The Forum for Open Research in MENA (FORM) is a non-profit membership organisation supporting the advancement of Open Science policies and practices in research communities and institutions across the Arab world.
A catalyst for positive action, we work with key stakeholders to develop and implement a pragmatic programme to facilitate the transition towards more accessible, inclusive and sustainable research and education models in the Arab region. Our goal is to empower libraries, higher education institutions, research councils and policy makers across the Arab world to collaborate on activities, projects and resources that promote engagement with, and the generation of, open research.
Bringing together leading international experts and key regional stakeholders, the Annual Forum provides an arena for librarians, researchers, government policy makers, universities and international experts to discuss and debate key themes and issues relating to the advancement of Open Research across the Arab world. The Forum is held in a different Arab State each year, to enable all researchers, librarians, and Open Science champions to have the opportunity to attend in person (as well as online).
This year we will focus on Transforming Knowledge into Action. We are therefore especially delighted to be partnering with the Qatar National Library for the 2024 Annual Forum, reflecting QNL’s mission to empower the people of Qatar in their research and learning journeys.
The Call for Papers is now Open:
Open Science in higher education institutions and research communities is a highly complex and rapidly evolving landscape, and there are many ways of transforming knowledge into practical action. We have therefore identified 4 thematic areas for this year’s Annual Forum, reflecting the priorities of our members and wider network across the Arab states:
- Policies and funding:
- Open access and research assessment policies
- Funding sources and allocations
- developing policies and determining best practises to support sustainability in Arab scholarly communications ecosystems
- Incorporating SDGs in research and education strategic planning
- Open Access publishing and open education resources
- Preprints, transparent peer review, and open access publishing
- Creating and disseminating open resources
- The commercialisation of Open Science
- Building and using Institutional repositories
- Capacity building and community engagement
- Adapting and decolonising practises and resources for the Arab region
- Building and Sustaining Communities of Practices (CoP) in Arabic speaking countries
- Digital and human capacity building
- Open infrastructure and infrastructure supporting Open Science
- The rise of community-owned and community-led Open Science infrastructures and publications
- Implementing reproducible, open and interoperable infrastructure in the Arab region
- Using AI to advance engagement with open science policies and practises in the Arab world
For more details and to submit, visit our website: https://forumforopenresearch.
