This paper examines the debates about academic scholars' ability to produce quality research outputs both consistently and frequently. It examines whether it is possible for academic scholars to produce quality research outputs in their respective domains given obstacles that impede scholars to do so. The rationale for this examination stems from the fact that in the academic community, much of a scholar's reputation depends on the publication of research in journal articles and books. Quality published research outputs enhance a scholar's status and serve as an important factor in situating where a scholar's employment will be within the hierarchy of his or her discipline. The paper explores the possible criteria for producing quality research outputs and obstacles that inhibit academic achievement. The paper describes the Emerging Researchers' Programme (ERP) of the University of Cape Town's Research Office as a program that facilitates the production of research output while overcoming obstacles to it. At the University of Cape Town, quality research outputs are identified as the number of articles per academic scholar that have appeared in a specific period of time in a set of prestigious journals or research published in professional journals and in conference proceedings; writing of a book or chapter; collection and analysis of original evidence; and mentoring post-graduate students and their dissertations and projects. In South Africa, the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) has identified quality research outputs to be those that appear in a set of prestigious journals or recognized research publications, such as: the Institute of Scientific Information (ISI) including Arts and Humanities Citation Index; Science Citation Index Expanded; and Social Sciences Citation Index. Other accredited lists are the approved South African journals and the International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS).