Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Somaiya Institute for Research and Consultancy (SIRAC) is here to help you throughout the application process.

We hope the Frequently Asked Questions below will help with most queries. If you can’t find answer to your question, feel free to contact us on research.somaiya.edu/en to find out more.

Research is a systematic & detailed study to describe, explain and produce possible solutions by developing new or improvising existing scientific methods to address a particular problem statement.

Ph.D. stands for Doctor of Philosophy and is a postgraduate academic degree awarded to candidates who have extensively carried out a research work in a chosen field. The minimum qualification for pursuing PhD is Masters or postgraduate degree.

Method is 'how you do it' and methodology is 'how you approach', the former is a research tool and latter is a justification of using the particular tool decided. A single methodology can represent different methods. Example, doing a survey and/or interview would be a method but examining how people use dialogue and body language to construct a world view with the selected methods is the methodology

A research article is a publication of original piece of work that the investigator carried out whereas as review article is a publication that is a compilation of other publications by different investigators on a particular field of study

Peer-review is a quality check carried out to evaluate the originality, importance and quality of a particle article by a committee of experts to decide whether the submitted article/chapter should be published in the current journal and/or conference proceedings/book.

A research objective is the intention of a study or goal in a broad perspective and is provided in a format whereas research question is very specific that is answered in an affirmative (Yes) or dissenting (No) manner. A single objective can pose multiple research questions. Research question helps in deciding the methodology, analysis and interpretation so that the research objective is met. e.g: Objective: Correlation of vehicle accidents and mobile usage Research Question: What kind of vehicle do you drive? Do you prefer to use mobile phones during driving? When do you use mobile phones during driving? Do you know you should not be using mobile phones during driving? Do you attend the mobile on speaker? Do you ask you companion to take the call? How often do you stop your vehicle to attend the call? Method Could be an interview or questionnaire

Results of any project are of three types: Deliverables or outputs are tangible or intangible product is an immediate result of a project whereas outcome are mid-term results that are seen as the research output is implemented. Impact of the project is a long term result which could happen after many years of the completion of the project eg Output: bacteria capable of digesting plastic Outcome: Effective use of plastic biodegraders in waste management set-up Impact: Plastic free environment

Authorship credit is a term that is used to indicate who all among a team of researchers in a lab be named in a research publication of a particular research work that was carried out in a said lab. Researchers who contributed to conceptualisation of the idea, experimental design, experimentation, interpretation of data; drafting the article, revising the entire write-up and including interpretation with an intellectual content & final proof reading of the write-up before submission all are eligible to be authors. A researcher who is only proof reading is acknowledged never given authorship. The sequence of authors is determined by the relative contributions of the author to the manuscript
First (primary) author is the person who contributed most to the work ranging from experimentation to writing of the manuscript ,(research/ PhD student). Last author is the main person responsible for its contents, who is usually the senior most person, guide or supervisor of the project.
Corresponding author is the person in-charge for all communications, reviews, submissions to the editorial committee of the respective publication house/board. The corresponding author can be any one of the authors who has the maximum expertise in the field.
Multiple primary authors but only one corresponding author
Plagiarism is an academic malpractice and breach of research ethics when a researcher steals or copy-paste the idea, language, work, interpretation of data by another researcher and presents it as one's own in his/her scientific publication.

Results of any project are of three types: Deliverables or outputs are tangible or intangible product is an immediate result of a project whereas outcome are mid-term results that are seen as the research output is implemented. Impact of the project is a long term result which could happen after many years of the completion of the project eg Output: bacteria capable of digesting plastic Outcome: Effective use of plastic biodegraders in waste management set-up Impact: Plastic free environment