Awareness and Use of Open Access Journals Among Science Students in University of Maiduguri

This study assessed the awareness and use of open access journals among science faculty students at the University of Maiduguri in Borno State, North East Nigeria. Open access publishing has transformed global scholarly communication by removing financial barriers to research literature, yet its adoption remains uneven among students in developing country universities. The study employed a descriptive survey design, and a questionnaire was administered to 240 undergraduate science students across the Faculties of Science and Agriculture. Findings showed that while a majority had encountered open access journals during internet searches, fewer than a third actively distinguished between open access and subscription journals or understood the peer-review implications of different open access models. Biology and agriculture students reported higher awareness compared to physics and chemistry students. The study recommended that the university library mount targeted awareness campaigns, integrate open access literacy into information literacy instruction sessions, and provide curated links to reputable open access repositories on the library website. Keywords: open access, journals, awareness, science students, University of Maiduguri.