Towards global visibility of scholarly communication of Nigerian university academics

Abstract

One of the altmetrics for measuring the global ranking of universities by the Times Higher Education is web visibility of universities which is partly determined by research activities undertaken by them. Across the globe, universities are set up with tripartite mission of teaching, research and community service. The university system represents one of the most concentrated communities of scholars engaging in research activities leading to new discoveries, innovations and the creation of new knowledge, thus expanding the frontiers of knowledge. The output of research activities undertaken by academics when published and disseminated through various platforms to different community of practice, can be a basis for further research or the findings can be implemented, thus impacting the larger society, the nation and the global world at large. Despite the rigour of undergoing research projects, poor visibility of research output had been reported in some African studies. Hence, this study critically examines how scholarly communication among academics in Nigerian universities can gain global visibility and more impact. Based on these identified gaps, the paper examines scholarly communication of research outputs by reviewing related empirical studies on visibility of research outputs among university academics in Africa and Nigeria; and develops a framework for advancing global visibility of research outputs among Nigerian academics.