<p>Knowledge creation is an incessant activity in the organization that is practiced collectively and individually. Knowledge creation practice is vital for competitive advantage for business organizations and helps to provide quality services for public organizations like universities. Universities are considered the “hub of knowledge,” and knowledge creation is practiced continuously. This study aims to examine the knowledge-creation practices in Ethiopian public research universities. The study data were collected by using a questionnaire from 379 respondents from Addis Ababa, Hawasa, and Arba mich public research universities. The collected data were analyzed by using smart PLS 4 consistent algorithms. The study findings revealed that universities’ knowledge-creation practices positively link with human resource practice (performance appraisal) and organizational culture. However, knowledge-oriented leadership (transformational and transactional leadership) has no statistically significant relationship with the knowledge-creation practices of public research universities. The organizational culture partially mediates the relationship between performance appraisals and fully mediates the relationship between transactional leadership with university knowledge-creation practices. The researchers recommend that university leaders strive to create a cooperative culture to transform universities globally and apply knowledge-based performance appraisal practices relevant to workers’ to apply knowledge-creation practices in the universities successfully.</p>