The Association of University Librarians of Nigerian Universities (AULNU) has raised concern over the increasing proliferation of predatory journals, misinformation, and unethical publishing practices associated with the growing adoption of open access publishing in Nigerian universities.
The association made this known in a communiqué on Tuesday, marking the end of its 114th Bi-Annual Conference and General Meeting held at the National Universities Commission from 4 to 7 May 2026.
The conference, themed ‘Managing University Libraries in the Era of Open Access Publishing: The Role of Librarians’, brought together university librarians, scholars, policymakers, development partners, and other stakeholders to deliberate on the future of academic libraries within the evolving global knowledge ecosystem.
According to the communiqué, participants acknowledged that open access publishing has become a major driver for democratising knowledge, enhancing research visibility, and strengthening global scholarly communication across universities and research institutions.
The association, however, warned that the rapid expansion of open access models had also created room for unethical publishing practices and the misuse of emerging technologies.
The communiqué reads: ‘Participants expressed concern over the proliferation of predatory journals, misinformation, unethical publishing practices, and the improper deployment of Artificial Intelligence in scholarly communication’.
AULNU noted that university libraries were gradually evolving from their traditional custodial roles into strategic knowledge facilitation centres responsible for research dissemination, institutional repository management, digital preservation, and scholarly communication support.
‘The conference emphasised that modern university libraries must embrace innovation, digital transformation, open science, collaborative research ecosystems, and AI-enabled service delivery to remain relevant in the knowledge economy’, the association said.
It further identified several challenges confronting Nigerian universities in the implementation of open access publishing, including poor ICT infrastructure, unstable electricity supply, inadequate funding, low digital literacy, and weak institutional policies.
‘Despite the growing relevance of open access publishing, Nigerian universities continue to face challenges including inadequate ICT infrastructure, unstable power supply, insufficient funding, low digital literacy, limited awareness, weak institutional policies, and inadequate support for article processing charges’, the communiqué added.
The association also reaffirmed the need for professionalism in the administration of academic libraries, insisting that only certified librarians registered with the Librarians Registration Council of Nigeria should be appointed as university librarians and heads of academic libraries.
‘The association frowned at the appointment of non-professionally qualified persons as university librarians, noting that such practices undermine professionalism, standards, and effective administration of university libraries in Nigeria’, it stated.
AULNU urged the Tertiary Education Trust Fund and other government agencies to strengthen support for digital repositories, broadband connectivity, open access infrastructure, and sustainable scholarly communication systems in tertiary institutions.
The association also called on Nigerian universities to formulate institutional policies that would promote responsible scholarly communication, research integrity, and ethical use of artificial intelligence in research and publishing.
It further resolved to deepen collaboration among Nigerian university libraries toward establishing sustainable open access consortia and shared digital infrastructure aimed at improving research accessibility and digital scholarship across the country.
The communiqué concluded that university libraries remained central to teaching, learning, research, and innovation, stressing the need for stakeholders to work collectively toward building technologically driven and globally competitive academic libraries capable of advancing Nigeria’s higher education sector.
