DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

SEMINAR
How to Recognize and Avoid Plagiarism
Dr. Janice Hewitt
Senior Lecturer in Professional Communication
Rice Center for Engineering Leadership

Friday, September 8, 2017

2:00 PM
Ryon Lab 201

Summary: Plagiarism has become easier than ever now that so much research is internet-based and you
can quickly import blocks of text into your document. Rice University and professional journals, however,
insist that you avoid plagiarism, which is the use of "another person's ideas, processes, results, or words
without giving appropriate credit." To avoid plagiarism, you must properly cite all sources and either use
quotation marks around exact wording or paraphrase the cited text. This workshop will help you avoid
plagiarism in your own work and includes an interactive exercise in deciding whether examples contain
plagiarism or an acceptable paraphrase.

Bio: After ten years with Rices Cain Project for Engineering Communication, Dr. Jan Hewitt, Senior
Lecturer in Professional Communication, now works with the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership
(RCEL). Each semester she teaches two sections of ENGI 600, a seminar that teaches graduate students how
to write and talk clearly and persuasively about their research to a wide range of audiences. The course is
open to graduate students in engineering who are actively writing an extended PhD proposal, a paper for
publication, or a thesis chapter. Each section is limited to 14 students and can be taken only by permission
of the instructor. Dr. Hewitt also consults with faculty on including communication in their courses and
offers a series of workshops, including Avoiding Plagiarism, Presenting Yourself, Writing an Effective
Abstract, and How to Write a Paper for Publication, all of which can be tailored to a particular department.

This seminar is required for all new graduates and anyone who has not taken the seminar before.

Find out more about the Office of Professional Communication for the School of Engineering and their
offerings online @ http://engineering.rice.edu/Content.aspx?id=1266