‘Publish or Perish’ is not just a phrase today; it is a fundamental truth with implications for both academicians and academic institutions. Of late, research productivity has become a focus for academic institutions worldwide. Prestigious international accreditation bodies, such as AACSB, and National Institutional Ranking Framework in India, explicitly emphasize the research culture of institutions when awarding accreditation. In the present study, we have identified and studied the 12 drivers of research productivity at the institutional level using a multi-method approach. The applied approaches include Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM), Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), and the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method. The findings suggest that drivers such as Recognition for publication, Publication incentive, and Teaching and administrative load for faculty are the most critical drivers of an institute's research productivity. The academic leadership and governing authorities, such as the provost, director, research dean, and board of governors, may implement the findings to develop an encouraging culture in their respective institutes and universities. Government policymakers in higher education may develop policies to support the national research ecosystem for knowledge management.