Introduction

Open Access is a recent movement in Lebanon; however, there has already been positive and steady feedback on it from a variety of stakeholders; librarians, academics and researchers - all support and participate in the OA movement.

As of March 2021, The Directory of OA Journals (DOAJ) indexes no Open Access journal. A few OA journals published in Lebanon include Journal of Numerical Mathematics and Stochastics published by Euclidean Press, LLC CALR Online Linguistics Journal (CALR) and The Academic Research Journal (ARJ).

Researchers from Lebanon publish articles in international Open Access journals, for example, in 2013, 188 research articles have been published with BioMed Central – an STM (Science, Technology and Medicine) publisher which has pioneered the Open Access publishing model– and among them are highly accessed (most viewed) articles published by researchers from University Medical School and the Institute for Development, Research, Advocacy and Applied Care (IDRAAC), Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences, American University of Beirut, Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, American University of Beirut, University Medical School and the Institute for Development, Research, Advocacy and Applied Care (IDRAAC), University of Beirut Medical Centres, Lebanon.

Currently, three OA digital repositories are registered in OpenDOAR, the first one was LAU eCommons at the Lebanese American University.

Enabling Environment

Lebanon has several competitive advantages in the ICT sector—especially in software and website development—including a multilingual and skilled workforce. The development in Lebanese National Information infrastructure through National e-Strategy aims to use ICT for national development, in order to best position Lebanon to compete in a global economy. This project is funded by the UNDP global Thematic Trust Fund on ICT for Development funded by the Government of Japan to support the project. The project includes a series of activities that will help to strengthen the ICT sector and in turn will give a boost to the ICT sector and services provided within.

According to the Internet World Stats (2011) of a population of 4,143,101, the Internet usage in Lebanon has grown from 300,000 users in 2001 to about 1,201,820 users in 2011. This implies that the current percentage of the Lebanon population that now has access with a 29.0 percent penetration rate.

Key Organizations

Lebanese Library Association organizes many activities/seminars to promote the Open Access movement among the faculty, librarian and students community. LibGuides at Lebanese American University aim to provide research assistance, subject guides, and useful resources, including Open Access Databases that includes: Who Is She in Lebanon?, Cartoon Image Database and Islamic Heritage Project

Communication address: P.O. Box 13-5053, Tel.: +9611786456 / 646 ext.1210, Mobile: + 9613080806; e-mail: kjaroudy(at)lau.edu.lb.

Arab Open University AOU – Lebanon has an Open Access Student Repository – A repository that includes: the senior students' projects. The AOU – Lebanon has two ISSN reference online journals, with international editorial boards: CALR online Linguistics Journal (CALR) and The Academic Research Journal (ARJ) are Open Access.

Events and Programs

• International Open Access Week at the American University of Beirut Libraries in Lebanon, October 21, 2019 at 10am to October 25, 2019 at 5pm, Lebanon, Organized by American University of Beirut Libraries (Dalal Rahme, Data Services Librarian), Type: presentations, and, discussions
• Open Knowledge, Open Data, October 23, 2018 from 11am to 12:30pm, Lebanon, Organized by American University of Beirut Library - Dalal Rahme- Data services Librarian, Type: presentation, and, discussion
• Celebrate Open Access Week @ NDU-Louaize (Lebanon), October 22, 2018 at 12pm to October 26, 2018 at 1pm, Lebanon, Organized by Notre Dame University-Louaize Libraries, Type: presentations, &amp, discussions
• Open Access Week at the American University of Beirut, October 26, 2017 from 10am to 11:30am, Lebanon, Organized by AUB Libraries - Dalal Rahme, Type: session, discussion
• Data Management and Sharing, October 25, 2017 from 10am to 11:30am, Lebanon, Organized by AUB Libraries - Dalal Rahme, Type: session

Publications

• Alwan, N. H., H. Zareian, and H. R. Esmaeili. 2016. “A Peer-Reviewed Open-Access Journal Launched to Accelerate Biodiversity Research Capoeta Coadi, a New Species of Cyprinid Fish from the Karun River Drainage, Iran Based on Morphological and Molecular Evidences (Teleostei, Cyprinidae).” ZooKeys 2016(572):155–80. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.572.7377.
• Destremau, B., R. Giacaman, M. Harb, L. Herrera, M. Mexi, S. Mitwalli, E. C. Murphy, Y. Rabaia, L. Welchman, and E. Zambelli. 2017. “The Dilemmas of the European Union’s Open Access to Data Policy.” The Lancet 390(10090):122–23. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)31458-7.
• Jamali, D., R. Barkemeyer, J. Leigh, and G. Samara. 2020. “Open Access, Open Science, and Coronavirus: Mega Trends with Historical Proportions.” Business Ethics 29(3):419–21. doi: 10.1111/beer.12289.