ENHANCING QUALITY AND VISIBILITY OF RESEARCH THROUGH OPEN ACCESS SCHOLARLY PUBLISHING IN SELECTED UNIVERSITIES IN KENYA

Abstract

The landscape of scholarly publishing is evolving rapidly due to the influence of the Internet and open access practices, including disciplinary and institutional repositories, and open access journals. This study aimed to explore how researchers at Technical University of Kenya and Strathmore University can enhance quality and visibility of their research through open access scholarly publishing practices. The specific objectives were to: Examine the contribution of open access scholarly publishing to quality and visibility of research output by researchers at Technical University of Kenya and Strathmore University; Determine the benefits of enhancing quality and visibility of open access scholarly publishing at the Technical University of Kenya and Strathmore University; Determine the challenges faced by researchers in enhancing quality and visibility of open access scholarly publishing at the Technical University of Kenya and Strathmore University; establish how quality and visibility of scholarly publishing can be enhanced by researchers at Technical University of Kenya and Strathmore University; propose strategies to improve quality and visibility of open access scholarly publishing by researchers at Technical University of Kenya and Strathmore University.The study was guided by the Actor Network Theory and the Theory of Fair Use and utilized a convergent parallel mixed methods research design. The target population comprised 714 academic staff from Technical University of Kenya, 225 academic staff from Strathmore University, 190 postgraduate students from Technical University of Kenya, and 935 postgraduate students from Strathmore University, totaling 2064 subjects. A sample size of 324 respondents was selected using stratified random sampling. Data collection instruments included structured questionnaires and structured interviews. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS and presented through charts, tables, and graphs, while qualitative data were thematically analyzed and presented in narrative form. The study revealed variations in the understanding of open access scholarly publishing contributions, benefits, and challenges among graduate students and academic staff at the two universities. Open access was found to contribute to research quality and visibility through increased usage, improved decision-making, cost savings, citation impact, and greater research impact. However, challenges faced by respondents included lack of awareness, preservation issues, restrictive copyright assignments, inadequate funding, and the presence of predatory journals. Recommendations included the development of clear guidelines for promoting open access within the institutions, formulation of policies to support quality research, awareness campaigns on open access benefits, and implementation of stricter quality measures to enhance research output. Additionally, the study underscored the importance of improving support for open access publishing and fostering a culture of open access within the academic community