Perceptions of Arab researchers regarding publishing scientific research: A cross-sectional study

Researchers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) confront multifactorial challenges when publishing their manuscripts. Here, we aimed to quantify Arab researchers’ perceptions of these challenges.
We distributed an online questionnaire to Arab researchers from 17 countries, the majority of which were LMICs.
Among 286 respondents, 71.7% experienced rejection of at least one manuscript. The main reasons for manuscript rejection included being outside the journals’ scopes (46.1%) and lacking novelty (35.1%). Over one-third of the respondents believed they might have faced bias in the review process being of Arab origin. More than 60% thought a Western coauthor would make their manuscripts be reviewed more favorably. Moreover, 60% thought it would be easier to publish in open-access journals. Over 75% of our respondents were aware of predatory journals, and an alarming 17.1% published in such journals.
To improve the quality of scholarly publications and address publishing challenges, we propose strengthening research training, enhancing language support, and increasing the representation of LMIC researchers in editorial roles. These measures aim to foster inclusivity in peer review and ensure a more diverse academic publishing landscape.