A student always writes his/her assignment under experienced supervision. Their assignment is often part of a larger framework or project. It is therefore not unlikely that part of their work will be published. This can even happen during the writing process. 

In this light, it is important to note that the copyright of any written text always belongs to the writer, unless agreed otherwise. That means the student holds the copyright of their writing assignment. 

When supervisors, or others, use part of the data or text in their publications, they need to follow the guidelines of scientific fairness and acknowledge the student’s contribution. This can be done in a number of different ways and depends on the amount of data/text used, the quality of the work and the student’s level of independence during the project. A student can be named in the acknowledgments, their report/writing assignment may be used as a literature reference, or they may be asked to be a co-author on an article.