Academic Writing and Publication Support Services: The Role of Librarians in Higher Learning Institutions

ABSTRACT

Despite the presence of well-equipped libraries and committed librarians in higher learning institutions, the rate at which academicians produce and publish their work has slowed significantly in recent years. This is concerning since publication is important in decisions about promotion and contracts in academic and specialized settings. The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of librarians in the publishing process within academic institutions, the level of awareness among academicians regarding the research support services provided by librarians, the factors impeding academicians from actively engaging in writing and publishing, academicians' perceptions of the services offered in academic libraries, and, finally, academicians' recommended services that could improve their publication rate.

KEYWORDS:

• Academic writing
• publishing
• academicians
• librarians
• predatory journals

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Alsop Justine, “Multiple Roles of Academic Librarians”, Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship 8, no. 1 (2007): 1–13; and M. Balehegn, “Increased Publication in Predatory Journals by Developing Countries’ Institutions: What It Entails? And What Can Be Done?” International Information & Library Review 49, no. 2 (2017): 97–100.

2. Georg Richtig et al., “Problems and Challenges of Predatory Journals,” Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology 32, no. 9 (2018): 1441–49.

3. Jaime A. Teixeira da Silva, “Academic Librarians and Their Role in Disseminating Accurate Knowledge and Information about the Gray Zone in Predatory Publishing,” New Review of Academic Librarianship 28, no. 4 (2022): 383–405.

4. Linda Östlundh, Predatory Journals: A Growing Issue within the Open Access Model (United Arab Emirates University, 2019), https://scholarworks.uaeu.ac.ae/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=proceedings.

5. Carol Smallwood, Writing and Publishing: The Librarian’s Handbook (American Library Association, 2010).

6. Teixeira da Silva, “Academic Librarians and Their Role in Disseminating Accurate Knowledge and Information about the Gray Zone in Predatory Publishing.”

7. P. Jain, “A Paradigm Shift in the 21st Century Academic Libraries and Librarians: Prospectus and Opportunities,” European Journal of Academic Research 1, no. 3 (2013): 133–47.

8. Sinan Yalçin and Sema Altun Yalçin, “Difficulties Encountered by Academicians in Academic Research Processes in Universities,” Journal of Education and Practice 8, no. 6 (2017): 143–53.

9. Yalçin and Altun Yalçin, “Difficulties Encountered by Academicians in Academic Research Processes.”

10. N. P. Mahwasane, “Theories of Learning Usage of Library Resources,” Journal of Social Sciences 49, no. 1–2 (2017): 111–22.

11. Jane Secker, C. M. Morrison, and Inga-Lill Nilsson, “Copyright Literacy and the Role of Librarians as Educators and Advocates,” Journal of Copyright in Education & Librarianship 3, no. 2 (2019).

12. P. Chewe and E. M. Chitumbo, “Predatory Publishing,” Zambia Journal of Library & Information Science 4, no. 2 (2020): 1–10.

13. J. Secker, “Towards a Definition of Critical Copyright Literacy,” [Blog Post] 2017.

14. Christine Tulley and Drew Balduff, “Reevaluating and Strengthening Publishing Partnerships between Librarians and Researchers,” The Serials Librarian 82, no. 1–4 (2022): 72–76.

15. Tulley and Balduff, “Reevaluating and Strengthening Publishing Partnerships.”

16. K. Mwantimwa and E. Wema, “Awareness and Usage of Online Journal Publishing Systems by University Academic Staff,” Library Philosophy and Practice (e-Journal), no. 5529 (2021), https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/5529?utm_source=digitalcommons.unl.edu%2Flibphilprac%2F5529&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=PDFCoverPages.

17. P. B. Bilawar, “Lockdown Period and Information Sources,” International Journal of Engineering Research and Management (IJERM) 7, no. 6 (n.d.): 7–16.

18. Bilawar, “Lockdown Period and Information Sources.”

19. Laura Krier, Rita Premo, and Mary Wegmann, “The Future is Wide Open: Sustainable Scholarly Communications and Affordable Learning in Libraries,” Collection Management 44, no. 2–4 (July 3, 2019): 164–75, https://doi.org/10.1080/01462679.2019.1582392.

20. Intekhab Alam Siddiqui, “Changing Role of Academic Librarians in Open Access Environment,” International Research: Journal of Library & Information Science 4, no. 4 (2014); Secker, Morrison, and Nilsson, “Copyright Literacy and the Role of Librarians as Educators and Advocates”; Bilawar, “Lockdown Period and Information Sources”; Chewe and Chitumbo, “Predatory Publishing”; and Tulley and Balduff, “Reevaluating and Strengthening Publishing Partnerships.”

21. S. Clark and K. Block, “Scaffolding in Information Literacy and Writing: A Collaborative Approach to Assignment Design,” 2022.

22. Benjamin Saunders et al., “Saturation in Qualitative Research: Exploring its Conceptualization and Operationalization,” Quality & Quantity 52 (2018): 1893–1907.

23. M. M. Hennink, B. N. Kaiser, and V. C. Marconi, “Code Saturation versus Meaning Saturation: How Many Interviews Are Enough?” Qualitative Health Research 27, no. 4 (2017): 591–608.

24. C. Mubofu and E. Elia, “Disseminating Agricultural Research Information: A Case Study Farmers in Mlolo, Lupalama and Wenda Villages in Iringa District, Tanzania,” University of Dar Es Salaam Library Journal 12, no. 2 (2017): 75–96.

25. Justine, “Multiple Roles of Academic Librarians.”

26. Yalçin and Altun Yalçin, “Difficulties Encountered by Academicians in Academic Research Processes in Universities.”

27. Krier, Premo, and Wegmann, “The Future is Wide Open.”

28. A. W. Ferguson, “Document Delivery in the Electronic Age: Collecting and Service Implications,” in Access, Resource Sharing and Collection Development (Routledge, 2019), 85–98.

29. Mahrus K. Umami et al., “Match between Students’ Anthropometry and Furniture Dimensions in the Library Reading Area at University of Trunojoyo Madura” (International Conference on Science and Technology (ICST 2018), Atlantis Press, 2018), 344–48.

30. Kari Schmidt and Christine Korytnyk Dulaney, “From Print to Online: Revamping Technical Services with Centralized and Distributed Workflow Models,” The Serials Librarian 66, no. 1–4 (May 2014): 65–75, https://doi.org/10.1080/0361526X.2014.879033.

31. Chewe and Chitumbo, “Predatory Publishing.”

32. Secker, “Towards a Definition of Critical Copyright Literacy.”

33. Kehinde Abayomi Owolabi et al., “Awareness and Knowledge of Predatory Journals among Academic Librarians in Nigerian Universities,” The Serials Librarian 79, no. 1–2 (2020): 82–90.

34. Mwantimwa and Wema, “Awareness and Usage of Online Journal Publishing Systems.”

35. P. Jacsó, “Google Scholar: The Pros and the Cons,” Online Information Review, 2005.

36. S. K. Basak, “Comparison of Researchers Reference Management Software: Refworks, Mendeley,” Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies 6, no. 7 (2014): 561–68.

37. D. W. Noviska et al., “Teachers’ Perception towards the Use of Google Document in Teaching and Learning Process,” Indonesian Journal of Research and Educational Review 1, no. 1 (2021): 1–8, https://doi.org/10.51574/ijrer.v1i1.43.

38. B. Holmes et al., “Angst about Academic Writing: Graduate Students at the Brink,” 2018.

39. I. Itua et al., “Exploring Barriers and Solutions to Academic Writing: Perspectives from Students, Higher Education and Further Education Tutors,” Journal of Further and Higher Education 38, no. 3 (2014): 305–26.

40. Floris M. Van Blankenstein et al., “How Do Self-Efficacy Beliefs for Academic Writing and Collaboration and Intrinsic Motivation for Academic Writing and Research Develop during an Undergraduate Research Project?” Educational Studies 45, no. 2 (2019): 209–25.

41. Sri Sumarwati, Mohd Hasril Amiruddin, and Ahmad Rizal Madar, “The Element of Research Skills for the Implementation of Research by Postgraduate Students in Malaysia,” International Journal of Innovation, Creativity and Change 15, no. 2 (2021).

42. Tulley and Balduff, “Reevaluating and Strengthening Publishing Partnerships.”

43. G. Nuhoğlu and A. U. Aydınoğlu, “The Impact of Mobility on Researchers’ Collaborations in a Developing Country: The Case of Turkey.” The Annual Conference of the Society for the Social Studies of Science, 2021, https://convention2.allacademic.com/one/ssss/ssss21/index.php?cmd=Online+Program+View+Paper&selected_paper_id=1859024&PHPSESSID=aagt26e0rsd71f8qt4d5lj40o6.

44. Mubofu and Elia, “Disseminating Agricultural Research Information.”

45. Y. Black, “Blocks, Distractions and Other Demons: Dealing with Obstacles to Productive Writing” (PhD Experience Conference, University of Hull, United Kingdom, 2017).

46. B. N. Obaju, O. I. Fagbenle, and L. M. Amusan, “Building Production Management Competencies for Building Students: Academia and Construction Industry Perspectives,” in IOP Conference Series, Earth and Environmental Science 993, no. 1 (2022): 012001.

47. C. Mubofu, ABCs of Publication Process: A Ultimate Guide to Young Researchers and Postgraduate Studies (Lambert Academic Publishing, 2020), https://www.lap-publishing.com/catalog/details/store/de/book/978-620-2-79817-4/abc-s-of-publication-process?search=Mubofu,%20C.%20(2020).%20ABCs%20of%20publication%20process:%20A%20ultimate%20guide%20to%20young%20researchers%20and%20%20Postgraduate%20Studies.%20Lambert%20Academic%20Publishing.

48. Sara E. Skrabalak, “My Manuscript Was ‘Rejected without Review’ from Chemistry of Materials: A Lesson in Burying the Lede,” Chemistry of Materials 33, no. 21 (2021): 8145–46.

49. Mubofu, ABCs of Publication Process.

50. Holmes et al., “Angst about Academic Writing.”

51. Holmes et al., “Angst about Academic Writing.”

52. Shaban Aldabbus and EnNaji Almansouri, “Academic Writing Difficulties Encountered by University EFL Learners,” British Journal of English Linguistics 10, no. 3 (2022): 1–11.