Influence of personality traits on open access mode of publishing

• Published in: Online information review Vol. 42; no. 4; pp. 535 - 544
• Main Authors: Gul, Sumeer, Mahajan, Iram, Shah, Tariq Ahmad, Nisa, Nahida Tun, Ahmad, Suhail, Shafiq, Huma, Shueb, Sheikh, Hussain, Aabid
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bradford Emerald Publishing Limited 21.08.2018; Emerald Group Publishing Limited
• Subjects: Acceptance; Anxiety; Attitudes; Authors; Beliefs; Cognitive style; Communication (Thought Transfer); Digital archives; Emotions; Eye Movements; Faculty Publishing; Hypermedia; Individual Differences; Influence; Information Seeking; Information seeking behavior; Internet; Internet service providers; Likert scale; Likert Scales; Motor Reactions; Online Searching; Open access publishing; Perception; Perceptions; Personality; Personality traits; Psychological Characteristics; Publishing; Quality Control; Questionnaires; Reading Habits; Resistance (Psychology); Scholarly communication; Social research; Social Responsibility; India; Conscientiousness; Open access publishing; Extraversion; Openness to experience; Psychoanalytical study; Author personality traits; Agreeableness; Big five personality traits; Emotional stability
• ISSN: 1468-4527; 1468-4535
• DOI: 10.1108/OIR-11-2016-0335

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the influence of personality traits on perception and acceptance of open access (OA) mode of publishing by the author community of University of Kashmir, India. The study is an attempt to highlight the relationship between personality traits of authors and OA mode of publishing. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on the responses of 48 faculty members affiliated with different Departments of Science Discipline of University of Kashmir. Big Five personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability and openness to experience) were tapped through ten-item personality inventory, and information regarding OA was gauged through six self-devised statements. Findings Pearson correlation test confirms statistically significant relation between personality traits and different dimensions of OA mode of publishing. Personality traits are found to have an influence on author’s perception of OA mode of publishing. However, the study could not ascertain any relation between the notions of an author about the quality of OA content with any of the personality traits. Emotionally stable authors are found to explicitly submit their work in OA journals without any anxiety or negativity. Agreeable and conscientious authors also prefer to keep their work open to make it helpful to the broader audience and get maximum recognition from peers and citations to their work respectively. However, some authors (agreeable) hesitate in submitting their work in open platforms due to the fear of getting their works easily copied. Originality/value The study is first of its kind highlighting a new dimension in the field of OA and investigates the influence of personality traits on author’s attitude towards open mode of publishing.