Researchers engage in the scholarly conversation in a variety of ways, such as publishing journal articles, speaking at conferences, generating media, or producing other forms of information artifacts. 

Research can have impact in various areas (adapted from UK Research and Innovation, 2022), including:

• Academic (advancing theory, methods, understanding in a field)
• Societal (benefit to individuals or groups) 
• Economic (wealth creation, infrastructure development, network effects)

Creators may wish to study the impact of their scholarly artifacts for the purposes of career management (such as job search or tenure and promotion actions), grant applications, or to demonstrate expertise in a topic to external stakeholders such as industry organizations or legislators.