ADOPTION OF OPEN ACCESS PUBLISHING AMONG LIBRARIANS IN FEDERAL UNIVERSITIES IN NORTH-CENTRAL NIGERIA: MODERATING ROLES OF PUBLISHING BEHAVIOUR AND RESEARCH ASSESSMENT PRACTICES

Abstract

This study examined the adoption of Open Access (OA) publishing among librarians and Library and Information Science (LIS) educators in federal universities in North-Central Nigeria, with particular attention to the moderating roles of publishing behaviour and research assessment practices. A systematic review design was adopted to synthesise empirical and theoretical literature published between 2020 and 2026. Relevant sources were retrieved from Google Scholar, Web of Science, and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), and the extracted data were analysed using thematic content analysis guided by the PRISMA protocol. Findings showed that the level of OA adoption among librarians and LIS educators is moderate but increasing, driven by awareness of visibility, accessibility, and global dissemination benefits associated with open scholarship. The review further established that publishing behaviour significantly shapes OA adoption, with librarians who hold favourable attitudes toward research productivity, scholarly collaboration, and digital publishing being more inclined to engage with OA outlets. Research assessment practices, including promotion criteria, journal ranking, and citation metrics, were equally found to influence publishing decisions, often discouraging engagement with OA journals perceived as less prestigious. The principal barriers identified include high article processing charges, inadequate funding, weak technological infrastructure, apprehension about predatory journals, and the absence of institutional policy support. The study concludes that, despite rising awareness, OA adoption among Nigerian academic librarians remains constrained by institutional, financial, and policy-related barriers, and recommends stronger institutional support, more flexible research assessment frameworks, and sustainable funding mechanisms to advance OA publishing in Nigerian federal universities.