The academic reading format international study (ARFIS): Investigating students around the world

Abstract

This paper presents results from the Academic Reading Format International Study (ARFIS), the largest investigation of university students’ behaviors and attitudes towards reading their academic texts on electronic screens and print. These questions are examined: ‘When engaging with their academic material, do students’ format preferences and behaviors vary across cultures?; How do their behaviors and attitudes compare among an international sample?; And how does the language of the reading impact format preferences?’ Amalgamated results from nearly 10,000 students in 19 countries show a consistently strong preference for print format, and most respondents do not feel the language of the text impacts their format preference, but an examination of country responses helps illustrate the subtle differences between them. This topic has special relevance to librarians and educators as we search for the correct balance of print and electronic resources in our collections and syllabi.