Some of the challenges that students in Nigeria encounter while conducting research include inadequate academic resources. Inadequate academic resources are some of the problems that could impact negatively on the research carried out by the students. For example, in order to conduct research, one needs adequate academic resources such as journals, books, and the internet; however, due to insufficient academic resources, Nigerian students cannot access them. Besides, some higher education institutions have poorly equipped libraries, and subscription fees are required for database access. One possible solution is to learn the skills for making the best use of free resources such as Google Scholar and institutional repositories, which provide an incredible amount of academic papers. In addition, universities could assist their students in dealing with this issue by enhancing their library infrastructures and databases.

Poor research skills have been identified as another issue among many learners. This may involve the topic, methods of gathering data, and data analysis. Some students opt for topics that are either too wide or too specific, thus creating challenges in conducting their research. Poor research methodologies are also experienced by some students. Besides, training students to be effective researchers will be a lot easier if they are guided properly by their mentors and given a chance to grasp the use of teaching aids such as YouTube, which provides hundreds of research tutorials and academic paper writing. Another option is to attend a workshop on research methodology.

Time management is another important issue of concern. Many students consistently postpone their tasks and only start working on them when there is a little bit of time left, leading to poor quality research. This could be made worse by the reality that students have other things to attend to apart from their courses, and thus they do not have enough time for studying.. Perhaps,  a way out would be to use task management systems such as Trello for task description and deadline setting. In addition, task division will not only be easier to handle but will also increase productivity.

Financial difficulties have also stood in the way of research work in the discipline. As a case in point, a few students cannot pay for travel so that they can collect data. They face printing expenses, and at times they can barely get the necessary reading material. One option to deal with this is by implementing technologically advanced methods for taking data collection exercises, such as online questionnaires, which are really much cheaper. A different approach might be providing funding for students so that they could carry out research.

The next major problem is plagiarism. Pressured by circumstances such as time constraints or low self-esteem, certain students end up stealing other authors' works without even citing them. To work on this problem, the main thing for students is knowledge of paraphrasing and referencing properly along with the skill of using the available writing assistance software, like Grammarly in an effective way. It is never too much to emphasise that research is focused on the production of novelty rather than the replication of it.

Besides, if the project supervisors are not monitoring the progress of students closely or students and supervisors are not communicating effectively, the project may be hampered. There are times when students do not get proper direction while some are so unmotivated that they do not even make an effort to get assistance from the supervisors. Teachers who keep on motivating and guiding their students through the period and their feedback and advice are very essential for the students to excel in research. Typically, the difficulties encountered by Nigerian students when doing their research are quite challenging. These challenges are, however, easily solvable, and the students manage to overcome them and develop excellent research papers through the proper use of materials, research skills development, effective management of their time, and the application of proper techniques.