Advancing Open Research Adoption in Nigeria: Assessment Reforms and Funders Mandates as catalysts of change

Abstract

Objectives/Scope: Open research practices have gained significant attention globally, to entrench ethical practices, transparency and interdisciplinary collaboration due to the wave of research article retractions and ethical malpractices reported in the scholarly communication ecosystem in recent times. Yet their adoption in Nigeria remains limited, often discouraged by systemic practices within the academic and research environment. This article highlights how some research assessment practices for promotion and funders' mandates can hinder advancing open research practices among Nigerian academics. Method: The current research assessment practices in Nigerian universities was examined using a mixed approach. Data on research assessment practices was collected from faculty members in Nigeria universities. In addition, document analysis of the promotion and tenure criteria and practices in these universities was used to augment and triangulate the data collected from the faculty members. Results: From the study, over half of the respondents (n=107/212) revealed that their universities either accepts all journals but award higher scores to commercial-indexed journals at either all levels/cadres, or at professorial cadre. Furthermore, majority of the respondents (n=121/213) indicated that their universities give recognition awards to faculty/librarians that publish in commercial-indexed journals. A perusal of some of the research assessment documents for promotion revealed some positive open research practices in the universities. For instance, some of these universities recognises self-archiving of articles on the institutional repositories as part of promotion criteria. Some universities also demand the sharing of reviewers’ comments in addition to their publications. However, none of the universities recognises either research data or preprints as part of research assessments. Furthermore, the major funders of research pay for and encourage the academics to publish in commercially indexed journals, thereby discouraging researchers from publishing in the national journals where the findings of these contextual researchers are needed. Conclusion: Thus, this article contributes to the ongoing discourse on how institutional changes can incentivise transparent, open and accessible research practices in Nigeria. Recommendation: The study suggest that a concerted effort to align assessment criteria with the goals of open science, supported by clear funder mandates, could transform the research landscape in Nigeria, fostering openness, transparency, and impact of research.