Hey friends,
During my holidays, I was scrolling my gallery and found images/videos of a recent trip in Morocco
I had the opportunity to travel across Morocco and meet hundreds of researchers, PhD candidates, and professors to discuss some of the biggest challenges facing research today
A research road trip with many conversations.
Many kilometres and many lessons learned
Between November 2025 and May 2026, I spent three weeks travelling across different research institutions
The sessions were organised in collaboration with the National Center for Scientific and Technical Research (CNRST) in Rabat.
During these sessions:
• 13 research sites visited
• More than 3,000 participants engaged
• Dozens of discussions around research quality, publishing, evaluation, and scientific integrity
While the main goal was to deliver different workshops, I also had the opportunity to understand better what actually happens on the ground
The discussions focused on a few major themes:
• How can we improve research quality?
• How can researchers become more efficient?
• How can journals maintain quality?
• How can researchers write better papers and publish successfully?
One topic came back again and again:
The pressure to publish.
"Publish or perish" is now an old concept
But many researchers feel this pressure more than ever.
Publications are often linked to career progression, funding opportunities, promotions, and institutional rankings
The problem is not publishing. Publishing is essential in Science
The problem is when quantity becomes more important than quality.
When researchers feel forced to produce papers quickly instead of focusing on meaningful contributions
Or when the system rewards numbers more than impact
This reminded me of the Cobra effect. Officials in India paid cash for dead cobras to reduce their population, but people began breeding cobras to collect the rewards. When the program ended, breeders released the snakes, making the problem even worse than before.
In Science, the publish or perish concept creates difficult questions.
• How do we encourage productivity without compromising scientific integrity?
• How do we measure research quality beyond the number of publications?
• How do we create incentives for better science?
Another recurring topic was research ethics.
Many researchers understand the importance of ethics
But the reality is that the publishing process is becoming more complex.
Lots of questions around:
• plagiarism
• authorship conflicts
• data management
• artificial intelligence
• research transparency
With new technologies, researchers have more powerful tools than ever before
But tools also create new responsibilities.
AI can help researchers search literature, improve writing, analyse data, and discover patterns.
But it cannot replace scientific judgement
AI cannot be an author. The researcher remains responsible for the final work.
Speaking of technology, one thing became very clear.
The next generation of researchers will need to become more technology-savvy.
Not because every researcher needs to become a programmer.
But because research is changing
Knowing how to use digital tools effectively is becoming part of being a successful researcher.
• Literature review tools.
• Reference managers
• Data analysis software
• Coding
• AI assistants.
• Collaboration platforms.
The researchers who learn how to use these tools responsibly will have a significant advantage
Another important discussion was supervision.
A good supervisor can completely transform the PhD journey.
They provide guidance, feedback, confidence, and support.
But when supervision is limited, students often struggle with:
• defining their research question
• managing expectations
• improving their writing
• understanding the publication process
• developing independence
Good supervision is not only about checking research progress.
It is about developing independent researchers.
One thing I really appreciated during these visits was the openness of the conversations
Researchers were not only interested in solutions. They wanted to share their experiences.
These discussions reminded me of something important:
Research is not only about papers. It is about people who try to answer difficult questions with meaningful contributions
We know thr research system is not perfect. And I’m pretty sure some of these challenges are quite common across different countries
But there is also a lot of energy, curiosity, and commitment among researchers.
And that’s promising
The future of research will depend on how well we support them.
• Better training
• Better funding
• Better tools
• Better evaluation systems
• Better collaboration.
And more conversations between all stakeholders involved in research.
Because improving science is not the responsibility of just one group.
It requires researchers, administrators, institutions, journals, funders, and support teams working together.
To conclude it was a real pleasure meeting so many PhD candidates, researchers, and professors and discussing research evaluation, publishing, ethics, and the future of scientific research.
I love being on the ground discussing with research stakeholders and I look forward to the next sessions, online or onsite
In Morocco and beyond
Well, that’s all for this week. Let me know which challenges you face in scientific research
See you next week.
Jamal