Abstract: Teaching and research are two main requirements in the job descriptions of university lecturers. Other requirements in the job descriptions include organizing seminars/conferences, presenting papers at national and international levels, publishing papers/articles in refereed journals, publishing books and other scholarly activities. Through research one could acquire knowledge and disseminate to students as well as peers, which finally contribute to building competitive advantage to the university concerned. The current study reports findings from a survey, which examined the perceptions of university lecturers towards research. The findings indicate that research is essential to professional development motivated by getting promotion and salary increment. They also, shed some light on the main barrier for not doing research among university lecturers-poor statistical and econometric skills. Implications and suggestions for future research are also, provided.