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If a student needs a reference letter for graduate admissions or that sort of thing, some profs will ask the student to write a reference letter for themself before sending it off to the prof for minor edits and finalization. This seems to be a somewhat common practice given that some graduate schools ask for several letters of recommendation even when it is not reasonable for the student to have developed deep connections with that many professors, and that most professors are just too busy to write quality letters for all the students that ask them to.

Is it acceptable to write most of the reference letter and have the prof make minor edits? Do academic institutions frown upon this practice? Would it be considered an academic offense if a student wrote a reference letter for themselves and had a prof sign it?

Peter Jansson
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hesson
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    I might even call that fraudulent, given that the professor signs it off as their own writing. It is absolutely unethical. A reference letter is the confidential, honest, and sole opinion of the referee(s). The sacrosanct trust of a confidential reference letter is broken when a student sees, or has direct input towards, the letter. – Moriarty Feb 04 '14 at 06:43
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    @scaahu Points to remember when having to write recommendation letter yourself – Moriarty Feb 04 '14 at 07:12
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    @Moriarty that's why sometimes references are requested and not reference letters but a contact address, to contact the referers directly. IMHO, that's a much better practice. Specially if contacted by phone, skype or similar methods. – Trylks Feb 04 '14 at 10:46
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    To repeat myself: No. Just...no. – JeffE Feb 04 '14 at 10:59
  • It's called a "resume" . :-). But yeah, IMHO any prof. who does that is just being lazy. – Carl Witthoft Feb 04 '14 at 13:03
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    Personal thought: If the employer decides to call the professor to follow up, how likely are they to recall the contents of a letter they didn't write? Bad position to be in. Frankly, if your prof. doesn't respect you enough to take the time to do it themselves, I'd suggest you might want to find another reference. (Also remember that there is no guarantee that what you write is what they eventually mail...) – keshlam Feb 04 '14 at 17:24
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    @Moriarty the prof isn't signing off that they wrote it, but that they agree with it. One would hope that if the student made inaccurate claims that the prof would 'edit' that or throw it back to the student to correct. I would see it more as laziness than a con. – JamesRyan Feb 04 '14 at 17:34
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    @JamesRyan No. Just... no. – Moriarty Feb 04 '14 at 17:40
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    @Moriarty You cannot call it fradulent, because many programs allow the student to request to see the recommendations. So the student seeing it is not necessarily unacceptable. Input is a different matter, though (although I think that is also not as simple as you present it). – Superbest May 22 '14 at 02:56
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    I used to meet my referent on average 1 hour every week for one year on work-related matters. When afterwards I asked for a reference letter and was in turn asked for a draft, I was terrified and resolutely replied: "I would be very happy to help you if I could. But that request is against the moral principles." His request also made me feel very bad, as if he had nothing good to write about me after all that time we worked together... – Dávid Natingga Oct 03 '15 at 08:24
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    @Moriaty It is not clear that a reference letter is really confidential. Candidates may be able to access them under various laws in different countries. – Simd Aug 22 '17 at 06:01

7 Answers7

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I don't think this is a grey zone at all. Senior professionals in all domains, not just acadaemia, routinely sign letters that they did not pen:

  • Directors signing press releases written by communications managers
  • Vice-chancellors signing letters to government officials written by deputy vice chancellors
  • Academics submitting journal articles that were written by a co-author, although the research is shared.

It's completely irrelevant who actually put the words together, unless there is a question over the copyright of the text - which there clearly isn't here. All that matters is that the person signing the letter stands by its content and takes responsibility for it.

If you write a reference letter for yourself that is over the top, they won't sign it. No ethical issues here whatsoever.

(I can't answer whether other institutions would frown on the practice for other reasons though.)

Ok, some research.

Guidance from p. 3 of "Writing a Letter of Recommendation" (an addendum to Making the Right Moves, published by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Burroughs Wellcome Fund):

Tip: Don’t ask the candidate to write a draft of the letter for you. Most heads of labs say this rarely saves time and sometimes leads to a weaker letter. It is better for the candidate to provide you with all the necessary information, from which you can then pick and choose as you write your letter.

...and from p. 9, guidance for the applicant:

You may be asked to write a draft of the letter. As mentioned on page 1, many heads of laboratories say this is not a good idea. However, if you are asked to do it, do it!

From "Letter of Recommendation: Writing One Yourself" on the Peterson's website:

When requesting a letter of recommendation, don't be surprised if your instructor or supervisor hands the forms back to you and says, "Sure, why don't you go ahead and write the first draft yourself, and I'll revise it and sign at the bottom."

From "Writing Your Own Letter of Recommendation" on StudentBranding.com:

  • The “draft” that you provide to the recommender to sign shouldn’t be a draft at all – it should be a perfectly polished letter ready to be signed, sealed and delivered.
  • Don’t be insulted when your supervisor decides to edit. They’ll want to apply their own language and voice to your content.

[...]

In my experience as a supervisor . . .

I’ve been asked to write lots of letters of recommendations for students, but I’ve never felt strongly enough to throw the responsibility back at someone. That’s not to say I haven’t managed some phenomenal students; I just haven’t had someone come along who I think is up to the task. So, when he or she does come along, that person will really be top notch.

From "How to Write Your Own Recommendation Letter" on Firsthand.co:

[...] While the standard practice is for references to write their own recommendation letters, it’s becoming increasingly common for time-strapped individuals to ask you to pen the first draft of a letter yourself. [...]

From "Is it OK to Write My Own Letter of Recommendation?" in BusinessMajors.About.com's Recommendation Letter FAQ:

Question: Is it OK to Write My Own Letter of Recommendation?

Answer: The only time it is acceptable to write your own letter of recommendation is when the person you requested the letter from asks you to do it. Even then, it is important to be honest in the letter. Don't write anything the other person wouldn't have written. When you have finished, ask the person to look over the letter, verify the information, and sign. You should never forge someone else's signature.

I don't see much (any) evidence of any ethical quandaries in a professor requesting and submitting a letter of recommendation directly from the student. These examples aren't cherry-picked - they're the first few hits that came up when searching for phrases like "own letter of recommendation" or "letter of recommendation myself".

In summary:

Is it acceptable to write most of the reference letter and have the prof make minor edits?

Clearly, yes - if requested to do so.

Do academic institutions frown upon this practice?

No.

Would it be considered an academic offense if a student wrote a reference letter for themselves and had a prof sign it?

Hell no.

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Steve Bennett
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    There is a difference between a letter written on behalf of an organization or group and a personal letter. In American academia, recommendation letters are personal: the author is not speaking for anyone but herself. The writer is also being asked to use their professional skills and experience to evaluate the student: signing a letter that you didn't write is falsely alleging that you have done some professional task: that's a form of academic fraud. – Pete L. Clark Feb 04 '14 at 16:08
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    I don't think it's any different to writing to the Queen and getting a letter back which was obviously not written by her individually. Same for any public figure, or anyone really. Unless the content explicitly says "I'm personally writing this because..." there's no implication that they wrote it. Just endorsement. – Steve Bennett Feb 05 '14 at 00:23
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    By the same token, when a sports person appears in an advertisement saying, "To perform at my best, I drink Mr Fizzy" - does anyone think they wrote that copy themselves? Of course not. They're just endorsing its content without making any claim of authorship. – Steve Bennett Feb 05 '14 at 00:24
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    This answer is completely wrong and misleading. If your goal was to guarantee that students don't get into top grad programs in the US because their applications are considered a joke, you've certainly done it. –  Feb 05 '14 at 16:22
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    I was only addressing the ethical side of the question. Most sites are pretty clear that the best reference letters come from a good connection with a professor who thinks highly of you enough to want to spend the time to personally write a good rec. And I'm certainly not "endorsing" the practice - just because something is not prohibited doesn't mean it's a good idea. – Steve Bennett Feb 05 '14 at 23:44
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    Your answer does a good job of summarising your personal experience and opinions. Mine is a summary of the broader US university sector, with links to admissions offices' specific advice on the matter. Now, enough with the interrogation and ad hominems - they're inappropriate. – Steve Bennett Feb 10 '14 at 00:19
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    I think it's the difference between how you would like the system to operate (clearly many people deplore the idea of candidate-written recs) and how the system actually currently operates. – Steve Bennett Feb 10 '14 at 22:52
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    I've provided plenty of evidence from a wide range of institutions that students do not get in trouble for writing their own letters upon request. Feel free to provide evidence supporting your claim. – Steve Bennett Feb 11 '14 at 00:32
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    Let me summarize many now deleted comments: I am distressed by this answer. I find it irresponsible, and I hope that students (and faculty) are not led astray by it. – Pete L. Clark Feb 11 '14 at 01:28
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    I agree completely with @PeteL.Clark that any prof who asks a student to write the letter is shirking an important professional responsibility. I don't doubt the practice is widespread, but I didn't think anybody thought it was acceptable. –  Mar 29 '14 at 17:31
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    @shane: The question whether writing letters of recommendations is an "important professional responsibility" is very culturally dependent. In cultures where letters of recommendation are not usual, the requirement to hand in one is seen as a "pointless formal obstacle" and consequently, spending any time on an exotic wish such as a letter of recommendation has an extremely low priority for many professors. Add to that that depending on the culture, students are anonymous toward teaching staff, and the only way to get a meaningful recommendation letter is by drafting it oneself. – O. R. Mapper May 21 '14 at 10:31
  • the only way to get a meaningful recommendation letter is by drafting it oneself — That is not what "meaningful" means. – JeffE Jul 15 '14 at 00:44
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    It does not follow from the quoted paragraphs that there is no ethical issue here, just that it's something that does happen. Not to mention that your sources, with the exception of HHMI, your sources do not inspire confidence. – Sasho Nikolov Aug 29 '14 at 14:57
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    It seems from the comments here that US academics take their personal endorsement of a candidate much more seriously than others do. My guess is that this is related to the status of academics in different countries. – Simd Aug 22 '17 at 05:58
  • I'm writing as an ethicist - it is morally wrong to ask students to write a letter of rec. Most undergrads and recent masters have no idea, at all, what is expected of them in a PhD program and cannot evaluate themselves in a way that is credible to readers. They do not know which qualities to focus on. And, frankly, the style and tone of undergraduate writing is inappropriate for a letter of rec. No amount of faculty "tweaking" can make a text written by an undergrad look like it has been written by an academic professional. If you can't write your own letter, then don't do it. Period. – Sherri Lynn Conklin Jun 18 '22 at 23:39
  • @SherriLynnConklin But for a student who is asked to do so, it's not morally wrong to comply? – Steve Bennett Jun 19 '22 at 12:42
  • @SteveBennett - No, but it probably will not be very useful unless the recommender really does substantially edit it. A better solution is to self- advocate (which is a skill that takes a lot of practice and is especially hard with this sort of power dynamic) and offer to send a bulleted list instead or ask someone else, even if they don't know you as well. – Sherri Lynn Conklin Jun 21 '22 at 06:02
  • @O.R.Mapper - Letters are important in the US and especially in certain disciplines. Anyone writing a letter for an applicant to a US program should take it seriously, otherwise they risk ruining the applicant's chances. It's not a formality in the US. I assume this is true in some other parts of the world. It's the responsibility of the prospective writer to, at least, be knowledgeable about the significance of letters in different cultural context and be aware of the impact a poorly written letter can have on an applicant. A good letter will usually be well received regardless. – Sherri Lynn Conklin Jun 21 '22 at 06:28
  • I have much bigger ethical problems with a system in which the chances of an applicant depend crucially on practices of recommendation letter writing than with people who ask students to draft (draft!) their letter of recommendation. – Christian Hennig Jan 05 '24 at 23:35
43

If a student needs a reference letter for graduate admissions or that sort of thing, some profs will ask the student to write a reference letter for themself before sending it off to the prof for minor edits and finalization.

Some profs lie, cheat and steal as well... occasionally in their professional life. Just because a practice is common does not make it right.

This seems to be a somewhat common practice given that some graduate schools ask for several letters of recommendation even when it is not reasonable for the student to have developed deep connections with that many professors, and that most professors are just too busy to write quality letters for all the students that ask them to.

It is certainly "reasonable" to ask for several letters of recommendation for graduate admissions. That many students will not have had substantial personal contact with faculty is something to keep in mind as one progresses through an undergraduate program. Also connections need not be especially deep in order to result in a good letter: if the writer can be confident that the student will succeed in the graduate program she is applying for, that is enough. Often a truly outstanding performance in a single course is sufficient.

Is it acceptable to write most of the reference letter and have the prof make minor edits?

No, this is a form of plagiarism and academic fraud. What you pass off as your written word must actually be yours except where you explicitly document to the contrary.

Do academic institutions frown upon this practice?

Many of them do, yes.

Would it be considered an academic offense if a student wrote a reference letter for themselves and had a prof sign it?

It depends on the institution and probably the nation in question but in the United States: yes, it certainly could be. If I found out that this happened in an application that I read, I would at the very least throw out the entire letter; I would probably be inclined to dismiss the entire application. I would probably not contact the faculty member because in my view they are equally culpable (if not more so because they should know better), but I would be much more skeptical of letters coming from that person and even that institution in the future.

The above takes a hard ethical line, as I am very frustrated with other answers to this and related questions that seem resigned that one must accept unethical behavior in this situation. But here is a different kind of answer:

A graduate admissions letter that a student writes for herself is going to be a bad letter compared to a "real" letter written by a qualified faculty member. A graduate admissions letter is a communication between one mature academic and another: how would a 22 year-old young adult know how to write such a letter in a convincing way? Without having read hundreds or thousands of other similar letters, how would she know what the faculty want to hear? She wouldn't. If you write your own letter, you are at best forging an ineffectively written letter. Surely you deserve a better one?

As for faculty being very busy: yes, we are. As for having lots of letters to write: yes, we do. But writing such letters is part of our job, so a faculty member who does not take time out to write a good letter is not a good faculty member, at least not in this aspect. Writing a good recommendation letter usually takes several hours and often more than one sitting.

How can you help your professor write a good letter (on their own!):

  1. Give them lots of time to write the letter.

    Academics are busy, and our schedules are uneven. If you give me something to do six weeks in advance, then maybe in week three I'll find a spare afternoon and be able to do it. Leaving much less than a month for someone to write a letter is getting off on the wrong foot and already implicitly asking for less than the best possible letter.

  2. Provide information about yourself rather than waiting for the faculty member to ask.

    You should not write the letter yourself, but you should certainly include all information that you think might be pertinent, and you are well within your rights to highlight certain information that you think might be especially pertinent. Preparing something like a CV but tailored for a good letter rather than a job would be ideal.

  3. Do everything in your power to minimize the attendant clerical work in submitting the letter.

    Faculty members are busy and also, honestly, a bit lazy/snooty about routine work. If you tell me to mail a letter to a certain address, then there is going to be a whole day in which I print out the letter and don't get around to correctly putting it in an envelope. If the letters still need to be mailed (fewer and fewer do, and most but not all faculty members prefer to do things electronically), it would be wise to provide a self-addressed stamped envelope. If the submission is electronic, again try to ensure that the faculty member needs to do as little as possible. Ideally we get a website and a password, we enter those in, and we immediately upload the letter. Much more than that is asking for trouble. My own university makes faculty members jump through many more hoops to submit a letter, and this worries the hell out of me.

    • 3'. If your letter needs to be sent to multiple locations in a way which requires the faculty member to do something multiple times, see if you can figure out a way for the faculty member to submit the letter only once. E.g., perhaps there is an administrative assistant (AA) at your institution that will agree to receive the letter and take care of the nitty gritty of sending it to various places. You may have to ask for this, and you should ask, as nicely as you possibly can. Given the choice between getting a faculty member to do this clerical work and getting an AA to do it, you want the AA to do it: they are superior in every way. Always remember to be extra nice to the AA's: you want in fact to be nicer to them than the average person they have to interact with, as then they will notice and do better work for you than the average person they have to interact with. If you're asking an AA to do something which it is not absolutely clearly part of their job description, go ahead and ask but be extra extra nice: a small gift at the end is a classy move.

  4. Don't be shy about checking up on the faculty member to see whether the letter has been written.

    I frankly expect this, to the extent that if you ask me for a letter (including giving me all the information) and never check back again, I almost believe that you changed your mind and didn't really need it after all. It is totally acceptable to ask multiple times for the faculty to turn in the letter. I'm afraid that there has been "email alert inflation" in recent years, to the extent that if I only get one email about something, it feels almost optional. Really important things have a way of resulting in multiple emails coming at shorter and shorter intervals. Even to get me to write my grant reports they are not shy about sending several. You should always be nice about this – at any point the faculty member could in theory change their mind – but we are grateful if it is your mental energy which is being spent on making sure it gets done.

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Pete L. Clark
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    I agree that the practice is unethical, but because confidentiality in the letter-writing process has been broken, not because the letter signer is attesting that the work is his own written work the same way that a journal article has to be written by its authors. The author is signaling her support of the ideas contained in the letter. (For example, what if the letter is written in a foreign language and then translated by a co-worker into English? The author didn't "write" the letter anymore, but is it no longer valid?) – aeismail Feb 04 '14 at 08:25
  • @aeismail: I agree that breaking the confidentiality is another serious issue. I also agree that recommendation letters are not "written work" in the same sense as papers. But I think plagiarism standards still largely apply: in academia you are never allowed to take someone else's words, ideas and/or opinions and pretend they are your own. Translation seems like a red herring: if a letter is being translated, then it should perhaps contain a copy of the original and certainly a "translated by Y", and then I see no issue. – Pete L. Clark Feb 04 '14 at 08:50
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    I think there are some cultural issues at work here. For instance, in Germany, there are many things where a professor has to officially "sign off" on something. Often times the professor will not have the ability to draft the letter or document themselves—their group members will draft the letter and edit it. (For instance, changes in course outlines, requests for internal funding, grade changes, and so on.) Officially, though the professor is the only one who can sign it. So is the professor committing plagiarism? – aeismail Feb 04 '14 at 08:57
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    @aeismail: The whole thing is highly culturally dependent, which is why I'm trying to be clear that I am speaking about American culture. In the US there is some sense that certain documents are probably written by more than one person. One can and (I think) should indicate whether a document is written by a person or a person on behalf of a group of people. (And a letter which describes actions taken on behalf of a group ought to be viewed as recording the feelings of the group.) But a recommendation letter is very personal: it's clearly the written work of a single person, right? – Pete L. Clark Feb 04 '14 at 09:03
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    I frankly expect this, to the extent that if you ask me for a letter (including giving me all the information) and never check back again, I almost believe that you changed your mind and didn't really need it after all.. People I've asked for reference letters usually sent me a confirmation after they had send them, to which I then replied with a small thank you. – gerrit Feb 04 '14 at 10:25
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    in Germany, there are many things where a professor has to officially "sign off" on something. Often times the professor will not have the ability to draft the letter or document themselves — Also in the US. But a recommendation letter is not one of those things. – JeffE Feb 04 '14 at 10:55
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    @JeffE: I was responding to the claim: "in academia you are never allowed to take someone else's words, ideas and/or opinions and pretend they are your own." And over here, "letters of recommendation" are often treated the way I described. (An underling writes the letter, and the boss signs off on it.) It shouldn't be that way, but it often is. – aeismail Feb 04 '14 at 11:14
  • The grant report thing is pretty ridiculous. They send you an email saying "Your report is now DUE!" when they mean "The two month period in which you're supposed to write the report has started!" – Ben Webster Feb 04 '14 at 13:22
  • @PeteL.Clark Thanks for your insights. Do you know if any academic institutions explicitly state that this practice is an academic offense? The thing that I'm unsure about is whether the reference letter must be the professor's views (i.e it would only be wrong for the prof to sign off on something they have not read or do not agree with) or strictly their work. One of my profs has a link to an automated reference letter creator app (referencecreator.com) on his website which he encourages students to use before asking him for a reference letter. Is this prof publicly admitting to fraud? – hesson Feb 04 '14 at 17:22
  • And just to clarify this is a very well-known and successful prof at the university. And the web app I mentioned only creates a paragraph - I would assume that the prof makes edits and adds more information. – hesson Feb 04 '14 at 17:26
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    @hesson: It sounds like a bit of a joke to me, to be honest. If you feel as strongly about this as I do, you will not suggest that your students write even a little bit of their own recommendation letters. But it is probably best to view this as an idiosyncratic way of providing the information for the letter rather than writing the letter itself. So in summary: I am not amused by your professor's practice, but without further incriminating information I would not describe it as "academic fraud", no. – Pete L. Clark Feb 04 '14 at 18:35
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    "A graduate admissions letter that a student writes for herself is going to be a bad letter compared to a "real" letter written by a qualified faculty member." I am commenting to second this. I'm a junior academic and it's taken me a long time to learn how to craft an effective rec letter. You need to contact somebody else in your department to get a letter from. –  Mar 29 '14 at 17:28
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    "writing such letters is part of our job" As defined by whom? It's not in any job description I have seen (outside the US) and I have never heard of anyone suffering a detriment from refusing to write them. Is this a US only view? – Simd Aug 22 '17 at 06:04
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    @Lembik: Most of the components of an academic job are not codified in any job description. I had a colleague once who had a lot of trouble with the fact that most of the actual expectations for his job were based on a common cultural understanding rather than explicitly enumerated. He ended up quitting the job after several years. – Pete L. Clark Aug 22 '17 at 11:52
  • ... "I have never heard of anyone suffering a detriment from refusing to write them." This doesn't seem like a reasonable metric, since there are a lot of ways one can let down the students or the community without explicitly suffering a detriment. But for my part I have never heard of any tenure track faculty member categorically refusing to write letters for students. "Is this a US only view?" No, but faculty in the US probably take letters more seriously and spend more time writing them than in most other parts of the academic world. – Pete L. Clark Aug 22 '17 at 11:56
  • @PeteL.Clark It seems that the entire culture of how such letters are viewed differs not only based on nationality but also on field. As can be seen from many comment exchanges here, the confidentiality of the letters are not really a thing in Europe (to the extent that "Europe" is a single entity here), but it seems that in math (at least my areas of it), most things are done very much like in the US in this regard. – Tobias Kildetoft Aug 23 '17 at 06:29
  • "how would a 22 year-old young adult know how to write such a letter in a convincing way?" a 22 year-old would not and so edits made wouldn't be minor. hence, if minor edits are unethical, that's fine because minor edits would obviously not be made? (I didn't read the long debates on this page) – BCLC Oct 10 '17 at 16:57
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There are certainly different degrees of flagrancy here. I know some good professors who will ask for a short paragraph just to "get the juices flowing", but will then modify and expand it into a full letter. I don't think that is wrong, although I wouldn't do it myself.

If the professor signs a letter written by the student without making any modifications, or if the final letter consists mostly of the student's words, I consider that fraudulent -- but it is primarily the professor's fraud. After all, the professor is the one signing his name.

When I write letters, I require the student to give me all the relevant records as well as a description of what they think I should emphasize in the letter. Not a single word of their description would ever be pasted into the letter, and I don't use it as a starting point for the text. It is simply their opportunity to remind me of the impressive things they have done, which I will then write about if I agree.

If I can't write a letter for them in my own words -- for whatever reason -- I will decline to write one at all.

David Ketcheson
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    If someone who has a ph.d. tells me they need an undergrad to give them a paragraph to "get the juices flowing," I would automatically assume that person was a moron. –  Mar 29 '14 at 17:38
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    @shane It is often much quicker to edit a document than to write it from scratch. – Simd Aug 22 '17 at 05:59
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    @shane: I would jump to “dislikes writing” before “moron.” (I’ve known multiple PhD scientists who would rather have a root canal than write a recommendation letter!) – aeismail Nov 06 '17 at 15:04
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    Not liking writing letters is understandable, needing an undergrad’s help to do it competently is not. –  Nov 06 '17 at 23:51
  • Is it your opinion that anybody who gives a speech not written by themselves is being fraudulent? That speechwriters as an entire profession are a group of frauds? – JHixson Mar 10 '19 at 00:21
  • @JHixson Recommendation letters are not speeches. – JeffE Jun 12 '19 at 22:21
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While I can believe that some unscrupulous professors would simply take the student's letter and sign it, the one prof that have asked me to write a reference letter have mostly done it as an exercise for me to evaluate myself. I wrote a letter and brought it to him and then he gave me feedback about the letter and what I said about it, and then showed me the entirely different letter that he ended up writing himself.

Irwin
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In my field, because students often end up going many different directions (academia, industry, government, etc.) and occasionally come from different fields entirely, it's fairly common to ask for a first draft of the letter essentially to make sure that the tone and "message" of the letter reflects what the candidate wants.

For example, one of my letter writers was a clinician, but the positions I was applying for had a large theoretical component. They could have written the type of letter they would for a medical student, but it would have been off-target, and likely would have caused the group reading the letter to go "Wait, what?" Instead, by drafting a letter for them, I could focus on the somewhat subtler point of the translational aspects of my work with them, which was relevant.

The assumption is, no matter how well they know you, that you know you - and what you want/need - better than they do. It's especially helpful for pulling in things they don't know about. For example, do you have a particular publication that's in a journal that's a big deal for the people you're applying to, but less so for them?

A draft allows for such a broad-strokes framework they can then work off of. I would be hesitant if they then don't put their own personal touches in.

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The question is clearly a grey-zone in that a range of scenarios exist from a self-written letter uncritically signed by someone and sent off to using the self-written text as a base for expansion and critical rewriting by the signee. The former devalues the whole idea of recommendation letters whereas the latter may not be too different from verbally asking about the purpose of the letter. I ask students to provide a text that contains information they think should be in the letter (based on, for example, what information is requested in the application) and then make the changes I see necessary to put my name on the letter. this means I add my valuation of their academic traits. I do this when students apply for money from minor funds but never if they apply for an academic job. A key aspect for me is that the letter will carry my name and I therefore need to stand behind it.

The text I ask a student to provide provides me with details bout the project that I can consider and reject if I deem it not to be possible to support.

Where this becomes problematic, to say the least, is if one would simply sign off on a letter, edits or not and don not even care what it contains. This will be contributing to inflation in the meaning of such letters. I happened to have a very strict advisor in this sense, and as graduate students we always considered whether or not it was useful to get a letter from (in this case ) him. But, the positive in the letter was a real positive. The problem was of course you never knew what sort of letters the "competition" provided in applications. Hence not taking letters of recommendation seriously causes inflation and reduces the worth of them. This is probably why personal references (in the case of job searches) who you contact over conference phone become more important.

Peter Jansson
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    "This is clearly a grey-zone." It is not clear: in my opinion it is a highly -- almost maximally -- unethical practice to pass off your own written words (concerning yourself!) as those of someone else. Providing information that you think might be help your recommender in writing a letter is not the same thing at all...clearly. – Pete L. Clark Feb 04 '14 at 08:03
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    I totally agree, but that is not what the grey-zone in my reply concerned, it concerned whether or not one could take a text written by a student as basis for a recommendation letter at all. The point being that it depends how you use it, as background information or as the finished letter and between those there is a sliding scale from acceptable to unethical. – Peter Jansson Feb 04 '14 at 08:08
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    @PeteL.Clark I think it is not unethical at all, if the one signing does sincerely agree with exactly what is written. I've been approached by students to sign their words, when I did not know much about the student at all...of course I would never do so, because I would not sign my name to something I do not agree with. – earthling Feb 04 '14 at 08:09
  • @Peter: I am glad to hear that, but the title of the question is "Is it acceptable to write a reference letter for yourself?" and your answer begins "This is clearly a grey-zone." If your "this" does not mean to refer to the title question, perhaps it would be helpful to clarify your answer. – Pete L. Clark Feb 04 '14 at 08:20
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    @earthling: Is plagiarism not plagiarism if one "sincerely agrees with exactly what is written"? – Pete L. Clark Feb 04 '14 at 08:20
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    @PeteL.Clark I do not believe this is an issue of plagiarism. In plagiarism, you wrote something worthy of writing and I am taking credit for it (stealing an idea). In this case, I am trying to put my words into your mouth. If you agree, then we both agree and there is no plagiaristic conflict. – earthling Feb 04 '14 at 08:41
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    @earthling: plagiarism includes language as well as ideas: please see e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagiarism. And a letter of recommendation includes some ideas: it is a reasoned argument for why an important decision should be made. A letter of recommendation that simply said "I think student X is very good; you should admit them" would be almost worthless. – Pete L. Clark Feb 04 '14 at 08:52
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    @PeteL.Clark I think we will have to agree to disagree on this (because this is not a discussion board and this is going on a bit long). If you look at your link, the first words are Plagiarism is the "wrongful appropriation" in other words, you are stealing (words or ideas) from someone. If I ask you to say something on my behalf, how could you consider that you are stealing my words or ideas? – earthling Feb 04 '14 at 10:13
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    Just because I sign something doesn't mean I've written it. I've signed plenty of petitions because I agree with the content, without claiming the text is mine in any way. – gerrit Feb 04 '14 at 10:31
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    @earthling: So you think that if a student wrote and published a paper or book entirely on her own and gave permission to her adviser to publish it under his own name, it would not be plagiarism? Are you not aware that faculty members have been censured for exactly this behavior? gerrit: Yes, not everything that you sign has the expectation of being personally written by you. When you sign a lease you don't imply that you have written it. But that is the distinct implication of letters of reference, and hence ethical standards of academic writing apply. – Pete L. Clark Feb 04 '14 at 16:22
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Even if you don't think it's unethical to write your own draft letter, it can be dangerous:

Most such applications require several letters. If two or more letter-writers all ask you for a first draft, and you send them the same draft document, you don't know which parts they will choose to edit. It's possible that two writers will leave the same paragraph unedited, because they both stand by it... which means their letters will contain identical wording. This will raise serious red flags when the admissions committee notices!

It's much safer to send the letter-writers your CV and perhaps a bulleted list of items or traits you'd like the writers to highlight.

civilstat
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