Someone Copied Your Assignment: What Happens & What to Do

Copying of assignments among students is a form of academic dishonesty that is still rampant in learning institutions. Some students cannot do their assignments. They will take advantage of shortcuts to shift the burden of doing the assignment to another person.

Instead of doing their assignment, they decide to copy. Unfortunately, you can be the victim of copying whereby someone copies your assignment.

When someone copies your assignment there are some repercussions you are bound to face. The authenticity of your work will decrease drastically.

Remember, someone will have a duplicate of your assignment. Therefore, it is likely to affect your final score. The teacher might accuse you of cheating hence giving you a lower score.

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What to Do if Someone Copied Your Assignment

When someone copies your assignment there is a way you can mitigate that occurrence. Therefore, do not panic. If you use the right mitigation measures, you can deal accordingly with that situation.

At times you can show them how not to copy assignments and do them on their own.

Below are some of the steps you can take:

Inform Your Tutor

You will need to inform your tutor immediately if someone copies your assignment. Your tutor will ensure that you get justice. You will be able to maintain your original work without someone else having its duplicate.

That means you will get the score that you deserve. The teacher will not mistake you for cheating.

Keep a Copy of Your Original Work

As you inform your tutor, ensure you have a copy of your original work. It does help to prove that indeed that was your assignment. That way, you can defend yourself and your hard work. You will not let anyone take credit for the great work you did. 

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Reasons Why Someone Can Copy Your Assignment

There are many reasons why someone might decide to copy your assignment. Usually, copying benefits the person who is committing the act. The reasons why another student might copy your assignment include the following:

Fear of Failure

Not a single student wants to fail in their exams or assignments. For that reason, they decide to use dubious means to complete their assignments. And one of the most common means is copying. Some students will opt to duplicate their friend’s assignments to avoid failing.

Poor Time Management

Most of the students who copy assignments are poor at managing time. They will carelessly waste time engaging in unnecessary activities instead of working on their assignments.

Some tend to procrastinate by postponing working on their assignment. Once they realize time is not on their side, they resort to copying from their friends.

Obsession with Getting a Good Grade

The pressure of getting good grades forces some students to copy. In most cases, they want to please their parents. Unfortunately, they are too lazy to work for those grades.

Their best option is to cheat and that is where copying comes in handy.

Disinterest

Some students lack the interest to do assignments. Therefore, they will wait for others to do the assignments only for them to copy. As other students do their due diligence, they will be busy undertaking other insignificant activities.

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Tactics How Someone Copies Your Assignment

Mixing the Answers

Someone might copy your assignment using means that prevent the tutor from noticing. For instance, the person copying your work might reshuffle your answers, especially in questions where you need to use bullets and list answers.

Rewriting Your Answers

Rewriting answers is one way that someone can use to copy your assignments. They will capitalize on synonyms to eradicate plagiarism. This means that their work will also appear original.

Copy and Paste

Some students will simply copy your assignment word by word. Such students do not care what lies in store for them. They only care about submitting their assignments on time. 

How to Prevent Someone from Copying Your Work

Retain Proof of Ownership

Ensure you keep a copy of your original work. It will prevent anyone from copying your work. You can always prove to the tutor that you own the work if someone attempts to copy it.

Watermark Your Assignment

Using a watermark makes it hard for someone to photocopy your work. The watermark will always act as your copyright. 

Keep Your Assignment Out Of Reach

Ensure you keep your assignment away from students who tend to copy. You will deny them the chance of duplicating your work. Also, seclude yourself when doing your assignment. It gives you peace of mind and prevents other students from copying your answers.

In short, protect your original work as much as you can.

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Conclusion

Copying is a vice that is still popular among students. Those who copy assignments do so for various reasons. Some are just lazy. They cannot spare time to work on their assignment. That being the case, they will copy those students who care enough to do their work. 

If someone copies your assignment, you can still hold them accountable. You need to report them straight away to your tutor. The tutor will do whatever it takes to deal with students who copy.

Since teachers need to safeguard integrity in education, they have to instill a culture of independence in students. That is the reason why tutors need to discourage copying.