June 2003
In the March column “When a team member cheats, who pays the piper?” a case was presented in which a student plagiarized material for a group project. The professor struggled with what to do about it. Should he penalize every member of the project team? Should he launch an investigation to find the culprit and, if successful, then punish him/her with a low grade or worse? Who should be held accountable?
One reader responded as follows. In my undergraduate years I sat on an academic disciplinary review committee, and our position was always that the individual who committed the offense was the one to be held responsible. As a graduate student who is constantly placed in group situations, I have to say my opinion has not changed. To say that the whole group had the opportunity to review the document prior to submission, and then conclude that as such they should be held responsible for the act of plagiarism in which they were not complicit is not, in my opinion, fair. By drawing this type of conclusion one is saying that it is the responsibility of each team member to review the report in full, verify the sources (provided) of all the information, and then somehow, make themselves so familiar with the topic that they would be able to identify when information has been plagiarized. Honestly, I don’t even know how professors accomplish this task (though I have much respect for their ability to do so); it is too much to expect that students, already pressed for time, should have to abandon the honor code that exists among a group and check behind one another for inappropriate use of another’s thoughts, findings, and/or conclusions. When one knows who committed the act, that individual should be held responsible; and when one does not know, then the only option is to pass judgment on the entire group (typically, at this point though, the guilty party will come forward or be abandoned by his/her compatriots).
In a work setting, the same should hold true, though I fear I must admit it probably rarely does. Generally, if the act resulted in a favorable outcome for the organization, no one will be penalized and the indiscretion will be overlooked; if it resulted in hardship or an unfavorable outcome, those who may very well not be guilty, but are easily made to look as such, will pay the price in order to help the organization save face.
—name withheld by request