This paper presents a brief outline of Research Development and Innovation (RDI) systems in the Arab countries, before presenting a more detailed account of human resources and expenditure dedicated to Research and Development (R&D) and the quality of research publications they produced during the period 1996-2023. The quality of research publications is examined through reviewing their citations, self-citations and average Hirsch-index values they managed to attain in comparison to some of their close neighbors as well as averages for the world and selected country groups. The paper concludes that, on average and in terms of both quantity and quality, published research articles by Arab countries trail behind many other countries. The paper’s conclusions emphasize the need for adoption of policies that enhance human resource allocations and financial resources as well as wider collaboration both within and among the Arab countries. Apart from several other negative outcomes, failure to do so would certainly jeopardize attempts at attaining Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to which the Arab countries have repeatedly committed themselves over the past decades.