Figure 1
PRISMA flow diagram of the study selection process.
Figure 2
Country Distribution of Studies.
Figure 3
Distribution by Publication Year.
Figure 4
Distribution by Main Focus Areas.
Figure 5
Study Distribution by Level of Education.
Figure 6
Distribution by Authorship Affiliation.
Table 1
Comparative OER Policy, Adoption, and Maturity Profile Across the GCC countries.
| COUNTRY | POLICY/GOVERNANCE EVIDENCE | ADOPTION / INFRASTRUCTURE EVIDENCE | MATURITY INTERPRETATION |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saudi Arabia | Nationally coordinated through NeLC and SHMS/OERx | OERx/FutureX, national repository, multi-sector resource curation | Institutionalized / state-coordinated |
| Bahrain | UNESCO-supported OER policy process | Edunet and My Digital Library OER-related provision | Policy-aligned; implementation maturing |
| Qatar | OER recognized in national education strategy; accessibility-driven niche | Mada ICT-AID OER Hub, QNL Manara, QSpace | Distributed, multi-actor, accessibility-driven |
| Oman | Digital-education readiness; limited explicit OER policy | OMREN, Masader, university e-learning infrastructures | Digitally ready; OER governance consolidating |
| UAE | Smart-learning and AI/digital strategies; no unified OER policy identified | UAE MoE Manara and broader digital-content initiatives | Emerging platform-level activity |
| Kuwait | Digital-learning infrastructure; limited explicit OER policy evidence | University-led open access, MOOC participation, scattered digital resources | Early, decentralized, policy-light |