A study by a team of researchers has shown that Nigerian researchers face the challenge of the high cost of software subscription plans in their bid to take advantage of the benefit of online collaborative tools.

The study was conducted by Dr Margaret Offoboche Agada-Mba of Pan African University, Lagos, Nigeria, Maiyekogbon Toluwalashe of Livability, Bournemouth, United Kingdom, Melugbo Doris Ujunwa, Otadaferua Bettina Oboakore and Oluwaseyi John Jemisenia of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Additional findings showed that other challenges that researchers face when using these online collaborative tools include limited access to Internet services, software compatibility issues, training and skill deficiency, data security concerns, the absence of institutional support, and difficulties in using/managing different tools/platforms.

The researchers then concluded that there was the need for institutions to develop evidence-based strategies to address the key barriers to effective online collaborative tool utilisation among Nigerian researchers.

To conduct the study, the researchers surveyed 312 academics/researchers across some universities in Nigeria who were selected using purposive and chain-referral sampling approaches.

They used an online questionnaire to collect data for the study.

The study was published in the special issue of Ianna Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, a Scopus-indexed journal established by Dr Gever Verlumun, a Nigerian communication scholar from the Department of Mass Communication, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. A grant from the Centre for Advanced Internet Studies, Bochum, Germany, supported the special issue titled "Digital media and research in 21st-century society: Assessing the current trends and projecting the future." The research article title is "The Effectiveness of Online Collaboration Tools for Researchers in Poor Resource Settings: A Study of Researchers in Selected University Communities in Nigeria."