Stuit | How Graduate Students Engage with Open Access: Challenges and Interventions | Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication

Abstract:  Introduction: As graduate students learn to publish their research, they also must navigate the complex, increasingly open access (OA) landscape of publishing. This study investigates graduate students’ engagement with OA at an R1 university.

Literature Review: Literature reveals that graduate students are strategic about maximizing research impact but face knowledge gaps from informal learning, financial constraints that vary by discipline, and limited agency in publishing decisions. While students show positive attitudes toward OA, practice lags, suggesting they need strategic guidance on integrating OA into impact-focused publishing plans rather than general awareness-building.

Methods: Graduate students (N = 245) at the University of California, Santa Cruz were surveyed about their publishing practices with OA, journal selection, support from advisors, and steps of the publishing process for which they want more information. Results: Survey findings show that respondents publish OA some of the time, primarily find out about OA online, receive mixed amounts of support related to publishing from their advisor, show low interest in some OA topics, and express issues around funding barriers.

Discussion: The data demonstrate that while some graduate students may find their way to publishing OA, they may or may not publish OA deliberately. Data do not indicate a well-informed approach to navigating OA decisions.

Conclusion: Graduate students, as the next generation of authors, are not prepared to make decisions about OA for their articles. Libraries and universities are well-positioned to teach graduate students about OA.