Roles of institutional repositories (IRS) in ranking of universities in Nigeria: prospects, challenges and way forward

Abstract

The ranking of Nigerian universities of lately is drawing the attention of many stakeholders in education sector. This is possibly due to the benefits attached to better ranking of any university which include among others: increase in admission rate, attraction of more collaborations, funds/grants, reputation, etc. Despite all these benefits attached to better ranking of universities, most universities in Nigeria today are poorly ranked, mainly due to poor visibility of their research outputs. It is on this scenario that, this paper examined the roles institutional repositories can play, to better the ranking of universities in Nigeria. To achieve this lofty objective, the paper elucidated the history and functions of National Universities Commission; a brief history of ranking in Nigerian university system; the concept institutional repository; use of institutional repository for information provision in universities; how the institutional repository improves the ranking/visibility of a university; challenges institutional repository faces in carrying out its functions. Recommendations were also made on the way forward. The paper concludes that the roles of IR in improving ranking of an institution can never be over looked. Hence, Managements of universities should adopt IR, as a means to showcase their intellectual output and consequently improve the visibility and ranking of their universities and Nigerian researches.