This article analyses the research output of a sample of higher education institutions (HEIs) in six Arab countries in order to start quantifying academic research productivity in the wider region of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). A questionnaire classifying HEIs was administered to 310 institutions in Lebanon, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. The study revealed a lack of capacity of HEIs to provide quality data, raising issues concerning institutional excellence and transparency. Those data which were available were analysed using a number of statistical methods. The result is that faculty research output in the Arab world is relatively low, confirming the existing notion of a lagging knowledge sector in the region. While traditional scholarship has focused on institutional factors such as budgetary allocation as one prime determinant of research productivity, this study claims that other factors need to be considered in explaining the low output, with broad implications for policy formulation. Such factors include overall satisfaction levels of academic staff, socialisation of faculty staff members into a research climate, and university mission vis-à-vis academic research. Given the distinct paucity of studies on faculty research productivity in HEIs in the Arab region, this study seeks to bridge this gap in the literature by providing original data derived from six Arab countries. The authors aim to provide a basis for further research into this topic.