Abstract
This study assessed the level of research productivity among academic librarians in federal universities in North-Central Nigeria. The study was motivated by the growing importance of research productivity as a major indicator of academic performance, professional relevance, and career advancement within higher education institutions. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population comprised 130 academic librarians in seven federal universities located within North-Central Nigeria, while 119 valid responses were retrieved and used for the analysis, representing a response rate of 91.5%. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and analysed using descriptive statistics including; frequency counts, percentages, mean, and standard deviation. The findings revealed that academic librarians possessed a positive attitude toward research with a grand mean score of 4.05. The study further established a relatively high level of research productivity among the respondents, particularly in journal publications, conference participation, seminars, workshops, and collaborative research activities. Collaborative research and participation in professional development programmes emerged as prominent areas of scholarly engagement among the librarians. However, the study identified several factors constraining optimal research productivity, including heavy workload, inadequate funding, limited institutional support, lack of mentorship, and poor access to research grants. The study concludes that although academic librarians in North-Central Nigeria demonstrate strong interest and active engagement in research activities, institutional and structural challenges continue to limit sustainable scholarly productivity. The study recommends improved institutional support, increased research funding, mentorship programmes, and capacity-building initiatives aimed at enhancing research productivity among academic librarians in Nigerian universities.
Keywords: Research productivity, academic librarians, scholarly communication, collaborative research, North-Central Nigeria.
Publication Date: 2026-07-31