Attitudes, Perceptions, and Barriers to Research and Publishing Among Research and Teaching Staff in a Nigerian Research Institute

The economic development of any nation is centered on research. Unfortunately, research activities had suffered serious setbacks in tertiary research institutions in Nigeria. This study explores the attitudes, perceptions, and barriers to research and publishing among academic staff in the Nigerian Institute of Leather and Science Technology, (NILEST) Zaria, Nigeria. A structured self-administered questionnaire was distributed among 130 research and teaching staff at the various Directorates in NILEST. Data are presented in frequencies and percentages for questionnaire responses. Exactly 94% of the questionnaires were validated for the study, which included 81% males and 19% females. The participants were researchers (26%), lecturers (31%), technologists (20%), and instructors (22%). The majority of participants agreed that research is important for the institute (91%). A total of 81% believed that conducting research should be made mandatory for all academic staff. Only 44% self-reported to be part of ongoing research. Some of the obstacles reported to have prevented research activities included a lack of funding (72%), lack of professional mentorship (84%), and inadequate research facilities (89%). Participants without a single published paper constituted 57%. Some of the reasons given for not having any published papers were “no writing experience (96%), high publishing fee (80%), and long waiting period for peer review (97%).” The suggestions to improve research status by respondents included “provision of research grants/funds (93%), provision of Internet facilities (95%), mandatory publication (26%), and appropriate mentorship (34%).” The majority of the respondents believed that research is relevant; only a few were engaged in active research and published articles as evidence for it. It is, therefore, recommended that policymakers should devise strategies to focus on active research activities in order to achieve the desired research mandates and goals of institutions contributing to the development of the nation's economy