ABSTRACT
This chapter draws from recent discussions around research ethics in applied linguistics, published research, and personal experience to critically interrogate and reflect upon four issues salient to ethical research on source-based writing: (1) how to negotiate conflicting demands between research quality and mitigating reputational risks to participants, (2) what constitutes informed consent when investigating inappropriate source use, (3) the moral ends of such research and (4) how this research can be disseminated and used to benefit multilingual writers. In raising such questions, it aims to promote debate and reflection among researchers and to offer suggestions for training and mentoring future researchers in this critical area of inquiry.
