An ethnographic case study of issues related to research performance and promotion of research was conducted within the Creative and Performing Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (AHSS) disciplines of a regional university. The purpose of the study was to explore a variety of ways in which the research work of those disciplines could be made more visible to others, both within and outside the university. In reviewing the research performance, concerns and orientation of academics in AHSS disciplines, this paper addresses the issue of disciplinary variations in research activity and research focus, with implications both for future programs of research performance assessment, and for the promotion of research activity among currently disenfranchised AHSS academics. In the context of current Australian debates about a research quality framework, the data considered address issues of impact, rather than quality. (Contains 2 tables.)