Perceived role of artificial intelligence in supporting scholarly writing among academic staff in Nigerian universities

This study examined the perceived role of artificial intelligence in supporting scholarly writing among academic staff in Nigerian universities. Descriptive survey research design was adopted. A total of 180 lecturers were surveyed from nine purposively selected universities across three geopolitical zones comprising federal, state, and private universities. Data collection was done through a structured questionnaire which was validated by relevant experts and test-retest method of reliability was used to ascertain the reliability of the instrument. Cronbach’s alpha statistical formula was used to obtain reliability co-efficient value of α=0.87 which was considered high enough for reliability. Descriptive statistics comprising mean, standard deviation, frequency, and percentages were used for data analysis, while decision rules were used to interpret the mean scores. Findings reveal that perceptions of participants were positive towards the adoption of AI in academic settings with a grand mean of 3.13, considering its compatibility with existing workflows and being capable of enhancing research outputs. The participants consider AI useful as a tool to support scholarly writing and improving efficiency in literature review, grammar, citation management and manuscript structuring. However, the participants had serious concerns about the challenges and ethical implications of AI usage, including plagiarism, lack of support from their respective institutions, lack of training, data privacy, and ownership of the work produced (Grand Mean = 3.16). Recommendations are made to universities to provide AI tools and policy frameworks/regulations to enhance the ethical use of AI among academic staff for research purposes.