<p>When students are asked to submit an original piece of work for an assignment it is expected that it is original not only inasmuch as it is the students own work but that it is an original piece for the task provided.</p>
<p>Original refers not only to the author but to the effort vis-a-vis the question.
Simply refashioning an existing paper to fit a similar question is not quite on par with plagiarism (self) but is a recognised form of intellectual laziness and dishonesty.</p>
<p>In our Humanities department the papers involved would be marked out of a best mark of 70%. Thus the student gains a grade but cannot receive outstanding (or even very good mark probably) but avoids the heavier sanction of a zero.</p>