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The purpose of this study was to investigate the challenges and opportunities of librarians in federal and state universities in Nigeria in facilitating access to open access resources.

Using a positivist research paradigm, descriptive survey research approach was employed in the study. Five research questions guided the study. The population of the study was 79 librarians. There was no sampling. A questionnaire was used as instrument for data collection, and the data were presented in figures and tables.

The major findings of the study were that librarians are aware of open access resources. They make the resources available/visible to users by linking them to the library website and promote the use of Google and Google Scholar searches. The librarians were of the view that free online resources are important for the research process. The major challenges they face in giving users access to these resources are lack of metrics and evidence to demonstrate the value of free content.

The study only assessed e-resources' librarians in the sampled universities at the time of this study. It may be necessary to assess the perception of users towards open access resources.

Adopting and implementing these opportunities to enhance users' access and use of the resources will improve service delivery without doubt. Though this study is not exhaustive, it has provided insight into the inherent opportunities of using open access resources.

For the library management and librarians, the creation of awareness on available open access resources and facilitating access to users through different strategies will not only increase access but also improve teaching, learning and research. It will also increase users' awareness on accessing other sources apart from through subscription.

This paper aims to determine and analyze the rate of content submission by lecturers in relation to type of university, discipline, academic qualification, rank and teaching experience and identified the determinants of research output submission by faculty members in Nigerian varsities.

The survey was conducted in six universities with functional institutional repositories in Southern Nigeria. Data collated through questionnaire from the university lecturers were analyzed using frequency distribution, percentages and regression analysis.

Results showed that submission of research output was higher for lecturers in Social Sciences than for those in the Sciences; the highest among those with doctorate degree, senior lecturers and those with 6–10 years of teaching experience. The rank of faculty members and the type of university were significant determinants of research output submission.

The survey was limited to universities in Southern Nigeria with functional institutional repositories. There should be further investigations on same study in universities with functional institutional repositories in other regions in Nigeria.

Increased submission rate by faculty members will sustain the institutional repositories.

Faculty members get in contact, make friends and engage in collaborative research.

This report contributes to the global knowledge and communication’s field through the provision of empirical evidence on the determinants of content submission in open access institutional repositories.