ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE LITERACY AND RESEARCH SUPPORT SERVICES AS DRIVERS OF RESEARCH IMPACT AMONG ACADEMIC STAFF IN SELECTED UNIVERSITIES IN NIGERIA.

This study examined artificial intelligence (AI) literacy and research support services as predictors of research impact among academic staff in selected Nigerian universities. A cross-sectional survey research design was adopted. The population comprised 16,225 academic staff across 12 federal and state universities representing Nigeria's six geopolitical zones. A sample of 811 respondents was targeted using a multistage sampling procedure. Data were collected through a questionnaire, with 731 valid responses retrieved, representing a usable response rate of 90.1%. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson product-moment correlation and multiple regression at the 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed a moderately high level of AI literacy and utilisation of research support services (grand mean = 3.00, SD = 0.88). AI literacy had a moderate positive relationship with research impact (r = .58), while research support services also demonstrated a moderate positive relationship (r = .52). Furthermore, AI literacy (β = .41, p < .001) and research support services (β = .33, p < .001) significantly and positively predicted research impact, with AI literacy emerging as the stronger predictor. The study concludes that AI literacy and engagement with research support services are relevant to research impact among academic staff. It recommends practical AI literacy training and strengthened institutional research support services, particularly in bibliometrics, scholarly communication and research-impact assessment.