Arab researchers behavior towards open archives and periodicals available for free through the Internet: Arab faculty members at Sultan Qaboos University as an example

Abstract

The study addressed the issue of the attitudes of Arab researchers at Sultan Qaboos University towards the new model of scientific communication based on free access to information published on the web. The study population consisted of 60 researchers belonging to various specializations. However, the Arab researcher at Sultan Qaboos University has not yet crystallized his understanding of the concept of free access to scientific information, and that researchers’ acceptance of the open access model is still weak, and that 78.8% of the study’s members have not published research in journals. And 77.8% of them are not familiar with international initiatives on open access. The researchers explained the reasons for their refusal to publish in freely available electronic journals in that the editorial board of the journals is unknown to them, and that 75% of them believe that the articles published in these journals are not recognized by the public. Before academic committees, 50% of them reported that publishing in freely available journals provides only a slim chance of obtaining grants in the field of research.