Abstract:
This study examined the diffusion and adoption of open access (OA) publishing
among 250 academic staff members at the University of Limpopo (UL), South
Africa. The study was guided by Rogers’s Diffusion of Innovation (DoI) theory
to measure their (the academics’) level of awareness on the availability of OA
platforms, to determine their adoption and usage levels of OA publishing for
scholarly communication, to establish their attitudes towards the use of the OA
publishing platforms, and to identify their perspectives with regard to challenges
and benefits presented by OA publishing. A questionnaire was used as a data
collection instrument. The findings revealed that most academics were, “to
some extent,” aware of OA publishing, through their subject librarians and the
internet. Although most were “strongly in favour” of OA publishing, their level
of adopting it was lower than expected. The institutional repository (IR) was
found to be the OA platform they have used most frequently to upload journal
articles. Article processing charges (APCs), connectivity related issues, articles
not being peer reviewed, predatory publishers, and lack of knowledge and OA
access policies remain some of the challenges encountered in adopting OA
publishing. It is recommended that the library staff should intensify its OA
publishing marketing strategies and educate academics about its implications
through workshops and seminars. Rewards for academics who publish in OA
platforms should also be considered by the institution, and the academics who
are reaping the benefits of OA publishing should also showcase their rewards to
the other academics.
