Perception on E-Publication by Scientists and Science Educators in a Nigerian University

Abstract

One of the essential activities of academic/research staff (including scientists) in a university is to communicate their findings for publication in scholarly media such as journals and conference proceedings. As a result of the ICT revolution, there has been an increasing shift from conventional paper publication to electronic publication (e-publication). This research was thus carried out to assess the general perception of scientists and science educators of a typical Nigerian University on the prospects and challenges of using e-publication. The particular university considered is the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State (FUTminna), in North Central Nigeria, where opinions were sampled from academic staff in the university’s School of Science and Science Education. The views of the staff were gathered using questionnaires and the analysis was done using some statistical tools such as mean, percentages, frequency tables and charts. The respondents considered the following challenges faced in embracing e-publication and rated them in the order of importance: erratic power supply, copyright violation, web management, poor verification of manuscripts, access to computers, passwording information and cost implications. The research showed, among others, that a vast majority of the staff subscribe to e-publication, with a preference for e-journals. About half of the respondents are of the opinion that the cost of e-publication is moderate. Also, the vast majority believed that e-publication contained more updated information than print publication.