oai:eurokd.com:article/2308 2026-09-10

Ethical Source Use in the Age of AI: Challenges Faced by Advanced English Learners in Academic Writing Volume 5 Laila Noor Multilingual Learners Academic Writing AI Literacy Academic Integrity Ethical Source Use <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Georgia', serif; color: black;">The rapid adoption of generative artificial intelligence (AI) has transformed academic writing while creating new challenges for ethical source use, academic integrity, and responsible engagement with scholarly sources. This qualitative descriptive study explored the challenges advanced English learners face in using sources ethically and avoiding plagiarism in AI-mediated academic writing. Data were collected from 75 multilingual learners enrolled in an advanced academic writing course across three consecutive semesters. Multiple sources of evidence, including essays, writing drafts, reflection papers, instructor feedback, and classroom observations, were analyzed using Braun and Clarke&rsquo;s (2023) Reflexive Thematic Analysis. The findings revealed five interconnected challenges related to citation practices, authorship identification, source verification, AI-generated references, and ethical decision-making. Together, these findings suggest that ethical source use extends beyond citation accuracy and requires the integration of academic, information, digital, and AI literacies. The study further proposes epistemic responsibility as a conceptual lens for understanding ethical source use in AI-mediated writing and offers pedagogical implications for fostering responsible AI-assisted writing, critical source evaluation, and informed scholarly decision-making among multilingual learners.</span></p> Feedback Research in Second Language 2026-09-10 Text https://api.eurokd.com/Uploads/Article/2308/frsl.2027.05.01.pdf https://doi.org/10.32038/frsl.2027.05.01 en Pages 1–25