An investigation of graduate student knowledge and usage of open-access journals

ABSTRACT

Graduate students lament the need to achieve the proficiency necessary to competently search multiple databases for their research assignments, regularly eschewing these sources in favor of Google Scholar or some other search engine. The author conducted an anonymous survey investigating graduate student knowledge or awareness of the open-access journal articles that resulted from those types of searches. The intent, in part, was to facilitate the creation or expansion of library services targeting graduate students. Additionally, the survey sought to elicit student interest in open-access publishing. This article discusses the survey outcomes and potential next steps.

KEYWORDS:

• Open access
• graduate students
• information literacy
• library services
• survey