Scholarly Communication of the University of Jaffna: A Case Study on Research Repository (2013 – 2020)

Abstract

Institutional Repositories (IRs) have emerged as an alternative channel for the dissemination and communication of scholarly works. IR is a digital collection of an institution’s intellectual output, which provides global visibility for institutional research production and uplifts the institutional profile in global webometrics. Among the two Institutional repositories (http://repo.lib.jfn.ac.lk/ujrr/ and http://repo.jfn.ac.lk/med/) maintained by the University of Jaffna, the IR created in the name of Research Repository (RR) is only considered for this study, as it comprises the scholarly output of the entire university community. The main objective of this study is to assess the distribution and magnitudes of research publications available in the RR of the University of Jaffna, in view of identifying the problems related to RR management and propose appropriate strategies to enhance the visibility of research output of the University of Jaffna. This case study adopted a descriptive research design with a participatory approach. The data were collected via literature analysis, semi-structured interviews, internet analysis, and content analysis of the respective repository. Since the RR function as a platform for university academics and researchers to host their research publications, this study assessed the number of research publications published and uploaded in the RR during the study period (2013-2020). The study revealed that a total of 5724 Scholarly documents were published during the study period, and among them, only 16.19% (n=927) of the research publications have been deposited and accessible in the RR. Moreover, the highest number of deposits were made by the Faculty of Science and Faculty of Agriculture (n=304, 16.32%), followed by the Faculty of Engineering (n=302, 16.21%) and Faculty of Business studies (n=236, 12.67%). It was also observed that 20,820 visits were made to this repository during the study period from several countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Russia, China, Germany and Sri Lanka. Concerning the number of visits made to different communities, the Faculty of Agriculture is the highly visited community with 14% (n= 3005) hits, followed by the Faculty of Science with 13% (n= 2748) hits. However, lack of awareness and enthusiasm of the faculty members to submit their publications, insufficient support from the faculties, inadequate infrastructure, and human resource facilities were identified as some of the challenges with regard to the management of RR. The study recommended conducting frequent awareness programs for faculty members, incorporating scholarly publications available in the IR maintained by the Faculty of medicine into RR, developing policies on RR, employing marketing strategies to popularize RR, and encouraging the involvement of library professionals in RR management