Scientific Research Obstacles – Jordan Experiment

Literature shows that production of scientific research in the Arab world is at very low level. According to UNESCO statistics for 2004, all Arab countries allocated approximately a tot al of $ 1.7 billion for scientific research, which is close to 0.3% of their Gross National Income (GNP). In contrast, France, Denmark and the United States each allocates an annual 2 to 2.6% of their GNPs for research. This confirms the size of the gap between the reality of research in the Arab world and western and developed countries which are known for their considerable contribution to the advancement of knowledge and human civilization and their generous spending on scientific research, especially in light of UNESCO’s recommendations of spending around 1% of GNP on research. It should be noted that scientific research in the Arab world is mainly funded by the public sector with a contribution of 80% of total research allocations. This is in stark contrast with the state of research in developed countries, where research is funded mainly by the private sector, which is the case in Japan, where 70% of research is funded by the private sector. Importance of conducting research has been emphasized in the outcomes of the Arab Conference for the Development of Scientific Research, held in Amman in October of 2015 under the patronage of the Union of Arab Universities Secretary General, with participation from a number of Arab countries. The conference made several recommendations to resolve the obstacles that impede scientific research in the Arab world which include administrative corruption, theft of scientific research proposals, and the participation of too many academics and researchers in certain joint research projects just for the sole reason of gaining approval of the project by the concerned authorities