Kaitlin Clinnin, associate professor of English language and literature, and Meghna Gogoi, doctoral student in sociology, were named the winners of the 2026 Libraries Research Impact Challenge after completing a week of activities designed to increase the visibility and reach of their research.
The annual Research Impact Challenge introduces UNLV researchers to tools and strategies for demonstrating and expanding the impact of their scholarship. Over five days, participants explored ways to manage their online scholarly presence, make their work more discoverable, track citations and other mentions of their scholarship, and take advantage of research impact services available through the University Libraries.
This year, 116 faculty and graduate students participated in the challenge, the highest participation since it launched in 2020. The College of Liberal Arts recorded the highest participation among both faculty and graduate students.
As winners, Clinnin and Gogoi will receive prize packages, and their scholarship will be featured in OAsis, UNLV's Repository for Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity. The repository also maintains a collection showcasing the scholarship of previous Research Impact Challenge winners.
Gogoi's featured scholarship is a recently published chapter she co-authored with her faculty advisor for the UNLV Center for Democratic Culture's The Social Health of Nevada. Clinnin’s recent scholarship focuses on trauma-informed writing practices through the lens of disability justice and inclusivity.
The Research Impact Challenge is designed to help researchers not only increase the reach of their work, but also better understand and communicate its influence within their disciplines and beyond. Resources introduced during the challenge can support researchers throughout their careers, including during job searches, funding applications, graduation, and tenure review.
