Researchers' perception and response to the open access resources (OAR) in higher learning institutions of Tamil Nadu, India

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to report the results of a survey conducted at Bharathidasan and Alagappa Universities to determine the research scholars' awareness, use of Open Access (OA) resources, reasons for using, impact of OA on the research scholars' research, satisfaction and problems faced.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, a self-assessed questionnaire was developed to collect data from the research scholars pursuing their research degrees from Bharathidasan and Alagappa Universities of Tamil Nadu, India. A total of 400 research scholars from various disciplines responded were used for analysis.FindingsThe results indicated that the majority of research scholars aware of few OA resources to a large extent and afraid to redistribute the sources as they fear of copyright issues. Easy to use, more informative and global research at one place were the major reasons for accessing the resources. The research scholars were aware of OA features and OA's impact such as freedom to use, modify, resources available with source code, reliability, self-archiving, quick publishing, more citations etc. Delay in downloading and lack of computer terminals to access the resources were the major issues faced by the research scholars. On the whole, the researchers are considering OA model as an alternative to business model and expect the university librarians to promote and enhance the accessibility of OA resources.Practical implicationsThe outcomes of the results will enable the librarians and authorities in universities to formulate appropriate decisions to remove the issues faced by the research scholars and develop a framework for new literacy instructions.Originality/valueThe study undertaken is new to the Indian continent and the Tami Nadu state in particular. The findings of the study will be useful to improve the awareness level and use of OA resources effectively.