Where Are We Now: A Review of Arabic Studies in Open Access 2005-2015

Résumé

This paper is a literature review of Arabic Open Access, it aims to assess Arabic studies approaching open access, in order to draw a preliminary outlook of the Arab research status quo in the field of Open Access to Information. The current review will combine both the narrative and the systematic reviews. It is, on one side, narrative by its elaboration, analysis and assessment of the studies, whereas, it is systematic due to the fact that it sets clear research standards for the studies which are to be reviewed, and it takes into consideration comprehensiveness by reviewing as many studies as possible (53 articles, theses, book) from eight Arab countries, within eleven years (2005-2015). The paper concluded that there are many research gaps in the Arab studies; While many of the basic themes and subjects remained unaddressed, we find random recurrences in other subjects and themes.