ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Educ.
Sec. Higher Education
Effect of research culture on university scientific output: evidence from a structural model in southern Peru
Provisionally accepted
JORGE JINCHUÑA HUALLPA1*
LUIS ENRIQUE FERNANDEZ SOSA1JAVIER PEDRO FLORES AROCUTIPA1JULIO CESAR LUJAN MINAYA2MARIBEL ALEJANDRINA RODRIGUEZ YUCRA1- 1Universidad Nacional de Moquegua, Moquegua, Peru
- 2Universidad Nacional de Cañete, San Vicente de Cañete, Peru
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
The objective of the study was to analyze the predictive relationship between research culture and scientific output at the National University of Moquegua (UNAM), Peru, during the year 2023. The research is basic in nature, with a quantitative approach, explanatory level, and nonexperimental design. The survey technique was applied to a stratified sample of 151 employees, consisting of 60 teachers and 91 recent students. Structural equation models (SEM) with the MLR estimator were used for data analysis. The structural model for the teaching stratum presented optimal fit indices (X²/gl = 0.005; CFI = 1.000; SRMR = 0.002), indicating that research culture significantly predicts scientific output (β = 0.734, p = 0.013), explaining 53.9% of its variance (R² = 0.539). In the student stratum, robust fit indices were obtained (X²/df = 1.81; CFI = 0.996; SRMR = 0.014), where research culture emerged as a critical predictor (β = 0.983, p = 0.001) explaining 96.6% of the variance (R² = 0.966). It is concluded that a highly developed research culture is substantially associated with high levels of scientific production. In other words, the greater the research culture, the greater the scientific production, indicating that it is essential to strengthen research groups and seedbeds in order to raise the scientific standing of the university.
Keywords: Peru, Research culture, Scientific production, Scientific research, University community
Received: 26 Nov 2025; Accepted: 13 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 JINCHUÑA HUALLPA, FERNANDEZ SOSA, FLORES AROCUTIPA, LUJAN MINAYA and RODRIGUEZ YUCRA. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: JORGE JINCHUÑA HUALLPA
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.