How to Draft a Plagiarism Apology Letter

Plagiarism is a broad topic, but this article is focused on an academic query a friend received after committing a sincere error of wrong submission and delayed report from the Turnitin checker. If you are currently in this situation, it is emotionally draining. I know. But you must draft an appropriate response, reflecting your apology, humility, explanations and commitment to make amends. Most importantly, your letter must be heartfelt.

So, if you find yourself in this situation, feel free to use this template as a starting point.?

Plagiarism Apology Letter Sample

Dear (name of official in charge),

My name is (Your Name). On November 9, 2022, it was discovered that I had a 37% similarity index in my final assignment in (course name), leading to potential academic issues.?

Turnitin indicated that a proportion of the submitted text was not written by me, reflecting a significant overlap with a submission made at another University. I understand that the university is trying to assess my work, not the work of others, as indicated in the Academic Integrity Referencing guide.?

As observed, the bulk of the plagiarised text chunks in the (...)discussion pg 14, is where my explanation comes in. Most of the other parts of the work are almost totally free of plagiarism, which indicates that there must have been a particular error with that section.?

My writing style is getting a couple of resources, copying them on my work in progress and refining them based on learnings from the course, my experience and objective views. I create the documents in progress and transition them to “versions 2.0 or versions 3.0”, as the case may be. This particular assignment took me days to work on as I was part of delivering excellently. However, it is quite sad that I erroneously submitted the wrong version, and I did not get the Turnitin report before the submission closed. When I suspected this may have happened, I reached out to Dr (...) before the Turnitin results were out, and he told me to be at peace since I was sure my work was original.?

See Screenshots below: (show evidence)

I understand that this prestigious university prioritises excellence, transparency and academic credibility, and this is why I enrolled for a postgraduate Degree here. Hence, I pledge to put more effort into ensuring I review all my future submissions and better cite my sources. In the future, I will be much more cautious about my work.?

I will be helping officials with this case by cooperating fully with any investigation, working to remove any plagiarised material and providing the originally intended copy. I deeply regret my actions. What I did was wrong, and there is no excuse for it, as it is expected that I review my work to ensure the appropriate submission.?

I, hereby, plead with the institution to consider that all my past submissions have been original, and this has been a genuine error of submission. I sincerely hope that, with time and effort, I can move past these offences to regain the trust of the Institution.?

In the meantime, I wish to make myself available to the officials handling this case to ask questions and let me know how I can help them.

Thank you very much for your time and your consideration.

Sincerely,

(Your name and surname)?