Introduction

Directory of OA journals (DOAJ) indexes three open Access Journal: Solar Energy and Sustainable Development published by Center for solar Energy Research and Studies in Libya, the International Journal of English Language and Translation, and Open Veterinary Journal. There is also African Journals OnLine (AJOL) - the world's largest peer-reviewed, African-published scholarly journals to enable the African researchers to access the work of other African academics and to make the African-origin research output available to Africans and to the rest of the world.

Researchers from Libya publish articles in international Open Access journals, for example, in 2013, 4 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 authors from: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences - Gomail, University of Aljabal Algharbil, Zawia, and Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, and Al Fateh University. The recent statistics on research articles are unavailable at this point.

Currently, as of March 2021, there are no OA mandates registered in ROARMAP. There are three OA repositories listed in OpenDOAR.

Enabling Environment

The establishment of the first Libyan University was in 1955, between 1962 and 1967, several faculties successively opened in the cities of Benghazi and Tripoli. According to General People’s Committee of Education and Scientific Research (GPCE&SR) in Libya (2009-2010), there are seven research and development centers namely: Alfateh University, Garyounis University, Sebha University, Omar AL-Mukhtar University, Musrata University, Sert University, AL-Jabal AL-Garbi University, Nasser University, Asmarya University, and Open University. Also, there are three universities of special nature, and 15 "departmental universities''. Higher Education is completely financed by GPCE&SR, except for private universities. Research is now fully supported and financed by the government.

Libyan scientists affirm the centrality of scientific communication to successful science, but that the nature of communication is influenced by national and other cultures. They also both access and publish in e-journals and in Open Access sources but are aware of a range of barriers to scientific communication in the digital age.

In Libya, a single government-owned service provider offered Internet access. The number of Internet users was small but growing with improved broadband capability. According to 2010 data of ITU (The International Telecommunication Union), there were approximately 353,900 internet users with an estimated 5.5 percent of the population having access to the Internet but growing with improved broadband capability. As of 2015 there is an estimated 19.02 percent of the population that is actively using the internet in Libya. On 11 March 2007, Al-Quds Open University (QOU) and the Open University of Libya signed a cooperation agreement on academic, cultural and technical cooperation in the development of academic programs and curricula, in addition to exchanging textbooks, research and multimedia learning materials.

Potential Barriers

The awareness of Open Access within the research community is still low, no national policy for Open Access poor ICT infrastructure- Libya still lags behind in terms of usage of ICT tools, infrastructure and access, and the process of implementing the national ICT policy in particular and development projects in different domains in general are still at an early stage.

Key Organizations

Open University of Libya

Libya Open University, The Open University Foundation education affiliated to the Ministry of Higher Education, was established in 1987 and began scientific activity with the beginning of the academic year 89 /1990 AD , which is in the Arab Universities Union member and a member of the Arab Network and Open Education Learning after , it has a scientific and cultural cooperation with some Arab universities and foreign , and the University aims to spread the culture distance to all without restrictions in terms of space and time and age, as well as helping everyone to exercise their natural right to acquire the knowledge, science and skills that suit them in ways that they want to suit Their abilities, their aptitudes, their preferences and their wishes, in accordance with their economic and social conditions Health to the lofty goals and goals of society.

Libyan Higher Education and Research Network (LHERN)

Different government agencies and the local and foreign private sector are collaborating to achieve socio-economic development through the implementation of the national ICT policy. UNDP and UNESCO work hand in hand with government agencies to ensure proper and timely implementation of the ICT such as: In July 2007 an agreement between UNESCO and the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya was signed, the project activities include the establishment of Local Area Networks (LANs) within all 149 faculties belonging to various university campuses and institutes, and of a Wide Area Network (WAN) forming the Libyan Higher Education and Research Network (LHERN). It also foresees the creation of digital libraries/portals of educational resources; the development of ICT enhanced learning solutions (e.g., e-learning, tele-education, telemedicine). An important component of the project is the training of faculty (digital literacy, basic ICT skills, advanced teacher training on using ICTs in teaching and courseware development) and staff (system administrators, media centre specialists, etc. Partners/donors: UNESCO and the government.

Publications

●     Mohamed A. Arteimi, Ahlam Al-Tajori. Providing Open Access for Scholarly Information in Libya. Electrical and Computer Engineering Department- Libyan Academy, Computer Science Department-Libyan Academy. 2016