Faculty self-archiving: Motivations and barriers

Changing the Academic Gender Narrative through Open Access

In this article, we ask whether dominant narratives of gender and performance within academic institutions are masking stories that may be both more complex and potentially more hopeful than those which are often told using publication-related data. Influenced by world university rankings, institutions emphasise so-called ‘excellent’ research practices: publish in ‘high impact’, elite subscription journals indexed by the commercial bibliographic databases that inform the various ranking systems. In particular, we ask whether data relating to institutional demographics and open access publications could support a different story about the roles that women are playing as pioneers and practitioners of open scholarship. We review gender bias in scholarly publications and discuss examples of open access research publications that highlight a positive advantage for women. Using analysis of workforce demographics and open research data from our Open Knowledge Initiative project, we explore relationships and correlations between academic gender and open access research output from universities in Australia and the United Kingdom. This opens a conversation about different possibilities and models for exploring research output by gender and changing the dominant narrative of deficit in academic publishing.

Content recruiting: Obstacle to institutional repository development in university libraries in Nigeria and South Africa

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to bring to light the obstacles to collecting contents from faculty members in universities in Nigeria and South Africa. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopted a survey research design. OpenDOAR database search, online questionnaire, and IRs investigation methods were used to collect data from 41 institutional repositories in universities in Nigeria and South Africa. Findings: The study found that the most popular content submitted to IRs in Nigeria and South Africa are electronic theses and dissertations, journal articles, special items (Africana collections, images, artifacts, paintings), conference and workshop papers, and research and technical reports. The comparison of institutional repository development between the two countries revealed that, South Africa is far ahead of Nigeria in terms of institutional repository development using contents emanating from the universities. South Africa is a leading African country in terms of Open Access (OA) policies and South Africa embraced open access movement earlier than Nigeria. The study identified some factors such as: lack of awareness of the existence of institutional repositories by faculty members; lack of mandatory self-archiving policy by institutions or funding bodies; considering copyright and intellectual property issues; some faculty members are skeptical on the principle of open access; some faculty members are not interested in IR; some faculty members believe it is too risky to submit their research work to IR; lack of technical skills for some faculty members to self-archive as obstacles which are peculiar to collecting contents from various contributors in both counties. Research Implication: The findings will inform University Librarians, University management and policy makers on possible ways to overcome the obstacles to recruiting content to IRs. Originality/value: The study reported on the obstacles of recruiting content from faculty members in universities in Nigeria and South Africa and the findings will inform stakeholders by designing strategies to overcome such obstacles and populate the IRs with different contents.

Factors influencing the adoption and use of open access scholarly communication among researchers in India

Purpose

The present study aims to examine the use of open access (OA) scholarly communication in India and investigate the factors affecting the adoption and use of OA scholarly communication among researchers.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopted a quantitative research approach using a survey method. Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED) of Web of Science database was selected as a source for identifying potential researchers and researchers' contact details. A web-based questionnaire was designed using Google Forms, and a link to the questionnaire was sent by email to 4,237 researchers belonging to Science and Technology. Unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) is the primary basis for formulating the present study's conceptual model. Hierarchical multiple regression (HMR) was applied for identifying the factors that influence the adoption and use of OA scholarly communication.

Findings

The study found that researchers have limited knowledge of different OA concepts, initiatives and resources, resulting in a deficient level of participation in OA publishing. The HMR analysis authenticates that attitude, facilitating conditions, Internet usage self-efficacy, article processing charge (APC) and researchers' working experience significantly influence the adoption and use of OA scholarly communication. Based on the findings, the study proposed a validated model to investigate the adoption and use of OA scholarly communication in different institutions, research disciplines and developing countries with similar conditions.

Practical implications

The findings have several practical and policy implications for improving OA publishing in India, formulating OA policies and providing directions for further research.

Originality/value

This is the first study focusing on adopting and using OA scholarly communication in India. Findings may be helpful in planning and implementing OA initiatives. The influencing factors and the relative importance identified in the present study offered empirical evidence to demonstrate the researchers' attitudes and perceptions for adopting and using OA scholarly communication.

Peer review

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-05-2021-0265.

Improving Institutional Repositories through User-Centered Design: Indicators from a Focus Group

User experience with intuitive and flexible digital platforms can be enjoyable and satisfying. A strategy to deliver such an experience is to place the users at the center of the design process and analyze their beliefs and perceptions to add appropriate platform features. This study conducted with focus groups as a qualitative method of data collection to investigate users’ preferences and develop a new landing page for institutional repositories with attractive functionalities based on their information-structural rules. The research question was: What are the motivations and experiences of users in an academic community when publishing scientific information in an institutional repository? The focus group technique used in this study had three sessions. Results showed that 50% of the participants did not know the functionalities of the institutional repository nor its benefits. Users’ perceptions of platforms such as ResearchGate or Google Scholar that provide academic production were also identified. The findings showed that motivating an academic community to use an institutional repository requires technological functions, user guidelines that identify what can or cannot be published in open access, and training programs for open access publication practices and institutional repository use. These measures align with global strategies to strengthen the digital identities of scientific communities and thus benefit open science.

Journal flipping to Open Access: The Perception of Spanish Journal Managers

There is a growing interest in determining the factors that influence a journal’s flipping to Open Access (OA). Using semi-structured interviews combined with bibliometric indicators, this paper uncovers the perception of Spanish managers related to OA and the decision to flip. The key research questions are twofold: How well do bibliometric measures reflect the changes in the status of the journal? How do journal managers perceive the flipping process? In order to answer these, twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted with journal managers of Spanish Journals. The findings suggest the great majority of managers are aware of the indicators, but only two considered they reflect their reality. The results indicate as the main motivations to flip to OA: being imposed by the host institution, economic reasons, and increase visibility and internationalization. An increase in the number of submissions, visibility, or internationalization since the transition is perceived as a benefit while the loss of interchanges with other institutions is seen as the major drawback. Although flipping to OA is perceived by the managers to have many advantages, it raises some challenges too, especially the need for funding, lack of resources capacity for technical support, and the creation of alliances.

The management and the usage of electronic resources in academic libraries: A bi-directional relationship

Electronic resources (ERs) in academic libraries have become a global phenomenon due to technological developments, and these resources are changing the expectations of library users as well as the nature of the work of librarians. Although there is an extensive body of literature on the management and usage of ERs in academic institutions, few researchers have taken a holistic view by studying both concepts in a single study to reveal how they are related. Previous studies have investigated only the management or usage of ERs as separate concepts. This study investigates the management and usage of ERs in academic libraries in Ghana to explore the connection between the two concepts. The aim is to provide better recommendations for practice. This research applied a mixed methods design. Twenty-four library staff and three library consortium executives were interviewed. Faculty members and postgraduate students from four institutions were surveyed. Our findings show the various ways in which the management and usage of ERs have an influence on each other. These were mainly in the areas of selection, access provision, publicity, training, evaluation, and usage of ERs. The importance of appropriate and adequate resourcing, the marketing and demonstration of the value of ERs, training and usage evaluation are discussed.

The UK Scholarly Communication Licence: Attempting to Cut through the Gordian Knot of the Complexities of Funder Mandates, Publisher Embargoes and Researcher Caution in Achieving Open Access

Whilst take-up of open access (OA) in the UK is growing rapidly due partly to a number of funder mandates, managing the complexities of balancing compliance with these mandates against restrictive publisher policies and ingrained academic priorities, has resulted in UK higher education institutions (HEIs) often struggling with confused researchers, complex workflows, and rising costs. In order to try to address this situation, the UK Scholarly Communication Licence (UK-SCL) was formulated to bypass the root causes of many of these challenges by implementing a licensing mechanism for multiple-mandate compliance in one single policy. This is the first empirical study to focus on the genesis of the UK-SCL and how its implementation has been conceived thus far. A qualitative research method was used, taking the form of 14 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders from the initiative across the UK. The results indicate that those working within UK HEIs are concerned with the complexity of the current OA policy landscape and are frustrated with the inertia within the current system, which has resulted in higher costs, further publisher restrictions, and has not addressed the underlying tensions in academic culture. The UK-SCL is seen by its initiators as a way to achieve further transition towards OA and take back some element of control of the content produced at their institutions. The study concludes by modelling the ways in which the UK-SCL is intended to impact relationships between key stakeholders, and discussing possible implementation futures.

Negotiate, reciprocate, or cooperate? The impact of exchange modes on inter-employee knowledge sharing

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of exchange modes – negotiated, reciprocal, generalized, and productive – on inter-employee knowledge sharing.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the affect theory of social exchange, a theoretical model was developed and empirically tested using a survey of 691 employees from 15 North American credit unions.

Findings

The negotiated mode of knowledge exchange, i.e. when a knowledge contributor explicitly establishes reciprocation conditions with a recipient, develops negative knowledge sharing attitude. The reciprocal mode, i.e. when a knowledge donor assumes that a receiver will reciprocate, has no effect on knowledge sharing attitude. The generalized exchange form, i.e. when a knowledge contributor believes that other organizational members may reciprocate, is weakly related to knowledge sharing attitude. The productive exchange mode, i.e. when a knowledge provider assumes he or she is a responsible citizen within a cooperative enterprise, strongly facilitates the development of knowledge sharing attitude, which, in turn, leads to knowledge sharing intentions.

Practical implications

To facilitate inter-employee knowledge sharing, managers should focus on the development of positive knowledge sharing culture when all employees believe they contribute to a common good instead of expecting reciprocal benefits.

Originality/value

This is one of the first studies to apply the affect theory of social exchange to study knowledge sharing.

The role of arXiv, RePEc, SSRN and PMC in formal scholarly communication

Purpose

– The four major Subject Repositories (SRs), arXiv, Research Papers in Economics (RePEc), Social Science Research Network (SSRN) and PubMed Central (PMC), are all important within their disciplines but no previous study has systematically compared how often they are cited in academic publications. In response, the purpose of this paper is to report an analysis of citations to SRs from Scopus publications, 2000-2013.

Design/methodology/approach

– Scopus searches were used to count the number of documents citing the four SRs in each year. A random sample of 384 documents citing the four SRs was then visited to investigate the nature of the citations.

Findings

– Each SR was most cited within its own subject area but attracted substantial citations from other subject areas, suggesting that they are open to interdisciplinary uses. The proportion of documents citing each SR is continuing to increase rapidly, and the SRs all seem to attract substantial numbers of citations from more than one discipline.

Research limitations/implications

– Scopus does not cover all publications, and most citations to documents found in the four SRs presumably cite the published version, when one exists, rather than the repository version.

Practical implications

– SRs are continuing to grow and do not seem to be threatened by institutional repositories and so research managers should encourage their continued use within their core disciplines, including for research that aims at an audience in other disciplines.

Originality/value

– This is the first simultaneous analysis of Scopus citations to the four most popular SRs.

An analysis of file format control in institutional repositories

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to analyze the file formats of the digital objects stored in two of the largest open-access repositories in Spain, DDUB and TDX, and determines the implications of these formats for long-term preservation, focussing in particular on the different versions of PDF.

Design/methodology/approach

– To be able to study the two repositories, the authors harvested all the files corresponding to every digital object and some of their associated metadata using the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) and Open Archives Initiative Object Reuse and Exchange (OAI-ORE) protocols. The file formats were analyzed with DROID software and some additional tools.

Findings

– The results show that there is no alignment between the preservation policies declared by institutions, the technical tools available, and the actual stored files.

Originality/value

– The results show that file controls currently applied to institutional repositories do not suffice to grant their stated mission of long-term preservation of scientific literature.

Critical success factors for institutional repositories implementation

Purpose

– This paper aims to explore the critical factors that contribute to the success of institutional repositories worldwide. Previous research indicates that there is little agreement surrounding what constitutes a successful institutional repository.

Design/methodology/approach

– Possible key factors were extracted from literature review and responses from expert panels. A web-based survey questionnaire forming a total of 69-item statements was developed. The questionnaire, when pilot-tested, was found highly reliable. The questionnaire was then distributed to 322 institutional repository managers, who are representative of the population, via the OpenDOAR email distribution service. Data collection ended in four months, once the sample volume of usable questionnaires reached 295, which is 91.6 per cent response rate.

Findings

– The results of the factor analysis indicate the possibility of 46 variables under six factors being important for the success of institutional repository implementation. These six factors are “Management”, “Services”, “Technology”, “Self-archive Practices”, “People” and “Resources”.

Practical implications

– This study has empirically tested and consolidated the factors which are important in institutional repository implementation worldwide and documented them as critical success factors.

Originality/value

– It also frames questions about the possible value of developing some guidelines or standards related to success factors to be able to monitor the deployment of institutional repositories.