These are the so-called MENA countries (Middle East and North Africa). In some of these countries, steps are being taken to combat mistrust towards open science. | Graphic: Maksim Grebeshkov / Alamy Stock Vector

Open science faces prejudice in the 22 Arabic-speaking countries. According to Emily Choynowski, a former publisher writing in the international magazine ‘Research Information’, open access is often viewed “as synonymous with either predatory practices or low-quality content”. This is why she has created a Forum for Open Research in the so-called MENA countries (Middle East and North Africa).

While certain universities in Saudi Arabia are happy to play a prominent role, other research institutions and communities are lagging behind. As Choynowski explains, “I have attended conferences where ‘open access’ was translated into six different terms in the same panel, each version with a slightly different meaning. And without an effective lexicon of localised terms (and localised resources), it is impossible to adequately explain and promote open science concepts”. This is just one of the problems that she hopes to solve with FORM.