Dynamics of Scholarly Publishing among Early Career Researchers in Nigerian Universities
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/FT.2026.004Keywords
Early career researchers, Scholarly publishing, Publishing practices, Nigerian universities, Research productivityAbstract
This study examined the dynamics of scholarly publishing among early-career researchers (ECRs) in Nigerian universities. Using a convergent mixed-methods design, 1,244 ECRs were sampled through stratified, purposive and snowball techniques. Data were collected via a validated semi-structured online questionnaire and analysed using descriptive statistics for quantitative items and thematic analysis for qualitative responses. Findings indicate that ECRs adopt structured publishing practices characterised by context-driven idea development, collaborative authorship, strategic journal selection and adaptive task management. Respondents strongly preferred indexed international journals, prioritising impact factor, indexing status and shorter peer-review timelines; preference for open-access journals was moderate. Institutional promotion requirements and pressure, ICT competence, mentorship, collaboration opportunities and database access emerged as major influencing factors, whereas research funding and institutional support were moderately influential. High publication fees, prolonged peer review, inadequate funding, limited institutional support, manuscript acceptance difficulties and inadequate mentorship constituted the major challenges. The study concludes that strengthening institutional funding, structured mentorship programmes, research support services and capacity-building initiatives is essential to improving the quality, productivity and sustainability of scholarly publishing among ECRs in Nigerian universities.
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