Library and Information Science Open Access Journals in Arab Countries

Abstract

In response to open access initiatives, many LIS open access journals have been issued in Arab countries. These journals are not widely known; many DOAJ studies pointed out that there is only one Arabic journal. Giving a wider prospective to LIS open access journals in Arab countries was the objective of this study. Descriptive analysis was used to examine Arabic open access journals' web pages during May and June 2019. Data were collected using a refereed checklist. The study found out that There are 12 open access Journals issued in 8 Arab countries, one of them is ceased since 2013, institutions is the largest publishing body, followed by scientific associations, and 75% of these journals issue in dual formats (paper and digital). Only three journals have open access declaration on its web page, and 4 journals only are covered by indexing services; Dar Al Mandunah covers 75% of these journals. Most full text languages are in Arabic and English, while 80% of journals' web pages are in Arabic. 67% of journals have am editorial board, and 91.7% of these journals are refereed.