Faculty participation in open access repositories (OARs) based on their individual traits

Abstract

Purpose The number of open access repositories (OARs) has been growing globally, but faculty members have been reluctant to embrace OAR and submit their work. While there are studies that looked at sociotechnical factors that affect faculty participation in OARs, this study aims to explore how the individual characteristics of faculty might impact faculty willingness to deposit their work in an OAR. Design/methodology/approach The survey was distributed to all faculty at a large public university in the USA who were identified as having their primary job responsibilities in teaching and research. This study used a correlational analysis between faculty individual characteristics (i.e. age, rank, status and academic discipline) and their willingness to deposit their work. Findings The findings show that there is a difference in faculty familiarity with open access (OA) principles and faculty awareness of OA policy based on individual characteristics. Furthermore, these individual characteristics have a significant impact on faculty willingness to participate in OARs. While this study reveals a significant correlation between the faculty intent to deposit and the respondent’s academic discipline, rank and status, there are other factors that affect faculty intent to participate in OAR, such as familiarity with OA principles and awareness of institution’s OA Policy. Research limitations/implications There were no significant responses from the Colleges of Science or Health and Public Service and, therefore, did not yield any statistically significant results. Measuring the university’s promotion system was outside the scope of this research. Practical implications Results of this research can provide insight on how individual characteristics of faculty might impact their willingness to embrace OA publishing in general and OARs in particular. Social implications The findings from this research will be a valuable source of information for librarians and OA staff in developing more effective outreach programs to increase faculty participation in OA and OARs. Originality/value This study reveals that individual faculty traits do have an impact on faculty willingness to participate in OARs. The academic discipline was found to make the most significant difference in faculty intent to deposit their work in an OAR. However, due to the ever-changing landscape of OA publishing and the ongoing outreach efforts by librarians, the faculty members’ perception and participation in OARs is likely to evolve.

Completing the Circle

“…Peter Suber provides a widely used and succinct definition: "Open access (O.A.) literature is digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions" (Suber, 2012, p. 4) While most academic authors are familiar with the words "open access" as an option offered by major publishers of scholarly journals and as a fee-based approach to peer-reviewed publishing, fewer authors are aware of alternative routes (Odell et al, 2017;Fitzgerald & Jiang, 2020;Tmava & Ryza, 2023). Self-archiving, sometimes called "green" open access, is the practice of depositing a version of a published work in an open archive at the author's institution (Harnad, 2001).…”

“…TRIP continually seeks incentives for faculty to identify and promote their translational scholarship. At the same time, TRIP and the Library appreciate that many faculty will not find the time to visit a website to upload information about their scholarly work (Tillman, 2017;Doro, 2021;Tmava & Ryza, 2023). Understanding that faculty have competing demands for their time and receive many opportunities to participate in "extra" activities, the partnership with the library to promote translational work is advantageous for several reasons, including:…”