Leveraging knowledge management to enhance research access and visibility via institutional repositories in South African universities

Purpose This study aims to examine how South African universities are applying knowledge management practices to enhance the effectiveness of institutional repositories in improving research access and visibility. Design/methodology/approach The research was conducted using a qualitative content analysis, gathering data from secondary sources and organising it according to the stages of knowledge management: knowledge capture, organisation and storage, dissemination and application. Findings All universities in South Africa have implemented repositories, yet their alignment with knowledge management outcomes is lacking. Poor alignment between repository goals and knowledge management outcomes, limited institutional support, fragmentation and siloed practices contributed to the underutilisation of repository systems. Research limitations/implications The study’s focus on enhancing research access and visibility to scholarly publications through institutional repositories as knowledge management systems, research data repositories fall outside the scope of this paper. Originality/value Knowledge management and institutional repositories in higher education have been studied independently, and their integration remains largely unexplored in the existing literature. This study addresses this gap by examining how South African universities are using knowledge management to enhance the effectiveness of their institutional repositories.