Methodology
The views of 21 authors were obtained using a standardized, structured open-ended interview, which allowed the authors to express themselves in their own words. Inspiration for the topics and issues included in the interview script were formulated from a combination of discussions with the Library managers and from a review of the literature and other author studies on OA publishing and IRs3,4,5 .
Adopting the maximum variation sampling strategy6 , seven authors were purposefully selected from each of the three academic Schools based on the Cranfield campus of Cranfield University. Among those selected were ‘early adopters’, identified as individuals who had already sent a relatively high number of papers to be deposited in QUEprints. Also selected for interview were authors currently holding influential positions within their School; for instance one deputy director of school and two heads of department were interviewed. The remaining 18 authors were selected to represent other academic positions at Cranfield: these included two readers, eight senior lecturers, one lecturer, six senior research fellows and one research fellow. To maximize the variation between participants, each of these were selected from a variety of different academic departments and from a variety of different research fields.
The qualitative data was then analysed adopting the ‘grounded theory’ approach to data analysis, as described by Paul ten Have7 , whereby the authors’ responses were compared and similar answers were then categorized based on the data rather than on any preconceived ideas of the interviewer.