Perceptions and Use of Open Access Journals by Nigerian Postgraduate Students

This article investigates perceptions and use of Open Access journals (OAJs) by master's degree students in two universities in the southwestern part of Nigeria. A descriptive survey design was used in the study and the study population was comprised of 7,423 master's degree students in the University of Ibadan and 1,867 from Obafemi Awolowo University. A multistage random sampling technique was used to select a sample size of 249 and the data collection instrument was a structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using frequency counts, percentages, mean, standard deviation, correlation, and regression analyses. The findings revealed that OAJs were used for learning, dissertation writing, personal research, and development. OAJs were not frequently used because of download delays, unavailability of Internet facilities, and limited access to computers terminals, among other issues. OAJs were found to be of relative advantage, positively perceived, and found to be compatible with existing values and quality assurance in scholarly publications, hence their use for academic activities. The regression analyses showed that there was a significant positive relationship between positive perception, perception of relative advantage, perception of compatibility, perception complexity, and master's degree students' use of OAJs. Negative perception was found to have a significant negative correlation with the use of OAJs. This article recommends that quality assurance of OAJs should be ensured in order to boost users' positive perceptions to increase their patronage and usage of these scholarly outlets for various academic activities, which will in turn encourage research and development across the various institutions of higher learning in Nigeria.