Understanding academic integrity challenges among non-native english-speaking students in higher education: a teacher-informed reflective analysis

Academic misconduct and weak academic writing remain persistent concerns for higher education assessment. Although extensive research has examined plagiarism and academic integrity, fewer studies have considered how experienced academic practitioners interpret misconduct among non-native English-speaking students in English-medium higher education contexts. This study adopts a qualitative exploratory case-study design informed by reflective practice. It draws on semi-structured reflective interviews with eight academic practitioners who had taught and assessed NNES students across multiple higher education contexts. Using reflexive thematic analysis, the study identifies three connected themes: forms of academic misconduct, perceived causes of misconduct, and preventive responses. The findings suggest that misconduct among NNES students should not be treated only as deliberate cheating. Rather, intentional academic misconduct, unintentional academic misconduct and poor academic practice may overlap in practice, particularly where students face challenges with academic literacy, citation, paraphrasing, time management and assessment expectations. The paper argues for a preventive response based on explicit academic-integrity education, early writing support, transparent assessment guidance and proportionate institutional handling of low-level poor academic practice.