Utilization of Open Access Repositories for Visibility of Academic Publications by Lecturers in Selected Federal Universities in South-East, Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigates the utilization of open access repositories for visibility of academic publications by lecturers in selected federal universities in South-East, Nigeria. Six specific objectives and corresponding research questions, were formulated to investigate types of academic publications available, the platforms used in self-archiving, extent of utilization of open access repositories for visibility of academic publications, level of satisfaction derived by lecturers with the contribution of open access repositories, challenges associated with the use of open access repositories and the strategies towards ameliorating them. Three hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted descriptive survey design. The population of the study consists of 4,187 lecturers from the three universities under study. Proportionate stratified sampling procedure was used to draw a sample size of 418 lecturers from the population. Questionnaire and observation check list were the instruments used for data collection which were face validated by three experts in the field. Direct approach (face-to-face) was employed in administering the questionnaire to the respondents which ensured high return rate of 388 out of 418 that was shared. Frequency distribution table, simple percentage (%), mean score ( ) and Standard Deviation (SD) were used to analyze the data collected. The criterion mean is 2.5 while the percentage cut-off point is 50%. t-test and ANOVA were used to test the hypotheses at (0.05) level of significance. The study revealed that there are enough academic publications available such as books, journals, projects, thesis and dissertations with the exception of handouts which are scarcely available. It also revealed that Google Scholar, Research Gate and Open Access Journal were the main platforms employed by lecturers in self-archiving; while other platforms like Institutional Repositories, Open Education Resources, LinkedIn, among others were minimally employed. Lecturers are less satisfied with the contribution of open access repositories. There is significant different in the mean rating of male and female lecturers on the platforms employed for self-archiving of academic publications; similarly, there is a significant difference between the mean ratings of lecturers based on academic qualification on the extent of utilization of open access repositories for the visibility of academic publications. All the suggested challenges associated with the use of open access repositories for the visibility of academic publications such as lack of power supply, poor network, lack of awareness and inadequate research grants were all accepted. Similarly, all the suggested strategies for improving on the challenges were accepted. Base on the findings, it was recommended that (i) there should be more campaigns to create awareness and sensitize the university community on the importance of open access repositories (ii) there should be constant training and re-training of lecturers to upgrade their ICT skills and be abreast with new technologies (iii) school authorities should provide effective and adequate ICT infrastructures such as computers, smart boards, free Wi-Fi, more bandwidths and constant power supply. If all these strategies are implemented, they will go a long way in improving the utilization of open access repositories by lecturers which will enhance the global visibility of academic publications from Nigerian Universities.