diff --git a/lib/plagiarismlib.php b/lib/plagiarismlib.php
index d8e246e9dbc..ae89d2558ed 100644
--- a/lib/plagiarismlib.php
+++ b/lib/plagiarismlib.php
@@ -56,6 +56,8 @@ function plagiarism_get_links($linkarray) {
 /**
  * returns array of plagiarism details about specified file
  *
+ * @deprecated Since Moodle 4.0. - this function was a placeholder and not used in core.
+ * @todo MDL-71326 This is to be moved from here to deprecatedlib.php in Moodle 4.4
  * @param int $cmid
  * @param int $userid
  * @param object $file moodle file object
@@ -64,6 +66,8 @@ function plagiarism_get_links($linkarray) {
  */
 function plagiarism_get_file_results($cmid, $userid, $file) {
     global $CFG;
+    $text = 'plagiarism_get_file_results is deprecated, please use plagiarism_get_links() or plugin specific functions.';
+    debugging($text, DEBUG_DEVELOPER);
     $allresults = array();
     if (empty($CFG->enableplagiarism)) {
         return $allresults;
@@ -140,6 +144,8 @@ function plagiarism_get_form_elements_module($mform, $context, $modulename = "")
 /**
  * Allows a plagiarism plugin to print a button/link at the top of activity overview report pages.
  *
+ * @deprecated Since Moodle 4.0 - Please use {plugin name}_before_standard_top_of_body_html instead.
+ * @todo MDL-71326 Remove this method.
  * @param object $course - full Course object
  * @param object $cm - full cm object
  * @return string
@@ -155,6 +161,13 @@ function plagiarism_update_status($course, $cm) {
         require_once($dir.'/lib.php');
         $plagiarismclass = "plagiarism_plugin_$plugin";
         $plagiarismplugin = new $plagiarismclass;
+
+        $reflectionmethod = new ReflectionMethod($plagiarismplugin, 'update_status');
+        if ($reflectionmethod->getDeclaringClass()->getName() == get_class($plagiarismplugin)) {
+            $text = 'plagiarism_plugin::update_status() is deprecated.';
+            $text .= ' Use plagiarism_' . $plugin . '_before_standard_top_of_body_html() instead';
+            debugging($text, DEBUG_DEVELOPER);
+        }
         $output .= $plagiarismplugin->update_status($course, $cm);
     }
     return $output;
diff --git a/plagiarism/lib.php b/plagiarism/lib.php
index 364b05e82e0..bc444cc7c71 100644
--- a/plagiarism/lib.php
+++ b/plagiarism/lib.php
@@ -41,7 +41,8 @@ abstract class plagiarism_plugin {
 
     /**
      * Return the list of form element names.
-     *
+     * @deprecated Since Moodle 4.0 - this function was a placeholder and not used in core.
+     * @todo MDL-71326 Remove this method.
      * @return array contains the form element names.
      */
     public function get_configs() {
@@ -58,6 +59,8 @@ abstract class plagiarism_plugin {
     }
     /**
      * hook to allow plagiarism specific information to be returned unformatted
+     * @deprecated Since Moodle 4.0 - this function was a placeholder and not used in core Moodle code.
+     * @todo MDL-71326 Remove this method.
      * @param int $cmid
      * @param int $userid
      * @param $file file object
@@ -96,7 +99,8 @@ abstract class plagiarism_plugin {
     }
     /**
      * hook to allow status of submitted files to be updated - called on grading/report pages.
-     *
+     * @deprecated Since Moodle 4.0 - Please use {plugin name}_before_standard_top_of_body_html instead.
+     * @todo MDL-71326 Remove this method.
      * @param object $course - full Course object
      * @param object $cm - full cm object
      */
diff --git a/plagiarism/upgrade.txt b/plagiarism/upgrade.txt
index f726421053d..e871f36ddf6 100644
--- a/plagiarism/upgrade.txt
+++ b/plagiarism/upgrade.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 This files describes API changes for code that uses the plagiarism API.
 
+=== 4.0 ===
+* The method update_status() has been deprecated. Please use {plugin name}_before_standard_top_of_body_html() instead.
+* The method get_configs() has been deprecated and will be removed from the abstract class as it was not used in core.
+* The method plagiarism_get_file_results has been deprecated - it was not used in core - please call a plagiarism
+  plugins internal functions directly instead of using this function.
+
 === 3.11 ===
 * Support for Essay question type in Quiz has now been implemented, allowing plagiarism plugins to display information
   on the quiz overview report and when viewing an essay question response.