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The Australian Business Deans Council Journal Quality List, ranking business-discipline journals into A*, A, B and C tiers; widely used by Indian business schools.

A concise summary of a study — its aim, method, key findings and contribution — usually 150–300 words, written last but read first.

IBM software for covariance-based Structural Equation Modelling (CB-SEM), used to test path models and confirmatory factor analysis with graphical model building.

Analysis of Variance: a test comparing the means of three or more groups to see whether at least one differs significantly.

The fee some open-access journals charge accepted papers to fund free public access — legitimate when disclosed and charged after genuine review; a red flag when exchanged for guaranteed acceptance.

The average share of variance a latent construct captures from its indicators; AVE of 0.50 or higher supports convergent validity.

The quantitative study of publications and citations — for example mapping a field with tools like VOSviewer or Biblioshiny.

A resampling method that estimates the stability of a statistic by re-drawing thousands of samples from the data — used in PLS-SEM to test path significance without normality assumptions.

An in-depth investigation of a bounded system — an organisation, programme or event — using multiple evidence sources to answer how and why questions in real context.

A test of association between categorical variables (test of independence) or of an observed distribution against an expected one (goodness of fit).

Spurious covariance introduced when predictor and outcome data come from the same source, method and moment — a standard reviewer concern in single-survey studies.

A reliability measure for latent constructs (also called rho_c) that weights items by their loadings; 0.70 or higher is the usual threshold in SEM.

A diagram or narrative showing the variables in a study and the hypothesised relationships between them, derived from theory and literature.

A range around a sample estimate within which the true population value plausibly lies — a 95% CI conveys both the estimate and its precision.

A technique that tests whether measured items load onto the latent constructs a theory predicts, assessing construct validity.

Any financial, professional or personal interest that could bias — or appear to bias — a researcher's judgement; managed by disclosure, not concealment.

The extent to which a measurement instrument actually captures the abstract concept it claims to measure.

A measure of how strongly two variables move together, from −1 to +1 — Pearson's r for continuous linear relationships, Spearman's rho for ordinal or non-normal data.

The mandatory taught component at the start of a PhD — research methodology, ethics and discipline courses — that must be cleared before registration confirms.

A coefficient (0–1) estimating the internal-consistency reliability of a multi-item scale; values of 0.7 and above are commonly considered acceptable.

A design that collects data at a single point in time, giving a snapshot rather than tracking change.

The point in qualitative data collection where additional interviews or observations stop producing new codes or themes — the principled answer to 'how many interviews?'

The outcome a study seeks to explain or predict — the variable expected to change in response to the independent variable(s).

Summaries of a dataset — means, medians, standard deviations, frequencies, percentages — that describe what the data look like before any inference is attempted.

Evidence that constructs which should be distinct actually are — their measures correlate more with their own items than with other constructs.

Digital Object Identifier: a permanent, unique link to a published article or dataset that does not break when a URL changes.

A standardised measure of the magnitude of a relationship or difference (e.g. Cohen's d, r), reported alongside statistical significance.

Prolonged immersion in a group's natural setting to understand its culture and shared meanings from the inside, producing 'thick description'.

A data-driven technique that uncovers the underlying factor structure among a set of variables when it is not known in advance.

A moderated group discussion (typically 6–10 participants) that generates data from interaction — participants react to and build on each other, surfacing shared norms and disagreements.

A qualitative methodology that builds theory inductively from data through iterative coding, rather than testing a pre-set hypothesis.

A metric of an author's productivity and impact: the largest number h such that h of their papers each have at least h citations.

The heterotrait–monotrait ratio of correlations: the modern test of discriminant validity in PLS-SEM, with values below 0.85 (or 0.90) indicating constructs are distinct.

A testable, falsifiable statement predicting a relationship between variables, stated as a null (no effect) and an alternative (an effect).

A journal-level metric reflecting the average number of citations to recent articles in that journal; one signal of journal standing, not article quality.

A variable the researcher manipulates or observes as a presumed cause of change in the dependent variable.

A research-ethics requirement that participants voluntarily agree to take part after understanding the study's purpose, risks and their rights.

The institutional body (IEC in India; IRB in the US) that reviews and approves research involving human participants before data collection may begin.

A free, open-source statistics package with an SPSS-like interface, offering both frequentist and Bayesian versions of common tests with APA-formatted output.

The non-parametric alternative to one-way ANOVA: compares three or more independent groups using ranks instead of means.

An ordered response scale (e.g. 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree) used to measure attitudes and perceptions.

A structured, critical synthesis of prior research that establishes what is known, what is contested, and where the gap lies.

A design that collects data from the same subjects over multiple time points to observe change or causal ordering.

The non-parametric alternative to the independent-samples t-test: compares two independent groups using ranks, requiring no normality assumption.

A relationship in which a third variable explains the mechanism through which an independent variable affects a dependent variable.

Elsevier's reference manager offering PDF library management, annotation, 2 GB free cloud storage, private groups and Word citation integration.

A statistical synthesis that pools effect sizes from multiple independent studies to estimate an overall effect.

A design that deliberately combines quantitative and qualitative data to answer a question more completely than either alone.

A relationship in which a third variable changes the strength or direction of the link between two other variables.

Excessive correlation among predictor variables in regression, which destabilises coefficients — diagnosed with VIF (concern above ~5, serious above 10) and tolerance.

Procedures — Shapiro-Wilk, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, skewness/kurtosis inspection, Q–Q plots — that check whether data approximate a normal distribution, gatekeeping parametric tests.

The default statement that there is no effect or no relationship; statistical tests seek evidence to reject it.

Software for managing and analysing qualitative data — coding interviews, documents and media into themes and running queries.

The process of defining an abstract construct in measurable terms — specifying exactly how it will be observed or scored.

A free, persistent researcher identifier (orcid.org) that disambiguates you from same-named authors and travels with your publications across journals and funders.

The probability of obtaining results at least as extreme as observed if the null hypothesis were true; below a threshold (often 0.05) it is deemed statistically significant.

Restating a source's idea entirely in your own words and structure, with citation — the core skill separating legitimate scholarship from patchwriting and plagiarism.

Expert evaluation of a manuscript before publication — typically double-blind in management and social sciences — assessing rigour, novelty and contribution.

A qualitative approach studying the lived experience of a phenomenon — what it is like, and what its essential structure is — through deep interviews with those who have lived it.

A small-scale trial run of instruments and procedures before main data collection — testing clarity, timing, reliability and feasibility while changes are still cheap.

Presenting someone else's words, ideas or work as your own without attribution — including recycling your own published text (self-plagiarism) without disclosure.

Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling: a variance-based SEM approach (run in SmartPLS) suited to prediction, complex models and smaller samples.

The entire group about which a study seeks to draw conclusions; the sample is drawn from it.

A publication that charges fees while faking or skipping peer review — recognisable by solicitation emails, days-long 'review', unverifiable metrics and false indexing claims.

Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: a checklist and flow diagram for transparent, reproducible review reporting.

Non-probability sampling that deliberately selects information-rich cases against explicit criteria — the default sampling logic of qualitative research.

Inquiry that explores meaning, experience and context through non-numeric data such as interviews, observation and documents.

Inquiry that measures variables numerically and tests relationships or differences using statistics.

A family of techniques modelling how one or more predictors relate to an outcome, estimating the size and significance of each effect.

The consistency of a measure — whether it yields the same results under repeated or equivalent conditions.

RAC: the committee (supervisor plus experts) that guides a PhD scholar's research and reviews progress through six-monthly presentations, as required by UGC regulations. Also called Doctoral Committee at some universities.

The overall plan linking research questions to data — deciding what will be measured, from whom, when and how it will be analysed.

An unanswered question, untested context or unresolved contradiction in the literature that a study can credibly address.

The precise, answerable question a study sets out to investigate, guiding design, data and analysis.

The number of observations in a study; adequate size is needed for statistical power and credible estimates.

The method of selecting units from a population — probability methods (e.g. random) support generalisation; non-probability methods (e.g. convenience) do not.

A large abstract-and-citation database of peer-reviewed literature, widely used to assess journal indexing and research impact.

INFLIBNET's national repository of Indian theses and dissertations — where accepted PhD theses are deposited and publicly accessible.

Software for PLS-SEM, used to estimate measurement and structural models, run bootstrapping and assess predictive relevance.

Non-probability sampling in which existing participants refer further participants — the standard route into hard-to-reach or networked populations.

IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences: widely used software for descriptive and inferential statistics such as t-tests, ANOVA and regression.

The probability (conventionally targeted at 0.80) that a test detects an effect that genuinely exists — driven by sample size, effect size and significance level.

Probability sampling that divides the population into strata (e.g. grade, sector, region) and samples randomly within each — guaranteeing subgroup representation and usually improving precision.

A framework that simultaneously tests measurement (items to constructs) and structural (construct to construct) relationships.

The concise research plan document most Indian universities require for PhD registration — problem, gap, questions, methodology and timeline in a prescribed format.

A review using an explicit, reproducible protocol to search, screen, appraise and synthesise all relevant studies on a question.

A test comparing means — of two groups (independent-samples), two related measurements (paired-samples) or one sample against a known value (one-sample) — on a continuous outcome.

A qualitative method for identifying, analysing and reporting patterns (themes) across a dataset.

The established theory (or theories) a study is built upon, used to justify hypotheses and interpret findings.

Strengthening findings by converging multiple sources, methods, investigators or theories on the same question — agreement builds credibility; divergence generates insight.

A similarity-detection service that compares submitted text against a large corpus; a tool to support originality, not a verdict on plagiarism by itself.

Type I error: rejecting a true null hypothesis (false positive, controlled by α). Type II error: failing to reject a false null (false negative, controlled by statistical power).

The University Grants Commission's Consortium for Academic and Research Ethics list of quality journals — the reference list many Indian universities use for PhD publication requirements.

The national eligibility test for assistant professorship and PhD admission; top scorers additionally win the Junior Research Fellowship, a five-year funded route through the PhD.

The 'what' being studied and about which conclusions are drawn — individuals, teams, organisations, transactions or documents — which must stay consistent from research question to sampling to statistics.

The degree to which a study measures what it intends to and supports sound, defensible conclusions.

Any characteristic that can take different values across subjects or conditions — independent, dependent, mediating, moderating or control.

The oral examination in which a candidate defends their thesis and research decisions before examiners.

A selective, multidisciplinary citation database used to identify indexed journals and track citation impact.

A free, open-source reference manager: one-click capture of papers, PDF storage and annotation, and Word/LaTeX citation integration in thousands of styles.