Re-using a paper from one class for another?

Almost invariably, the answer to "Is it OK to submit X for a class assignment?" is "Ask the instructor.".

You do need to ask yourself whether your objective for the geochemistry class is to get a good grade, or to improve your knowledge and skills in the area of geochemistry, or both. Even if the instructor agrees with recycling the old paper, you may get more out of the class if you pick a different topic and write a new paper.

Since you said it has not been distributed or published in any way, you probably wouldn't have any issues with plagiarism in that regard. However, in my experience, teachers expect unique coursework for individual classes. Thus, it becomes a matter of coursework integrity/ethics. To be fair, I am not saying it is flat out wrong to reuse your assignment, but it might not be aligned with your school's code of conduct or academic integrity policies.

PS. If you submitted your assignment online, it likely would be added to a plagiarism database which might be matched when you submit this assignment.

Academically it is probably not okay if you don't at the very least ask. Many guidelines for self-plagiarism specifically mention submitting coursework completed for one class to another. E.g.

• U Texas requires you to seek instructor permission first.
• Roosevelt University
• U Oklahoma
• U California Davis

For example, to quote the UO guidelines:

SUBMITTING THE SAME ASSIGNMENT FOR DIFFERENT CLASSES Submitting the same assignment for a second class violates the assumption that every assignment advances a student's learning and growth. Unless the second instructor expressly allows it, submitting an assignment already submitted for another class is a form of academic misconduct. This is also known as self-plagiarism or recycling work.