Motivating and Impeding Factors Affecting Faculty Contribution to Institutional Repositories

Institutional Repositories (IRs) are predicated on contributions by members of a university community, particularly faculty members. In fact, faculty contribution is considered one of the success factors for an IR even though several studies have found a low rate of faculty submission. In order to learn how we might be able to address this problem, the present study investigated factors that motivate or impede faculty contribution. A conceptual model of the factors was proposed based on the Socio-Technical Network Model and Social Exchange Theory. A survey was conducted based on a sample of 67 professors whose materials were deposited in the DSpace IR of a major research university. 31 out of 67 (46.3%) responded the survey. Findings indicate that faculty members who had planned to contribute to the IR in the future agreed more strongly with accessibility and publicity of open access materials and possess a greater altruistic intention to make their work publicly accessible. The faculty members who perceived an influence of a grant-awarding body on their decision to self-archive were much less likely than others to contribute to the IR. Since the survey was performed as a pilot study, a larger survey and follow-up interviews will be conducted to investigate these factors in greater detail.