Perceived awareness, benefits, and strategies of Pakistani editors regarding open-access journal publishing

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Purpose This study aims to discover the perceived awareness, benefits and suitable strategies of the Pakistani editors of Higher Education Commission (HEC)-recognized scholarly journals regarding open-access (OA) journal publishing in Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach A structured questionnaire-based survey method of quantitative research approach was adopted to achieve the study’s objectives by collecting data from the editors of 329 HEC-recognized journals in Pakistan. Findings The awareness level of the respondents of the Pakistani journals is low regarding the OA concepts, resources and initiatives. The respondents of OA journals have better awareness levels than the respondents of non-OA journals. All the respondents of journals are convinced and have the view that OA journals have wider benefits for the academic community, and they need to flourish. A majority of the respondents are of the view that HEC should sponsor financial resources and technical training for OA journal publishing. The respondents of OA journals are more in favor of supporting OA journal publishing than the respondents of non-OA journals. Research limitations/implications This study covered the lists of HEC-recognized journals of 2019. More studies may be conducted based on updated lists of HEC-recognized journals by using different research paradigms such as qualitative or pragmatic research approaches. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first comprehensive study on this phenomenon and is an effort to fill this gap and invigorate the scholarly literature. It may attract the attention of the policymakers, funding bodies, parent institutions of the journals and the HEC to cope with the low awareness level of the Pakistani editors regarding the OA concepts, resources and initiatives; and suitable strategies required to uplift the OA journal publishing paradigm in Pakistan.