Elsevier has published findings from its global Researcher of the Future survey, showing that fewer than half of researchers have sufficient time for research, yet believe artificial intelligence can transform their work when supported by effective governance and training.
The Researcher of the Future - a Confidence in Research report, based on responses from more than 3,200 academic and corporate researchers across 113 countries, presents insights into how AI advances, evolving research practices, and funding dynamics are reshaping the global research environment. The study underscores widening regional differences in researcher attitudes, shifting views on career mobility, and a growing emphasis on trust and integrity in research.
Researchers report rising pressure from expanding administrative workloads, increasing information volume, and unstable funding conditions. Only 45% say they have adequate time for research, and 33% expect funding in their field to rise within the next two to three years, with confidence lowest in North America and Europe. About 68% note that the pressure to publish has grown, and 74% consider peer-reviewed research trustworthy, emphasizing peer review’s importance for research integrity and credibility.
Adoption of artificial intelligence is accelerating, with 58% of researchers now using AI tools, compared with 37% in 2024. Despite this growth, only 32% believe their institutions have solid AI governance, and 27% feel sufficiently trained to use these tools. Researchers’ confidence in AI varies sharply by region. In China, 68% of researchers believe AI tools expand their choices, compared with 29% in the United States and 26% in the United Kingdom. Similarly, 64% of Chinese researchers feel empowered by AI, compared with 25% in the United States and 24% in the United Kingdom.
Perceptions of AI’s potential benefits also differ: 79% of researchers in China think AI can save time, compared with 54% in the United States and 57% in the United Kingdom. Sixty percent in China believe AI improves research quality, compared with 22% in the United States and 17% in the United Kingdom. Forty-nine percent in China say AI accelerates discovery, compared with 30% in the United States and 26% in the United Kingdom.
Most researchers (58%) report that AI tools save time, especially for finding and summarizing recent studies (61%), conducting literature reviews (51%), analyzing data (38%), preparing grant proposals (41%), and drafting papers or reports (38%). However, researchers are less likely to use generic AI tools for creative tasks such as generating hypotheses or designing studies, preferring secure and specialized AI assistant for those activities.
Concerns remain about ethics and reliability. Only 23% of respondents believe AI tools are ethically developed, while 38% think they are not. Similarly, 22% consider them trustworthy compared with 39% who see them as unreliable. Only 7% of researchers in the United States and United Kingdom believe AI will increase trust in research, compared with 20% in China.
Researchers identify transparency, up-to-date scholarly data, safety, quality, and human validation as critical factors for increasing confidence in AI tool. Specifically, 59% value automatic citation of references, 55% favor current training data and accuracy safeguards, 55% prioritize high-quality peer-reviewed content, and 49% emphasize regular expert review of outputs.
Funding pessimism influences mobility trends. Nearly 29% of researchers are considering relocating abroad, a decline of five percentage points since 2022, largely due to funding and work-life balance concerns. Of those considering relocation, 49% cite funding as the main factor. Only 33% expect funding growth, with optimism at 9% in the United States and 44% in China. Canada, Germany, and the United States are the most desired destinations, each attracting about one-quarter of potential
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