Sentence:  I think all readers will be impressed by the manner in which Marwick places his own analysis in relation to previous studies both of sorcery and of conflict in general. His punctiliousness here contrasts sharply with the practice of some anthropologists who, in a contest of <WSD>one-upmanship</WSD>, score points either by ignoring earlier work or even by baldly asserting that it was all wrong. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A succession of instances of outdoing a competitor.