Apology Letter for Plagiarism

Plagiarism is a serious offense that is never taken lightly. When you take someone else’s work and put your own name on it, you are cheating. There is never any excuse for plagiarism, and most schools from elementary to university and beyond will punish you for any plagiarism. Depending on the severity, you will either fail the assignment, the class, be suspended, or even be expelled from the school. It may even follow you throughout your academic career. When you have been found guilty, an apology letter for plagiarism will go far in helping you to make amends for your mistake.

Format and Content

The apology letter for plagiarism format should be formal and include three paragraphs. The content should begin with the apology, along with recognition for the mistake. The second paragraph should go into detail as to how you plan to fix your mistake and ensure that it never happens again. You should end your letter by describing your respect for the teacher, class, school and education you are receiving. You can also discuss what you have learned through your punishment.

Sample

A high school junior decided to buy an essay off an Internet site in order to help improve her English grade. Instead, she was discovered and punished for plagiarism. As it was her first offense, her school only gave her detention and a zero for the assignment. She wrote this apology letter for plagiarism to her teacher to express her regret at having bought the essay instead of doing it herself.

Dear Mr. Sullivan,

I want to apologize for the plagiarizing on my last essay. I should never have purchased that essay off the Internet. I realize now that it would have been better for me to have written the essay and taken a bad grade than to have tried to cheat in order to get a good grade. Plagiarizing was an easy answer, but it was not the correct one.

I have learned a lot through my punishment. It was naive and juvenile of me to believe I could get away with buying my grades. I have learned a tough life lesson through this experience. From now on, I will always do the work myself and take the grade I deserve. Taking credit for someone else’s work is wrong. Although I knew this, I did not really think about this because I was compensating that person through paying. However, cheating is cheating and I was rightly punished.

I am very, very sorry for my actions. I will never do this again. I appreciate my education and your class. Thank you for not punishing me more severely. I look forward to continuing my work in your class. I hope that I will be able to work hard and raise my grade on my own, in spite of this black spot on my record.

Thank you,

Judy McMillan