SCHOLARLY USE OF OPEN ACCESS RESOURCES ...

National Conference on Digital Libraries, Library Automation and Open CourseWare

2017

SCHOLARLY USE OF OPEN ACCESS RESOURCES BY RESEARCH SCHOLARS IN UNIVERSITY OF CALICUT Ashraf K.* Mohamed Haneefa K.** *Research Scholar, Department of Library and Information Science University of Calicut- 673 635, Kerala, E-mail: [email protected]

**Assistant Professor, Department of Library & Information Science University of Calicut, Kerala-673 635, E-mail: [email protected] Abstract This study investigates the scholarly use of Open Access resources by research scholars in University of Calicut, Kerala. Structured questionnaires were employed to collect data from a representative sample of 120 research scholars from three disciplinary groups. The analysis reveals that research scholars are aware of Open Access scholarly communication. Open Access search engines and ETD’s are popular among the research scholars. Google scholar and Shodganga are used by majority of the research scholars. Majority of the research scholars use Open Access platform for research purpose. Lack of guidance and support and lack of awareness are the main hindrances in the access and use of Open Access resources. Majority of the research scholars are willing to publish and expect positive outcome from Open Access publication however real contribution towards this stream is unsatisfactory. Keywords: Open Access, Scholarly communication, Research scholars, University of Calicut

1. Introduction Developments in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) especially World Wide Web paved way for transformation in every walks of human society. This development resulted in the collaboration of production and distribution of scholarly information beyond geographical boundaries. The positive effect of this paradigm shift also led to the development of various movements for free and open access to the scholarly literature. Open Access is a new business model for scholarly communication. It came in to emerge largely due to the restriction imposed by scholarly publishers on free movement of scholarly information and urge for free flow of information for research community.

Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) which defined the concept of Open Access in relation to journal literature as: “free availability on the public internet, permitting any user to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose, Department of Library and Information Science, University of Mysore

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without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself. The only constraint on reproduction and distribution, and the only role for copyright in this domain, should be to give authors control over the integrity of their work and the right to be properly acknowledged and cited” (“Budapest Open Access Initiative", n.d.)

Open Access ensures unrestricted access to research output on the public internet. It provides provision to make use of scholarly material and grant license for non commercial use subject to proper acknowledgement of original author. Thus Open Access facilitate researchers to make use of the scholarly material available freely on the internet in any Open Access platform like open access repositories, Electronic Thesis and Desertions (ETDs) and Open Access journals (Christian, 2009).

2. Review of Literature The concept of Open Access emerged during the late 1990s. However substantial literature is available on open access in short span of time (Gul, Shah & Baghwan, 2010). Open Access institutional repositories in academic and research institutions in Nigeria by Christian (2009) illustrated issues and challenges of developing Open Access repositories. Lack of awareness, lack of infrastructural facilities and lack of funding identified as the main hindrance before the development of Open Access institutional repositories in Nigeria. This study suggested to provide advocacy to promote Open Access initiatives in Nigeria.

Dulle (2010) studied the factors affecting the adoption of Open Access research activities in Tanzanian public universities. The study found majority of research scholars are aware of Open Access. Poor research condition, low internet search skills and publishing skills found as the main hurdle before Open Access communication. Gul, Shah and Baghwan (2010) reported the findings of the study undertaken in University of Kashmir to understand the use, perception about Open Access. The study found that majority of research scholars consults Open Access and library resources for their research activities. Majority of scholars considered Open Access resources is useful for their research related activities. Open Access journals is useful more than institutional repositories and majority of scholars are willing to publish in Open Access journals. Baradol, Gopakumar and Anuradha (2011) conducted a Department of Library and Information Science, University of Mysore

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study on awareness and use of Open Access resources among academic community in BITS Pilani Goa campus. The study found that awareness level on Open Access resources is low among the academic community. Lack of training and awareness found as the major obstacles in using Open Access resources. The study stressed the role of librarian in spreading awareness about Open Access resources. Khalili (2011) explored the familiarity and experiences with Open Access among Iranian medical researchers. The study found that nearly half of the researchers are unfamiliar with Open Access terms. Only half of the research scholars have familiarity and experiences with Open Access publishing. It was also observed that the researchers who are familiar with Open Access take more interest in Open Access publishing. Sahu (2013) studied the awareness of Open Access publishing among Indian Researchers from IITs and IIMs of India using random sampling method. The study found that awareness level of Open Access initiatives and Open Access publishing is low but gradually increasing. The study realized that researchers are taking keen interest in Open Access publishing. Iqbal and Ali (2017) assessed the awareness and use of Open Access resources among the library users of Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) and Pondicherry University (PU), Puducherry.

The study revealed that majority of the

respondents are aware about the existence of Open Access repository in their institution and use the repository for their research. The study found that screen reading, lack of guidance and training and lack of search skills are the main obstacle faced by the library users.

These studies are pertaining to the awareness and use of Open Access resources among the research scholars in higher education institutions in different parts of the country and abroad. However no study of this kind was not found among the researchers scholars in University of Calicut and use of Open Access scholarly communication.

3. Objectives of the Study The main objectives of the study were: 1. To analyze the awareness of Open Access; 2. To find out the use of Open Access resources; 3. To identify the barriers in Open Access; and to 4. To know the attitude towards Open Access publishing.

Department of Library and Information Science, University of Mysore

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4. Methodology The University of Calicut is a higher education institution caters educational and research needs of the northern part of Kerala. It has more than four hundred affiliated colleges and thirty five post graduate departments.

The population of the study includes fulltime research scholars of the University of Calicut. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data from a representative sample of 120 research scholars from different departments of the university. Out of the 120 questionnaires distributed, 109 questionnaires were returned (response rate 90.84%). The gender wise breakup of the sample shows that there were 31 (28.4 per cent) male and 78 (71.6 per cent) female research scholars. There were 19 (17.4 per cent) M. Phil scholars and 90 (82.6 per cent) doctoral research students. The discipline wise breakup of the sample shows below (Table 1). The data collected very systematically and analysed using SPSS software.

Table 1 - Discipline Wise Break Up of the Sample Course Science Social Humanities Total Science and Languages M. Phil 8 2 9 19 PhD 34 34 22 90 Total 42 36 31 109

5. Results and Discussion The data obtained through questionnaire from research scholars have been analyzed and discussed below. The data analysis was carried out under major four heading (1) Awareness of Open Access (2) Use of Open Access resources (3) Barriers in Open Access (4) Attitude towards Open Access. 5.1 Awareness of Open Access Concept A question was asked to research scholars whether they are aware of Open Access scholarly communication. The result of the survey shows that in Science discipline all research scholars are aware of Open Access concept, while research scholars in Social Science discipline 35 (97.23 per cent) are aware of it. Majority of Humanities and Language research scholars 27 Department of Library and Information Science, University of Mysore

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(87.1 per cent) are also aware of Open Access concept. This shows large majority (90.34 per cent) of research scholars are aware of Open Access scholarly communication. This findings support findings of Iqbal and Ali (2017) that 77.78 and 80 per cent research scholars from CUSAT and PU are familiar with Open Access concept. Awareness of Open Access resources There are many Open Access resources are available in the internet which are very helpful in teaching and learning process. Open Access resources comprise of Open Access archives, Open Access books, Open Access journals, Open Access search engines etc. A question was asked to know the awareness of Open Access resources among the research scholars. The analysis is given in Table 2.

Table 2- Awareness of Open Access resources Open Access Resources

Science n=42

Social Humanities and Across Science Languages Discipline n=36 n=31 n=109 OA Search engines 36 (85.71) 35 (97.24) 26 (83.87) 97 (89) ETDs 26 (61.9) 30(83.34) 24 (77.42) 80 (73.39) OA Journals 11 (26.19) 21 (58.34) 15 (48.39) 47 (43.11) OA E Books 6 (14.28) 3 (8.34) 6 (19.35) 15 (13.76) OA repositories 10 (23.80) 10 (27.78) 8 (25.8) 28 (25.69) Notes: Multiple answers were permitted; figures within parenthesis are % Open Access search engine act as a main Open Access resource used by large majority (89 per cent) of research scholars. Social Science research scholars are more prominat users of the Open Access search engine. Google scholar, BASE, OAISTER, OAJSE are the prominent Open Access search engines. ETDs are used by majority (73.39 per cent) of research scholars. Social science research scholars are more aware than other disciplinary groups. Nearly half of the research scholars 47 (43.11 per cent) are also aware of Open Access journals. However more than half (58.34 per cent) of Social science research scholars are aware of Open Access journals. The data shows awareness of Open Access search engine and ETD’s are more among research scholars.


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5.2 Use of Open Access Resources Use of Open Access resources depends on the awareness of Open Access. It also depends on the sources of getting information, tools of accessing and purpose of using it in scholarly activities of researchers. These aspects are individually analyzed below. Sources to know Open Access resources As the Open Access concept is emerging in Indian academic research community, sources of getting information regarding Open Access resource is important aspect of study. There are formal and informal channels to get familiarize the concept of Open Access scholarly communication. Colleagues, Internet search, Library website, Seminar and conference are some of the sources of information. Table 3 represents research scholar’s sources to know Open Access resources.

Table 3 - Sources to know Open Access resources Sources

Science n=42

Social Science Humanities and Across n=36 Languages Discipline n=31 n=109 Colleagues 33 (78.57) 24 (66.67) 19 (61.29) 76 (69.72) Internet search 24 (57.14) 29 (80.56) 16 (51.61) 69 (63.3) Library portal 10 (23.8) 11 (30.56) 4 (12.9) 25 (22.93) Blogs 2 (4.76) 9 (25) 4 (12.9) 15 (13.76) Seminar /Conferences 12 (28.57) 8 (22.22) 15 (48.39) 35 (32.11) Notes: Multiple answers were permitted; figures within parenthesis are % It is evident from the data that colleagues and internet sources act as a major source of information regarding the existence of Open Access resources. Scholars in Science discipline more (78.57 per cent) depend on colleagues to get information regarding Open Access resources. Social Science researchers (80.56 per cent) depend on internet to get information regarding Open Access content. Library portal, seminar and conference and blogs are marginally used for getting information regarding OA content. Research supervisor also act as a source of information regarding the availability of Open Access resources in the respective area of research to some of the research scholars.


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Tools to access Open Access content Access to information is an important issue in the use of Open Access resources. There are several tools available to access Open Access scholarly content. Search engines, repositories, subject specific gateways, blogs, directories enable to access Open Access content. Library portal or Website also can be used as interface to access Open Access resources. Table 4 shows various tools used by research scholars.

Table 4- Tools to access Open Access content Access tools

Science n=42

Social Science Humanities and Across n=36 Languages Discipline n=31 n=109 34 (94.45) 28 (90.33) 101 (92.67) 15 (41.67) 4 (12.9) 27 (24.78) 7 (19.45) 1 (3.23) 17 (15.6) 4 (11.12) 3 (9.68) 10 (9.17) 6 (16.67) 1 (3.23) 11 (10)

Search engine 39 (92.85) Repositories 8 (19) Subject gateways 9 (21.43) Blogs 3 (7.14) Directories 4 (9.52) Library 19 (45.24) 19 (52.78) 13 (41.93) 51 (46.79) portal/Websites Notes: Multiple answers were permitted; figures within parenthesis are %

Large majority (92.67 per cent) of research scholars depend search engine to access Open Access resources. A good number (46.79 per cent) of research scholars depend on library portal or website to access relevant Open Access content. Repositories also used by few (24.78 per cent) research scholars and use of other tools comparatively low. Libraries have the opportunity in giving access to Open Access content to research community. Use of Open Access content may be promoted by providing links from library website to access content ( Iqbal & Ali, 2017). Use of Specific Open Access Resources Research scholars are need of numerous types of scholarly information to cater their intellectual thirst for knowledge. Now a days research information emanate from research institution are available freely in the internet. There are plentiful Open Access resources available for research scholars. Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. It helps the researcher find relevant work across the world of scholarly research (Sawant, 2013). NDLTD ( Networked Digital Libraries of Thesis and Dissertations) Department of Library and Information Science, University of Mysore

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provide access to globally published thesis and dissertations. Vidhyanidhi is also an ETD repository maintained by University of Mysuru. DOAJ ( Directory of Open Access Journals) on other hand provide access to scientific and scholarly journals which keep quality control mechanism in their journals. It increases visibility of journals thereby providing chances for more citations. Shodganga is an initiative of INFLIBNET to provide chance for Indian research scholars to deposit their doctoral thesis in their repository to ensure access to scholarly research output to entire research community. DOAB (Directory of Open Access Books) is a database providing access to Open Access Books. OAJSE (Open Access Journal Search Engine) is an Open Access E-Journal search portal. Table 5 reveals the use of different Open Access resources.

It is clear from Table 5 that majority (82.57 per cent) of research scholars use Google scholar to find out Open Access Resources. Shodganga is also used by majority of research scholars for Open Access scholarly communication. Social science research scholars dominate in the use of both Google scholar and Shodganga as a open access platform. Good number (41.28 per cent) of research scholars depends DOAJ and few number of scholars also depends on NDLTD and Vidyanidhi.

Table 5- Use of Open Access Resources Open Access resources

Science n=42

Social Science Humanities and Across n=36 Languages Discipline n=31 n=109 Google scholar 37 (88) 33 (91.67) 20 (64.51) 90 (82.57) NDLTD 7 (16.67) 12 (33.34) 7 (22.58) 26 (23.85) Vidyanidhi 6 (14.28) 7 (19.45) 8 (25.8) 21 (19.27) DOAJ 16 (38) 16 (44.45) 13 (41.93) 45 (41.28) Shodganga 26 (61.9) 31 (86.12) 22 (70.97) 79 (72.48) DOAB 7 (16.67) 7 (19.45) 5 (16.12) 19 (17.43) OAJSE 8 (19) 12 (33.34) 9 (29) 18 (16.51) Notes: Multiple answers were permitted; figures within parenthesis are %

A few research scholars also depends DOAB and OAJSE for scholarly activities. BASE (Biefield Academic Search Engine), PLOS (Public Library of Science) and BioMed Central are found popular among the researcher scholars in Science discipline. Department of Library and Information Science, University of Mysore

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Purpose of use of Open Access resources Research scholars are in need of scholarly information in each stage of their research life cycle. Open Access resources may be used to understand concepts, individual research work, to write research papers and to keep up date in their field. Table 6 reveals the data regarding the purpose of use of Open Access resources.

Table 6 reveals majority (88 per cent) of research scholars use Open Access for research work. A good number (47.7 per cent) of research scholars use to write research papers and another good number (45.87 per cent) use this to understand concepts. Large majority (95.23per cent) of Science research scholars and Social Science research scholars (91.67 per cent) use this for research work.

Table 6- Purpose of use of Open Access resources Purpose of use Science Social Humanities and Across n=42 Science Languages Discipline n=36 n=31 n=109 To understand concepts 16 (38.1) 20 (55.56) 14 (45.16) 50 (45.87) To write a paper/article 26 (61.9) 15 (41.67) 11 (35.48) 52 (47.7) For research work 40 (95.23) 33 (91.67) 23 (74.19) 96 (88) To keep update 20 (47.61) 12 (33.34) 6 (19.35) 38 (34.86) Notes: Multiple answers were permitted; figures within parenthesis are % 5.3 Barriers in Open Access Barriers that negatively affect use of Open Access resources. Users face different type of barriers while accessing and using Open Access literature. So, this part considered different type of barriers in accessing and using Open Access resources. Barriers in accessing Open Access resources The research scholars were asked to respond barriers in accessing Open Access resources. Findings about different type of barriers faced by research scholars summarized in Table 7.


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Table 7-Barriers in accessing Open Access resources Barriers

Science n=42

Social Humanities and Across Science Languages Discipline n=36 n=31 n=109 Lack of infrastructure 2 (4.76) 9 (25) 4 (12.9) 15 (13.76) Lack of guidance and support 17(40.47) 21 (58.34) 16 (51.61) 54 (49.54) Lack of search skills 19 (45.23) 7 (19.45) 5 (16.12) 31 (28.44) Difficulty to locate URL 16 (38.1) 14 (38.89) 10 (32.25) 40 (36.70) Lack of access to internet 13(30.95) 10 (27.78) 16 (51.61) 39 (35.78) Notes: Multiple answers were permitted; figures within parenthesis are %

Nearly half of the respondents (49.54 per cent) face lack of guidance and support while accessing Open Access resources. A good number (36.7 per cent) of research scholars face difficulty to locate URL (Uniform Resource Locater) and also good number (35.78 per cent) of research scholars face absence of adequate internet facility. Lack of guidance and support is comparatively low among the Science (58.34 per cent) research scholars. Lack of internet facility is more acute in Humanities and Language disciplines (51.61 per cent) than other discipline.

Problems in using Open Access resources Use of Open Access literature helping the research scholars to get research output originate from research institutions. These researches are largely public funded research projects. However the use of these resources is restricted due to some problems faced by the scholars. The respondents were asked to respond problems in using Open Access resources. The responses are summarized in Table 8.

Table 8- Problems in using Open Access resources Problems

Science n=42

Social Science Humanities and Across n=36 Languages Discipline n=31 n=109 Information overload 8 (19) 16 (44.45) 13 (41.93) 37 (33.94) Lack of awareness 17 (40.48) 15 (41.67) 10 (32.26) 42 (38.53) Not constantly available 17 (40.48) 11 (30.56) 11 (35.48) 39 (35.78) Not widely acceptable 9 (21.43) 3 (8.34) 5 (16.13) 17 (15.60) Not always authoritative 12 (28.57) 14 (38.89) 9 (29.03) 35 (32.11) Notes: Multiple answers were permitted; figures within parenthesis are %


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A good number (38.53 per cent) of research scholars felt lack of awareness and (35. 78 per cent) research scholars felt consistency of availability as the hindrance. Information overload act as a problem to (33.94 per cent) research scholars and lack of authoritativeness to (32.11 per cent) research scholars.

5.4 Attitude towards Open Access Publishing Research scholar’s attitude towards open access publishing is assessed in terms of willingness to publish open access publication, their expectation from open access publishing and their actual contribution in open access publishing outlet. Willingness to publish Open Access publications The opinion of research scholars regarding willingness to publish in Open Access outlet was sought to determine whether they agree to publish open access mode. Majority (86.23 per cent)of research scholars are willing to publish in Open Access mode. Scholars in Science (83.34 per cent) and Humanities discipline (83.87 per cent) are more willing to contribute Open Access mode than Social science scholars (61.67 per cent).

Expectation from Open Access publishing Expectation of research scholars regarding Open Access publishing was sought to verify whether it is useful to publish quickly, increase productivity, increase citation and increase visibility of publication. Table 9 reveals the summery.

Table 9- Expectations from Open Access publishing Expectations

Science n=42

Social Science n=36

Humanities and Across Languages Discipline n=31 n=109 Publish my work quickly 30 (71.43) 27 (75) 18 (58) 75 (68.8) Increase my productivity 25 (59.52) 24 (66.67) 18 (58) 67 (61.46) Increase citation 25 (59.52) 23 (63.89) 14 (45.16) 62 (56.89) Increase visibility 13 (30.95) 18 (50) 10 (32.26) 41 (37.61) Notes: Multiple answers were permitted; figures within parenthesis are %


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The analysis reveals that majority (68.8 per cent) of research scholars expect that Open Access mode helpful to publish work quickly and also majority (61.46 per cent) of scholars believe that it helps to increase productivity. More than half (56.89 per cent) believe that it increase citation and good number (37.61 per cent) also believe that it increase visibility. Contributions to Open Access publications The actual contribution in open access publication irrespective of publishing outlet was sought from research scholars. Table 10 reveals the researchers contributions to Open Access publications.

Table 10- Contributions to Open Access publications Number of Contributions

Science n=42

1 2 3 5 6 7 11 Total

8 (19) 3 (7.14) 2 (4.76) 1 (2.38) 2 (4.76)

Social Science n=36 4 (11.12) 5 (13.89) 1 (2.78) 1 (2.78) -

Humanities and Languages n=31 4 (12.9) 1 (3.23) -

Across Discipline n=109 16 (14.67) 9 (8.25) 3 (2.75) 2 (1.83) 2 (1.83)

1 (2.38) 1 (2.38) 18 (42.86)

11 (30.56)

5 (16.13)

1 (0.91) 1(0.91) 34 (31.19)

The contribution to open access publication is very low as the total contributions of 109 research scholars constitute only 34 publications. Only 16 publications were contributed 16 research scholars is the largest contribution and more number of contribution by research scholars is too few irrespective of discipline.

6. Conclusion This study proves that research scholars at University of Calicut are aware of Open Access concept. Research scholars are more fond of using search engine and internet sources while approaching Open Access content. Libraries have no visible role in popularizing Open Access resources among the research scholars. Google scholar is accepted as a important access point to find Open Access resources. Shodganga is widely used as a disseminating Department of Library and Information Science, University of Mysore

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medium of scholarly research information emanated from Indian universities. Open Access resources used significantly by research scholars for the purpose of research work. Lack of guidance and support and awareness seemed to be barrier in some extent in accessing and using open access content. Research scholars in University of Calicut are willing to publish and they keep positive outcome from publishing however real contribution is lagging behind. The real problem in contributing Open Access outlet to be gauged out in future research. References Baradol, A. K.,Gopakumar.V, & Anuradha V (2011). Awarness and Use of Open Access and Free Resources on the Internet: A Case Study at BITS Pilani K K Birla Goa Campus, Goa. Retrieved from http://ir.inflibnet.ac.in:8080/jspui/handle/1944/1626 Budapest Open Access Initiative (n.d.). Retrieved October 11, 2017, from http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read Christian, G. E. (2009). Issues and Challenges to the Development of Open Access Institutional Repositories in Academic and Research Institutions in Nigeria (SSRN Scholarly Paper No. ID 1323387). Rochester, NY: Social Science Research Network. Retrieved from https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=1323387 Dulle, W. F. (2010, August). An analysis of open access schorlarly communication Tanzanian public universities (Thesis). Retrieved from http://uir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/3684 Gul, S., Shah, T. A., & Baghwan, T. A. (2010). Culture of open access in the University of Kashmir: a researcher’s viewpoint. Aslib Proceedings, 62(2), 210–222. https://doi.org/10.1108/00012531011035008 Iqbal, J., & Ali P.M., Noushad. (2017). Familiarity and utilization of open access resources: A study of library users of Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) and Pondicherry University (PU). Information and Learning Science, 118(3/4), 141– 151. https://doi.org/10.1108/ILS-12-2016-0080 Khalili, L. (2011). Familiarity and experience with open access among Iranian medical researchers. Libri, 61(4), 338–350. Sahu, S. K., & Arya, S. K. (2013). Open access practices in India. Library Hi Tech News, 30(4), 6–12. https://doi.org/10.1108/LHTN-03-2013-0011


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