Saudi Arabia has a range of open science initiatives connected to its broader Vision 2030 programme. This includes policies related to open educational resources and research infrastructure. Supporting this is an Open Access community that is involved in policymaking.

We outline the history of Saudi Arabia’s mandates and its current policies for those looking to read or submit research.

Open Access is the new paradigm

Open Access refers to a publishing model for scholarly research that makes information immediately available to readers at no cost. This research is also free to reuse for scholarly purposes.

The benefits of publishing Open Access include gaining more citations and a greater impact, reaching a wider audience, advancing scientific innovation, retaining copyrights, and increasing the potential for collaboration and recognition. Open Access can also help institutions like universities and research agencies in low- and middle-income countries by removing any price barriers to accessing academic research.

History of Open Access in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia has an evolving Open Access community. Here is a brief history of Open Access in Saudi Arabia:

• 2014: The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) introduced an OA policy that grants the university non-exclusive permission to make their scholarly research publications open.
• 2016: Vision 2030 is announced. It is a government program to achieve diversification and economic, social, and cultural growth.
• 2017: The National Open Education Strategy aims to enable “creation, innovative use and sharing of quality open educational resources”.
• 2021: The Open Science Community in Saudia Arabia (OSCA) is established as a space for advocates to connect and provide input on building policies and infrastructures.
• 2024: The King Faud University National Library applied OA to a range of publications on library and information science and Saudi Arabian history and heritage.

Saudi Arabia has not introduced any strict Open Access policy. However, it has a range of open science initiatives tethered to Vision 2030. This involves building infrastructure and establishing a culture of openly sharing resources and material. It is a broader vision than simply opening research articles.

This is supported by the OSCA, which was created in response to Vision 2030. Its members share educational resources, help build the community, and raise awareness. Here is its declaration:

We want to create a space in Saudi Arabia where newcomers and seasoned peers can connect, inspire each other, and provide input on policies and infrastructures. Working together to make Open Science the norm.

Current Open Access laws in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia does not have an overarching national-level Open Access mandate or any specific requirements at a national level. It does, however, have some specific open science requirements that relate to its Vision 2030 initiative.

As the largest economy in the Arab region, Saudi Arabia has recently dedicated a share of its revenue from oil to improving education and scientific research. An example of this is the Research, Development, and Innovation Authority (RDIA) recently introducing a policy requiring government-funded research infrastructure to be made OA.

Research infrastructure refers to resources and services that researchers use to conduct their work. This includes facilities, resources, and services, like scientific equipment, knowledge-based resources, and scientific data.

Researchers retain their copyright if using open infrastructure but must acknowledge the contribution of the provider of the infrastructure. This is similar to a CC-BY license.

Researchers are not required to but are ‘encouraged’ to share their data in an OA form.

Open Access traditionally is seen to improve access to research in the form of articles; this OA policy focuses instead on increasing access to producing research. It is an open science approach that reflects Saudi’s Vision 2030 program.

Vision 2030

Announced in 2016, Vision 2030 includes the aim to become a global research, development, and innovation powerhouse. This is centred around four national priorities:

• Health and wellness.
• Sustainable environment and essential needs.
• Energy and industrial leadership.
• Economies of the future.

One specific goal is to have at least 5 of the nation’s universities in the top 100 university rankings.

Accordingly, there is an open science infrastructure for open educational resources to support achieving this.

Open educational resources

There are a range of open education initiatives in Saudi Arabia.

The Ministry of Education created the Center for Society and Literacy Awareness. This is a portal to OA resources that is available to students and scholars across various stages of their academic development.

Further, the Ministry releases its data openly on its Open Data Platform. This aims to create “awareness about statistics, reports, studies, factsheets on education”.

The Saudi Open Educational Resources Network (SMHS) emerged from the 2017 National Open Education Strategy. This is a national program that aims to enrich educational content. It features over 300,000 resources and information on workshops, awards, and ambassadors.

These initiatives all collectively improve access to resources and knowledge. Also, they are vitally helping establish openness as a norm, by allowing academics to benefit from it at all stages in their careers.

University policies

There are 68 degree-awarding higher education institutions in Saudi Arabia, which are particularly strong in medicine and engineering areas. OA policies vary by university, but there are no strict mandates at any currently. The KAUST has the most developed program.

The KAUST Open Access Publishing Program supports its researchers by establishing a range of OA agreements with publishers to cover or discount article processing charges (APCs).

J.K. Vijayakumar, Library Director at KAUST, explains

We are proud to demonstrate our commitment to open access through the first open access policy in the Middle East and will continue our efforts to align with global Open Access initiatives … We strive to ensure our research articles on world-leading scientific advances are available to all.

KAUST is partnered with MDPI to provide discounts to APCs for researchers publishing in MDPI journals. MDPI’s Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP) offers flexible agreement models for institutions and makes it easy for authors to publish in CC-BY OA journals.

The full list of Saudi universities on MDPI’s IOAP is the following:

• Al Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University.
• King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).
• Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University (PNU).
• University of Tabuk.

Click here to learn more about IOAP.

Saudi Arabia’s Open Access statistics

Saudi Arabia is rapidly moving away from subscription-only to open publication of its scholarly research. Here are some statistics from Scopus:

• 2013: 67% of articles were subscription-only, 5% were green Open Access, and 21% were gold Open Access.
• 2018: 53% of articles were subscription-only, 8% were green Open Access, and 30% were gold Open Access.
• 2023: 34% of articles were subscription-only, 2% were green Open Access, and 58% were gold Open Access.

As you can see, Saudi Arabia has halved its subscription-only articles and nearly tripled its number of gold OA publications. This demonstrates the success of building a culture around open science and supporting it with the relevant infrastructure.

Future trends

Vision 2030 will continue to expand, as Saudi Arabia pursues its aim to become a powerhouse in Research, Development, and Innovation. The success that its open science policies have garnered will likely encourage it to continue promote open educational resources and infrastructure.

The next step would be to open the output of researchers. However, there is no indication that such a policy will be introduced yet.

For now, it is likely that Saudi Arabia will further develop its open science approach to find more ways to increase access to educational resources and research infrastructure.

Value of Open Access

All articles published by MDPI are made immediately available worldwide under an Open Access license. This means:

• Everyone has free and unlimited access to the full text of all articles published in MDPI journals;
• Everyone is free to re-use the published material if proper accreditation/citation of the original publication is given;
• Open Access publication is supported by the authors’ institutes or research funding agencies by payment of a comparatively low Article Processing Charge (APC) for accepted articles.

Researchers can satisfy Saudi Arabia’s developing Open Access policy and pre-empt any stricter legislation by publishing in an MDPI journal. Alternatively, if you want to publish an early version of your article, try Preprints, our service for publishing early versions of research that are not peer-reviewed and report on either ongoing or complete research.

If you want to learn more about IOAP, click here.

Open Access makes vital information accessible to all readers and researchers and brings together scholars from across the world. Thus, it is ideal for tackling global challenges such as climate change and cancer research that require urgent and coordinated attention.

Saudi Arabia is a leader in growing Open Access by building an open science infrastructure and community. Click here if you would also like to learn more about Open Access around the world.