Notes and References
1 Garner, B.A. [editor], 2024, Black's Law Dictionary [12th edition]: St. Paul, MN, Thompson Reuters, ISBN 979-8-350-29089-9, 2071 p.; p. 377.
2 Ethics Unwrapped, 2025, Conflict of Interest [video]: McCombs School of Business, University of Texas–Austin, accessed 20251028 via ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/glossary/conflict-of-interest
3 Starr, M., and Sharp, M., 1984, Ethical conduct in the public sector – Report of the Task Force on Conflict of Interest: Government of Canada, p. 29-30, ISBN 0-660-11572-7, accessed 20251223 via the Internet Archive at dn720003.ca.archive.org/0/items/39011812100131/39011812100131.pdf
4 Martin, M.W., and Schinzinger, R., 2005, Ethics in Engineering [4th Edition]: New York, McGraw Hill, 339 p., ISBN 0-07-283115-4, p. 159.
5 Warner, J.L., and Warner, S.P., 2010, Task Analysis 2010 – A Study of the Practice of Geology in the United States and Canada: National Association of State Boards of Geology (ASBOG), 75 p., accessed October 24, 2026, via https://asbog.org/documents/ASBOG TAS 2010 - Final Report - June 2010.pdf
6 Warner, J.L. 2015, Task analysis survey 2015: A study of the practice of geology in the United States and Canada: National Association of State Boards of Geology (ASBOG), accessible via asbog.org/documents/ASBOG TAS 2015 - Summary Report (July 2021).pdf
7 Williams, J., 2018, The National Association of State Boards of Geology (ASBOG): Involvement in Geoscience Professional Ethics, in Gunderson, L.C., [editor], Scientific Integrity and Ethics in the Geosciences: Washington, D.C., American Geophysical Union, ISBN 978-1-119-06778-8, p. 77–99.