(Arabic) Reflections on the Significance of the Open Science Movement in the Arab World

"Open science is not just a trend; it's a necessity. By openly sharing research methods, data, and results, we can collectively address complex challenges and drive scientific breakthroughs that improve our world." — Randy Schekman, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine ﻦﻣ ﻂﻘﻓ .ﺔﻴﻤﺘﺣ ةروﴐ ﻮﻫ ﻞﺑ ،ﺮﺑﺎﻋ هﺎﺠﺗا دﺮﺠﻣ ﺲﻴﻟ حﻮﺘﻔﻤﻟا ﻢﻠﻌﻟا" ﻊﻴﻄﺘﺴﻧ ،حﻮﺘﻔﻣ ﻞﻜﺸﺑ ﺞﺋﺎﺘﻨﻟاو تﺎﻧﺎﻴﺒﻟاو ﺚﺤﺒﻟا قﺮﻃ ﺔﻛرﺎﺸﻣ لﻼﺧ ﻦ ِّﺴﺤُﺗ ﺔﻴﻤﻠﻋ تﺎﻗاﱰﺧا ﻖﻴﻘﺤﺗو ةﺪﻘﻌﻤﻟا تﺎﻳﺪﺤﺘﻠﻟ يﺪﺼﺘﻟا ﺎًﻌﻴﻤﺟ ".ﺎﻨﻤﻟﺎﻋ ﺐﻄﻟا ﰲ ﻞﺑﻮﻧ ةﺰﺋﺎﺟ ﻰﻠﻋ ﺰﺋﺎﺤﻟا ،نﺎﻤﻜﻴﺷ يﺪﻧار — ةرﻮﺸﻨﻤﻟا ﺔﻴﺜﺤﺒﻟا ﺞﺋﺎﺘﻨﻟا ﻰﻠﻋ (ءﺎﻨِﺒﻟا وأ) ةدﺎﻋإ ﺔﻣزأ Science is like a stack of building blocks. If any block is irreproducible, it becomes impossible to build upon it. The reproducibility crisis is central to the ethos of open science Credit: Illustration crafted using DALLE-3. Reproducibility require Openness! ةرﻮﺸﻨﻤﻟا ﺔﻴﺜﺤﺒﻟا ﺞﺋﺎﺘﻨﻟا ﻰﻠﻋ (ءﺎﻨِﺒﻟا وأ) ةدﺎﻋإ ﺔﻣزأ : ﱐﺎﻄﻳﱪﻟا نﺎﻤﻟﱪﻟا As open as possible, as closed as necessary FAIR Principles F = Findable A = Accessible I = Interoperable R = Reusable @turingway, CC-BY 4.0, DOI: This slide is taken from this talk “Almarzouq, B., Karoune, E., & Sharan, M. (2022, June 9). Are best practices applicable to your project? Contextualising The Turing Way for the global Community. [Workshop materials in Arabic and English]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6627260” - the section of this talk was presented by Emma Karoune Why FAIR? According to "Cost-benefit analysis for FAIR research data - Cost of not having FAIR research data" (European Commission, 2018): - It has been estimated that not having FAIR research data costs the European economy at least €10.2 billion per year. ﺔﻴﺜﺤﺑ تﺎﻧﺎﻴﺑ دﻮﺟو مﺪﻌﻟ ﺔﻳﻮﻨﺴﻟا ﺔﻔﻠﻜﺘﻟا رﺪﻘُﺗ - ﻻ ﺎﻤﺑ ﰊوروﻷا دﺎﺼﺘﻗﻻا ﻰﻠﻋ FAIR ﲑﻳﺎﻌﻣ ﻊﺒﺘﺗ .ورﻮﻳ رﺎﻴﻠﻣ 10.2 ﻦﻋ ﻞﻘﻳ Credit: Illustration crafted using DALLE-3. WHAT is Open Science? Open Science is huge umbrella that includes: - Open Source - Open Hardware - FAIR data (NOT open irresponsibly) - Open peer review - Open Infrastructure - Open License - Registered reports and…so on Open Science isn't merely about sharing; it's about collaborative co-creation and embracing participatory science UNESCO Recommendation in Open Science UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science was adopted by all member states in November 2021. “Open Science is defined as an inclusive construct that combines various movements and practices aiming to make multilingual scientific knowledge openly available, accessible and reusable for everyone.” UNESCO regards science/ research as a human right - the greatest collective endeavour Ghozayel Elotteebi OSCSA Community Member PhD, rOpenSci Champion Student at the University of Nottingham “I’ve developed a new package called Lextale. To my knowledge, this is the first R package in the field of linguistics developed in Saudi Arabia. Being part of rOpenSci is an opportunity for networking with other champions/mentors from around the world, a potential to support the community, share experiences, and contribute to the existing body of reproducible science.” Abdulrahman Alswaji OSCSA Community Member Bioinformatician in KAIMRC @alswajiab Co-delivered a talk in FOSS Backstage 2023 titled “Lessons Learned for increasing the accessibility for Right-to-Left Language support in Open Source Community” and co-mentor in Outreachy to develop MOOCs Platform “Reflecting on my mentorship experience, it was truly rewarding as I not only had the opportunity to guide and support others but also found valuable lessons in the process, making it a rich and fulfilling journey of mutual growth.” ●Open Innovation ●Open Source ●FAIRfication landscape ●Open License ●Localisation ●Research Software ●Open Educational Resources Drug Discovery Data-driven Innovation Open Science Community Saudi Arabia (OSCSA) ﻊﻴﻤﺠﻠﻟ حﻮﺘﻔﻣ ،ﺔﻗﺎﻋﻹاو ،ﺮﻤﻌﻟا ﻦﻋ ﺮﻈﻨﻟا ﺾﻐﺑ داﺮﻓﻸﻟ ﺔﻠﻣﺎﺷو ﺔﻨﻣآ ﺔﺌﻴﺑ ءﺎﺸﻧﻹ ﻰﻌﺴﻧ ﻦﺤﻧ ﺔﻜﻠﻤﻤﻟا جرﺎﺧ ﻦﻣ داﺮﻓﻸﻟ ﻊﻤﺘﺠﻤﻟا ﺢﺘﻔﺑ مﻮﻘﻧ ﺎﻤﻛ .ﺔﻧﺎﻳﺪﻟاو ،قﺮﻌﻟاو ،ةﱪﺨﻟاو .ﺞﻴﻠﺨﻟا لودو ﺔﻳدﻮﻌﺴﻟا ﺔﻴﺑﺮﻌﻟا The Turing Way project illustration by Scriberia. Used under a CC-BY 4.0 licence. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3332807 ←—— ——→ ●Sovereignty and agency in knowledge production ●Promote inclusiveness, equity, and participation in scientific discoveries ●Help solve complex social, environmental challenges This is the destination ●Open access publications ●Research data sharing ●Research software openness ●…etc These are bridges/tools to reach the destination Avoiding the “catch-up” trap The goal of open science is NOT openness itself, it’s about redistributing power in knowledge production—challenging the extractive systems that enrich the Global North at the expense of the Global South Image Credit: https://imperialismshowcasejanetterivera.weebly.com/imperialism-cartoon.html Monitoring and open practice should never reinforce the very problems it aims to solve Rethinking Publisher Surveillance ●Publishers use surveillance publishing: collecting detailed authorship and readership data to fuel analytics, control, and profits. ●According to Sarah Lamdan (Data Cartels, 2022): publishers act as “data brokers,” monetizing data beyond publishing. ●Example: Elsevier and Thomson Reuters helped U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) build surveillance networks to identify and deport immigrants, revealing ethical breaches of academic data use. Source: https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2013/06/13/editorial-cartoon-nsa-surveillance/LlIHam6LVuAMg23Eg9OOYL/story.html Reflection on the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) history “At a minimum, the DOI helps ensure that publishers will dance to the same rhythm. […] Adopting electronic-publishing solutions based on common open standards increases the likelihood that publishers' capital investments will pay off. It helps ensure that publishers will be able to extend their franchises into cyberspace, where much of the world of information is surely going” DOI became the ISO international standard in 2012 due to intense publisher lobbying, Registration agencies charge significant fees, limiting participation of smaller publishers. - Rosenblatt wrote in 1997 in The Journal of Electronic Publishing When Eugene Garfield launched the Science Citation Index in 1963, and coverage centred on the US and Western Europe. Of the first 613 journals, 70% came from the US or UK, and none from Africa, and more than 550 African journals existed then. Eugene Garfield founded the Institute for Scientific Information in 1955 and launched the Science Citation Index in 1963 Depoliticised Open Science is a misconception; Science has never stood outside power Resource: Does the African academy need its own citation index? Global Africa Journal. Retrieved September 4, 2025, from https://www.globalafricajournal.org/critical-issues/does-the-african-academy-need-its-own-citation-index ﻖﻴﺒﻄﺗ نﻮﻜﻳ نأ ﻲﻐﺒﻨﻳ ﻚﻟﺬﻟو ،ﺎًﻴﺳﺎﻴﺳو ﺎًﻴﺨﻳرﺎﺗ ﺔﺳﺎﺴﺣ ﺔﻘﻄﻨﻣ ﺔﻴﺑﺮﻌﻟا ﺔﻘﻄﻨﻤﻟا ،ﺔﻴﺑﺮﻐﻟا جذﺎﻤﻨﻠﻟ ﺪﻴﻠﻘﺗ دﺮﺠﻣ ﻻ ،ﻖﻴﻤﻋ ﻲﻠﺤﻣ ﻢﻬﻓ ﻦﻣ ﺎًﻌﺑﺎﻧ ﺔﺣﻮﺘﻔﻤﻟا مﻮﻠﻌﻟا ئدﺎﺒﻣ هدﺎﻌﺑأ ﻊﻴﻤﺟ ﰲ ﺔﻳﺎﻨﻌﺑ ﲑﻜﻔﺘﻟا ﻊﻣ. We shouldn’t reduce Open Science to technical problems that we “attempt” to fix - but ignore the power dynamics Open Science shouldn’t be a checklist of open practices. Cartoon originally appeared in the June 25, 2012 issue of Litro (UK).