Open Science in the Arab Region: Opportunities and Challenges

The Arab region, with its global language, shared history, and rich cultural heritage, holds significant potential to advance the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science. Particularly in terms of open access to scientific knowledge, the region boasts several platforms for open access journals, numerous institutional repositories, open digital libraries, open books, open educational resources, and open data projects. Recently, advocacy organizations for open science have emerged in the Arab region, and various regional and national conferences have been held to promote and support open science initiatives. Some policies and regulations governing certain open science practices are also in place. However, as a developing region, the Arab world faces significant challenges in implementing open science, including limited research funding, underdeveloped infrastructure, and a digital divide between Arab countries. Many researchers still lack sufficient awareness of the open science concept, and there are insufficient incentives for them to publish in open access formats. Moreover, universities and research centers rarely mandate open access to publications and research data. Despite these obstacles, there are also opportunities for growth, particularly through capacity-building initiatives and increasing interest from international organizations in supporting open science initiatives.