Difference Between Journal and Research Paper?

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Difference between journal and research paper

It is an absolute confusion and worry in some ways for a wannabe or a first-time researcher or a research scholar especially if you are still a student trying to work on a research project with your professor. Many of us get often confused when we hear the words research paper or a journal for the first time. The reason is that we have no or little idea what the words mean or we never looked into them even though we keep hearing them every once in a while. So, here are a few differences between a “ JOURNAL” and a “RESEARCH PAPER ” A Journal is collection of articles on various topics. There are various types of journals such as personal journal, academic journal , creative journals etc. But in terms of academic we need to learn more about an academic journal. It is book that comprises articles on different variety of topics. It is an anthology of different work collections. Unlike a research paper it consists of articles on various topics. It is often used as a reference to write a research paper. It is a periodical publication based various topics and contexts are related or co-related to each other. The information provided in a journal is not as deep as it is in a paper. As already said, a journal acts as a reference point to various individuals or organizations who are carrying out a research.

A research paper is basically a sheet of information on a specific topic. If we look at the standard definition it says, “It is a descriptive context in the form of words or text”. It provides detailed and relevant information on a specific topic to its readers. It is a study on a specific problem and it intends to provide a possible practical solution at the end of it. It is a team work of two or three individuals mostly. It can be up to 20 pages long or even more and it is an extensive study on one specific topic. Nevertheless, it should be understood that its length depends on the context of the study.

However, the key difference between a journal and a research paper is that a journal is limited to 5,000 – 10,000 words unlike a research paper. A journal can provide you with a list of national and international conferences as it is a periodical publication. It also provides you with conference alerts as it is a periodical publication like already said. Journal publication is a dream to many students and research scholars especially if it is their first ever research paper.

In conclusion, a journal is a collection of articles on a various academic related topics with limited words. Whereas a research paper is extensive and detailed study on a specific topic. If you are one of those wannabe research scholars looking to get your first journal publications then conference alerts here have a list of journals and their details waiting for you.

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the difference between journal and research paper

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IJR Journal is Multidisciplinary, high impact and indexed journal for research publication. IJR is a monthly journal for research publication.

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Difference between research paper and journal article.

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Research Article vs. Research Paper

What's the difference.

A research article and a research paper are both scholarly documents that present the findings of a research study. However, there are some differences between the two. A research article is typically a shorter document that is published in a peer-reviewed journal. It focuses on a specific research question and provides a concise summary of the study's methodology, results, and conclusions. On the other hand, a research paper is usually a longer document that provides a more comprehensive analysis of a research topic. It often includes a literature review, detailed methodology, extensive data analysis, and a discussion of the implications of the findings. While both types of documents contribute to the scientific knowledge base, research papers tend to be more in-depth and provide a more thorough exploration of the research topic.

AttributeResearch ArticleResearch Paper
DefinitionA written document that presents the findings of a research study or experiment.A comprehensive written document that includes an in-depth analysis and interpretation of research findings.
PurposeTo communicate the results of a specific research study or experiment to the scientific community.To provide a detailed analysis and interpretation of research findings, often including a literature review and methodology.
LengthTypically shorter, ranging from a few pages to around 20 pages.Usually longer, ranging from 20 to hundreds of pages.
StructureUsually follows a standard structure including sections such as abstract, introduction, methods, results, and conclusion.May have a more flexible structure depending on the field and specific requirements, but often includes sections such as abstract, introduction, literature review, methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion.
ScopeFocuses on presenting the findings of a specific research study or experiment.Explores a broader research topic or question, often including a literature review and analysis of multiple studies.
PublicationCan be published in academic journals, conference proceedings, or online platforms.Can be published in academic journals, conference proceedings, or as part of a thesis or dissertation.
Peer ReviewResearch articles often undergo a peer review process before publication to ensure quality and validity.Research papers may also undergo peer review, especially if published in academic journals.

Further Detail

Introduction.

Research articles and research papers are both essential components of academic and scientific discourse. They serve as vehicles for sharing knowledge, presenting findings, and contributing to the advancement of various fields of study. While the terms "research article" and "research paper" are often used interchangeably, there are subtle differences in their attributes and purposes. In this article, we will explore and compare the key characteristics of research articles and research papers.

Definition and Purpose

A research article is a concise and focused piece of scholarly writing that typically appears in academic journals. It presents original research, experiments, or studies conducted by the author(s) and aims to communicate the findings to the scientific community. Research articles often follow a specific structure, including an abstract, introduction, methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion.

On the other hand, a research paper is a broader term that encompasses various types of academic writing, including research articles. While research papers can also be published in journals, they can take other forms such as conference papers, dissertations, or theses. Research papers provide a more comprehensive exploration of a particular topic, often including a literature review, theoretical framework, and in-depth analysis of the research question.

Length and Depth

Research articles are typically shorter in length compared to research papers. They are usually limited to a specific word count, often ranging from 3000 to 8000 words, depending on the journal's guidelines. Due to their concise nature, research articles focus on presenting the core findings and their implications without delving extensively into background information or theoretical frameworks.

On the other hand, research papers tend to be longer and more comprehensive. They can range from 5000 to 20,000 words or more, depending on the scope of the research and the requirements of the academic institution or conference. Research papers provide a deeper analysis of the topic, including an extensive literature review, theoretical framework, and detailed methodology section.

Structure and Organization

Research articles follow a standardized structure to ensure clarity and consistency across different publications. They typically begin with an abstract, which provides a concise summary of the research question, methodology, results, and conclusions. The introduction section provides background information, states the research problem, and outlines the objectives of the study. The methodology section describes the research design, data collection methods, and statistical analysis techniques used. The results section presents the findings, often accompanied by tables, figures, or graphs. The discussion section interprets the results, compares them with previous studies, and discusses their implications. Finally, the conclusion summarizes the main findings and suggests future research directions.

Research papers, on the other hand, have a more flexible structure depending on the specific requirements of the academic institution or conference. While they may include similar sections as research articles, such as an abstract, introduction, methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion, research papers can also incorporate additional sections such as a literature review, theoretical framework, or appendices. The structure of a research paper is often determined by the depth and complexity of the research conducted.

Publication and Audience

Research articles are primarily published in academic journals, which serve as platforms for disseminating new knowledge within specific disciplines. These journals often have a rigorous peer-review process, where experts in the field evaluate the quality and validity of the research before publication. Research articles are targeted towards a specialized audience of researchers, scholars, and professionals in the respective field.

Research papers, on the other hand, can be published in various formats and venues. They can be presented at conferences, published as chapters in books, or submitted as dissertations or theses. While research papers can also undergo peer-review, they may have a broader audience, including researchers, students, and professionals interested in the topic. The publication of research papers allows for a wider dissemination of knowledge beyond the confines of academic journals.

In conclusion, research articles and research papers are both vital components of academic and scientific discourse. While research articles are concise and focused pieces of scholarly writing that present original research findings, research papers provide a more comprehensive exploration of a particular topic. Research articles follow a standardized structure and are primarily published in academic journals, targeting a specialized audience. On the other hand, research papers have a more flexible structure and can be published in various formats, allowing for a wider dissemination of knowledge. Understanding the attributes and purposes of research articles and research papers is crucial for researchers, scholars, and students alike, as it enables effective communication and contributes to the advancement of knowledge in various fields.

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Types of journal articles

It is helpful to familiarise yourself with the different types of articles published by journals. Although it may appear there are a large number of types of articles published due to the wide variety of names they are published under, most articles published are one of the following types; Original Research, Review Articles, Short reports or Letters, Case Studies, Methodologies.

Original Research:

This is the most common type of journal manuscript used to publish full reports of data from research. It may be called an  Original Article, Research Article, Research, or just  Article, depending on the journal. The Original Research format is suitable for many different fields and different types of studies. It includes full Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion sections.

Short reports or Letters:

These papers communicate brief reports of data from original research that editors believe will be interesting to many researchers, and that will likely stimulate further research in the field. As they are relatively short the format is useful for scientists with results that are time sensitive (for example, those in highly competitive or quickly-changing disciplines). This format often has strict length limits, so some experimental details may not be published until the authors write a full Original Research manuscript. These papers are also sometimes called Brief communications .

Review Articles:

Review Articles provide a comprehensive summary of research on a certain topic, and a perspective on the state of the field and where it is heading. They are often written by leaders in a particular discipline after invitation from the editors of a journal. Reviews are often widely read (for example, by researchers looking for a full introduction to a field) and highly cited. Reviews commonly cite approximately 100 primary research articles.

TIP: If you would like to write a Review but have not been invited by a journal, be sure to check the journal website as some journals to not consider unsolicited Reviews. If the website does not mention whether Reviews are commissioned it is wise to send a pre-submission enquiry letter to the journal editor to propose your Review manuscript before you spend time writing it.  

Case Studies:

These articles report specific instances of interesting phenomena. A goal of Case Studies is to make other researchers aware of the possibility that a specific phenomenon might occur. This type of study is often used in medicine to report the occurrence of previously unknown or emerging pathologies.

Methodologies or Methods

These articles present a new experimental method, test or procedure. The method described may either be completely new, or may offer a better version of an existing method. The article should describe a demonstrable advance on what is currently available.

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Journal Article vs. Research Paper — What's the Difference?

the difference between journal and research paper

Difference Between Journal Article and Research Paper

Table of contents, key differences, comparison chart, review process, length & scope, publication, compare with definitions, journal article, research paper, common curiosities, what's the main difference between a journal article and a research paper, are journal articles always peer-reviewed, who reads journal articles, can a research paper become a journal article, who typically writes journal articles, why are citations important in both journal articles and research papers, do journal articles have a word limit, are all journal articles based on experimental research, where can i find journal articles, is a thesis the same as a research paper, can i use a journal article as a reference for my research paper, do all research papers get published, why is it essential for a journal article to be peer-reviewed, do all academic journals charge to publish journal articles, how long can a research paper be, share your discovery.

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  • Types of sources

Distinguishing between different types of journal articles

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When writing a paper or conducting academic research, you’ll come across many different types of sources, including periodical articles. Periodical articles can be comprised of news accounts, opinion, commentary, scholarly analysis, and/or reports of research findings. There are three main types of periodicals that you will encounter: scholarly/academic, trade, and popular.  The chart below will help you identify which type of periodical your article comes from.

Professionals; scholars; students; specialists in the subject area

Practitioners in a particular trade, profession, or industry

General public without any technical expertise

General public without any technical expertise

Includes the vocabulary of a specific discipline

Specialized vocabulary of a trade or profession

Easy to read, popular language

Easy to read, journalistic language

In-depth analysis; reports of original research; discussions of new developments in a discipline

News, trends, and issues in a profession or industry; product information

Current events; feature stories, reviews, or editorials; opinion pieces; entertainment and/or sports news

Current events; feature stories, reviews, or editorials; opinion pieces; some entertainment and/or sports news

Scholars or researchers in a specific discipline (look for authors’ degree and institutional affiliation)

Staff writers; professionals in the field or industry

Staff or freelance writers (the authors aren’t always named)

Journalists (sometimes published in one news source and then picked up and republished in another source

Articles contain footnotes or endnotes; works cited or bibliographies are included

Includes some references or footnotes

Contain few, if any, references or footnotes

Contain few, if any, references or footnotes

Mostly text with some charts and graphs; few advertisements; usually printed on non-glossy paper

Contains advertisements relating to the trade; articles with photos and other visual items

Highly visual; many advertisements; usually printed on glossy paper

Plain black and white text; many advertisements; sometimes printed on glossy paper

Text and chart adapted from the WSU University Libraries' How to Distinguish Between Types of Periodicals  and Types of Periodicals guides

What makes information peer-reviewed vs. scholarly vs. non-scholarly? Which type of source should I use?

  • What makes information peer-reviewed vs. scholarly vs. non-scholarly?
  • Which type of source should I use?

Image of man thinking

There is a nuanced distinction between peer-review and scholarship, which typically doesn't matter when evaluating sources for possible citation in your own work.  Peer-review is a process through which editors of a journal have other experts in the field evaluate articles submitted to the journal for possible publication.  Different journals have different ways of defining an expert in the field.  Scholarly works, by contrast have an editorial process, but this process does not involve expert peer-reviewers.  Rather, one or more editors, who are themselves often highly decorated scholars in a field, evaluate submissions for possible publication.  This editorial process can be more economically driven than a peer-review process, with a greater emphasis on marketing and selling the published material, but as a general rule this distinction is trivial with regard to evaluating information for possible citation in your own work.

What is perhaps a more salient way of thinking about the peer-review / scholarship distinction is to recognize that while peer-reviewed information is typically highly authoritative, and is generally considered "good" information, the absence of a peer-review process doesn't automatically make information "bad."  More specifically, the only thing the absence of a peer-review process means is that information published in this manner is not peer-reviewed.  Nothing more.  Information that falls into this category is sometimes referred to as "non-scholarly" information -- but again, that doesn't mean this information is somehow necessarily problematic.

Where does that leave you in terms of deciding what type of information to use in producing your own work?  That is a highly individual decision that you must make.  The Which type of source should I use?  tab in this box offers further guidance on answering this question, though it is important to be aware that many WSU instructors will only consider peer-reviewed sources to be acceptable in the coursework you turn in .  You can ask your instructor for his or her thoughts on the types of sources s/he will accept in student work.

Image:  Martin Grater. (2017, Nov. 1). Deep Thought. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/152721954@N05/24304490568/. Used under the Creative Commons License.

Image of man thinking

Your topic and research question or thesis statement will guide you on which resources are best.  Sources can be defined as primary, secondary and tertiary levels away from an event or original idea. Researchers may want to start with tertiary or secondary source for background information. Learning more about a topic will help most researchers make better use of primary sources.

While articles from scholarly journals are often the most prominent of the sources you will consider incorporating into your coursework, they are not the only sources available to you.  Which sources are most appropriate to your research is a direct consequence of they type of research question you decide to address.  In other words, while most university-level papers will require you to reference scholarly sources, not all will.  A student in an English course writing a paper analyzing Bob Dylan's lyrics, for example, may find an interview with Dylan published in Rolling Stone magazine a useful source to cite alongside other scholarly works of literary criticism.

The WSU University Libraries' What Sources Should I Use? handout, as well as the other sub-tabs under the  Evaluating information  section of this guide (which is indeed the section you are currently viewing) offer further guidance on understanding and identifying scholarly resources, and comparing them against different criteria to evaluate if they will be of value to your research.  How many non-scholarly works (if any) you are at liberty to cite alongside scholarly ones is often a question to ask of your professor.  Some may not want you to cite any, whereas others may be ok with some non-scholarly works cited alongside scholarly ones.

Image:  Brett Woods. (2006, Jan. 6). Deep Thoughts. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/brettanicus/87653641/. Used under the Creative Commons License.

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Scholarly Journals and Popular Magazines: Differences in Research, Review, and Opinion Articles

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Research Articles, Reviews, and Opinion Pieces

Scholarly or research articles are written for experts in their fields. They are often peer-reviewed or reviewed by other experts in the field prior to publication. They often have terminology or jargon that is field specific. They are generally lengthy articles. Social science and science scholarly articles have similar structures as do arts and humanities scholarly articles. Not all items in a scholarly journal are peer reviewed. For example, an editorial opinion items can be published in a scholarly journal but the article itself is not scholarly. Scholarly journals may include book reviews or other content that have not been peer reviewed.

Empirical Study: (Original or Primary) based on observation, experimentation, or study. Clinical trials, clinical case studies, and most meta-analyses are empirical studies.

Review Article: (Secondary Sources) Article that summarizes the research in a particular subject, area, or topic. They often include a summary, an literature reviews, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses.

Clinical case study (Primary or Original sources): These articles provide real cases from medical or clinical practice. They often include symptoms and diagnosis.

Clinical trials ( Health Research): Th ese articles are often based on large groups of people. They often include methods and control studies. They tend to be lengthy articles.

Opinion Piece:  An opinion piece often includes personal thoughts, beliefs, or feelings or a judgement or conclusion based on facts. The goal may be to persuade or influence the reader that their position on this topic is the best.

Book review: Recent review of books in the field. They may be several pages but tend to be fairly short. 

Social Science and Science Research Articles

The majority of social science and physical science articles include

  • Journal Title and Author
  • Abstract 
  • Introduction with a hypothesis or thesis
  • Literature Review
  • Methods/Methodology
  • Results/Findings

Arts and Humanities Research Articles

In the Arts and Humanities, scholarly articles tend to be less formatted than in the social sciences and sciences. In the humanities, scholars are not conducting the same kinds of research experiments, but they are still using evidence to draw logical conclusions.  Common sections of these articles include:

  • an Introduction
  • Discussion/Conclusion
  • works cited/References/Bibliography

Research versus Review Articles

  • 6 Article types that journals publish: A guide for early career researchers
  • INFOGRAPHIC: 5 Differences between a research paper and a review paper
  • Michigan State University. Empirical vs Review Articles
  • UC Merced Library. Empirical & Review Articles
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Different types of research articles

A guide for early career researchers.

In scholarly literature, there are many different kinds of articles published every year. Original research articles are often the first thing you think of when you hear the words ‘journal article’. In reality, research work often results in a whole mixture of different outputs and it’s not just the final research article that can be published.

Finding a home to publish supporting work in different formats can help you start publishing sooner, allowing you to build your publication record and research profile.

But before you do, it’s very important that you check the  instructions for authors  and the  aims and scope  of the journal(s) you’d like to submit to. These will tell you whether they accept the type of article you’re thinking of writing and what requirements they have around it.

Understanding the different kind of articles

There’s a huge variety of different types of articles – some unique to individual journals – so it’s important to explore your options carefully. While it would be impossible to cover every single article type here, below you’ll find a guide to the most common research articles and outputs you could consider submitting for publication.

Book review

Many academic journals publish book reviews, which aim to provide insight and opinion on recently published scholarly books. Writing book reviews is often a good way to begin academic writing. It can help you get your name known in your field and give you valuable experience of publishing before you write a full-length article.

If you’re keen to write a book review, a good place to start is looking for journals that publish or advertise the books they have available for review. Then it’s just a matter of putting yourself forward for one of them.

You can check whether a journal publishes book reviews by browsing previous issues or by seeing if a book review editor is listed on the editorial board. In addition, some journals publish other types of reviews, such as film, product, or exhibition reviews, so it’s worth bearing those in mind as options as well.

Get familiar with instructions for authors

Be prepared, speed up your submission, and make sure nothing is forgotten by understanding a journal’s individual requirements.

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the difference between journal and research paper

Case report

A medical case report – also sometimes called a clinical case study – is an original short report that provides details of a single patient case.

Case reports include detailed information on the symptoms, signs, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of an individual patient. They remain one of the cornerstones of medical progress and provide many new ideas in medicine.

Depending on the journal, a case report doesn’t necessarily need to describe an especially novel or unusual case as there is benefit from collecting details of many standard cases.

Take a look at  F1000Research’s guidance on case reports , to understand more about what’s required in them. And don’t forget that for all studies involving human participants, informed written consent to take part in the research must be obtained from the participants –  find out more about consent to publish.

Clinical study

In medicine, a clinical study report is a type of article that provides in-depth detail on the methods and results of a clinical trial. They’re typically similar in length and format to original research articles.

Most journals now require that you register protocols for clinical trials you’re involved with in a publicly accessible registry. A list of eligible registries can be found on the  WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) . Trials can also be registered at  clinicaltrials.gov  or the  EU Clinical Trials Register . Once registered, your trial will be assigned a clinical trial number (CTN).

Before you submit a clinical study, you’ll need to include clinical trial numbers and registration dates in the manuscript, usually in the abstract and methods sections.

Commentaries and letters to editors

Letters to editors, as well as ‘replies’ and ‘discussions’, are usually brief comments on topical issues of public and political interest (related to the research field of the journal), anecdotal material, or readers’ reactions to material published in the journal.

Commentaries are similar, though they may be slightly more in-depth, responding to articles recently published in the journal. There may be a ‘target article’ which various commentators are invited to respond to.

You’ll need to look through previous issues of any journal you’re interested in writing for and review the instructions for authors to see which types of these articles (if any) they accept.

the difference between journal and research paper

Conference materials

Many of our medical journals  accept conference material supplements. These are open access peer-reviewed, permanent, and citable publications within the journal. Conference material supplements record research around a common thread, as presented at a workshop, congress, or conference, for the scientific record. They can include the following types of articles:

Poster extracts

Conference abstracts

Presentation extracts

Find out more about submitting conference materials.

Data notes  are a short peer-reviewed article type that concisely describe research data stored in a repository. Publishing a data note can help you to maximize the impact of your data and gain appropriate credit for your research.

the difference between journal and research paper

Data notes promote the potential reuse of research data and include details of why and how the data were created. They do not include any analysis but they can be linked to a research article incorporating analysis of the published dataset, as well as the results and conclusions.

F1000Research  enables you to publish your data note rapidly and openly via an author-centric platform. There is also a growing range of options for publishing data notes in Taylor & Francis journals, including in  All Life  and  Big Earth Data .

Read our guide to data notes to find out more.

Letters or short reports

Letters or short reports (sometimes known as brief communications or rapid communications) are brief reports of data from original research.

Editors publish these reports where they believe the data will be interesting to many researchers and could stimulate further research in the field. There are even entire journals dedicated to publishing letters.

As they’re relatively short, the format is useful for researchers with results that are time sensitive (for example, those in highly competitive or quickly-changing disciplines). This format often has strict length limits, so some experimental details may not be published until the authors write a full original research article.

Brief reports  (previously called Research Notes) are a type of short report published by  F1000Research  – part of the Taylor & Francis Group. To find out more about the requirements for a brief report, take a look at  F1000Research’s guidance .

Vector illustration of a large open laptop, with four puzzle pieces that are blue and pink on the screen, and three characters stood around the laptop pointing at the puzzle pieces.

Method article

A method article is a medium length peer-reviewed, research-focused article type that aims to answer a specific question. It also describes an advancement or development of current methodological approaches and research procedures (akin to a research article), following the standard layout for research articles. This includes new study methods, substantive modifications to existing methods, or innovative applications of existing methods to new models or scientific questions. These should include adequate and appropriate validation to be considered, and any datasets associated with the paper must publish all experimental controls and make full datasets available.  

Posters and slides

With F1000Research, you can publish scholarly posters and slides covering basic scientific, translational, and clinical research within the life sciences and medicine. You can find out more about how to publish posters and slides  on the F1000Research website .

Registered report

A  Registered Report  consists of two different kinds of articles: a study protocol and an original research article.

This is because the review process for Registered Reports is divided into two stages. In Stage 1, reviewers assess study protocols before data is collected. In Stage 2, reviewers consider the full published study as an original research article, including results and interpretation.

Taking this approach, you can get an in-principle acceptance of your research article before you start collecting data. We’ve got  further guidance on Registered Reports here , and you can also  read F1000Research’s guidance on preparing a Registered Report .

Research article

Original research articles are the most common type of journal article. They’re detailed studies reporting new work and are classified as primary literature.

You may find them referred to as original articles, research articles, research, or even just articles, depending on the journal.

Typically, especially in STEM subjects, these articles will include Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusion sections. However, you should always check the instructions for authors of your chosen journal to see whether it specifies how your article should be structured. If you’re planning to write an original research article, take a look at our guidance on  writing a journal article .

the difference between journal and research paper

Review article

Review articles provide critical and constructive analysis of existing published literature in a field. They’re usually structured to provide a summary of existing literature, analysis, and comparison. Often, they identify specific gaps or problems and provide recommendations for future research.

Unlike original research articles, review articles are considered as secondary literature. This means that they generally don’t present new data from the author’s experimental work, but instead provide analysis or interpretation of a body of primary research on a specific topic. Secondary literature is an important part of the academic ecosystem because it can help explain new or different positions and ideas about primary research, identify gaps in research around a topic, or spot important trends that one individual research article may not.

There are 3 main types of review article

Literature review

Presents the current knowledge including substantive findings as well as theoretical and methodological contributions to a particular topic.

Systematic review

Identifies, appraises and synthesizes all the empirical evidence that meets pre-specified eligibility criteria to answer a specific research question. Researchers conducting systematic reviews use explicit, systematic methods that are selected with a view aimed at minimizing bias, to produce more reliable findings to inform decision making.

Meta-analysis

A quantitative, formal, epidemiological study design used to systematically assess the results of previous research to derive conclusions about that body of research. Typically, but not necessarily, a meta-analysis study is based on randomized, controlled clinical trials.

Take a look at our guide to  writing a review article  for more guidance on what’s required.

Software tool articles

A  software tool article  – published by  F1000Research  – describes the rationale for the development of a new software tool and details of the code used for its construction.

The article should provide examples of suitable input data sets and include an example of the output that can be expected from the tool and how this output should be interpreted. Software tool articles submitted to F1000Research should be written in open access programming languages. Take a look at  their guidance  for more details on what’s required of a software tool article.

Submit to F1000Research

Further resources

Ready to write your article, but not sure where to start?

For more guidance on how to prepare and write an article for a journal you can download the  Writing your paper eBook .

the difference between journal and research paper

Journal vs conference papers: Key differences & advice

Journal and conference papers are not the same, and both formats have advantages and disadvantages. A good understanding of the key differences between journal and conference papers avoid s pitfalls, such as copyright issues when wanting to turn a conference into a journal paper at a later stage.

What is a journal paper?

A journal paper is a written piece of academic work – presenting empirical research, a theoretical discussion, or both – published in an academic journal. Most journal papers or articles are peer-reviewed , meaning they undergo a rigorous review process involving several stages and rounds of revisions before they are published.

Therefore, authors of journal papers tend to target journals with a high impact factor to publish their work. There are other criteria that play a role when selecting a journal to publish research . However, the impact factor remains a crucial one, as publications in high-impact factor journals strongly influence academic promotions.

What is a conference paper?

Conference papers are usually submitted several weeks before the actual conference, and circulated among conference participants in preparation for the actual presentations. However, not all conferences require conference papers. And some conferences make the submission of a conference paper optional.

Advantages and disadvantages of journal and conference papers

The choice between a journal or a conference paper should be a careful one. Both formats fulfill important but different roles in academia. Therefore, a good understanding of the benefits and drawbacks of both formats can help to make an informed decision.

Advantages of journal papers

Disadvantages of journal papers, advantages of conference papers, disadvantages of conference papers, differences between journal and conference papers, questions to ask yourself before submitting a conference paper.

Even though journal papers are more important for academic promotions, submitting a conference paper is not per se the wrong choice. A ‘best conference paper’ award, for instance, can make you stand out when applying for academic jobs.

When embarking on writing a conference paper, it is better to be safe than sorry: At times, it may require reaching out to conference organisers or target journals to make sure that you will not run into copyright or plagiarism issues at a later point.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is conference paper better than journal paper.

In academia, journal papers are considered ‘better’ than conference papers because they have a stronger positive impact on academic careers. Reasons for this are the more rigorous peer-review process that journal papers tend to undergo before publication, the higher standards of journals compared to conference proceedings, and the impact factor of journals.

Can you use a conference paper in a journal?

Are all conference papers automatically published in conference proceedings, do conference papers count as publications.

Conference papers often do not count as academic publications. Therefore, on academic CVs, conference papers tend to be listed under ‘Conferences’ instead of ‘Publications’. Alternatively, they are listed as a separate sub-category under ‘Publications’, but in a way that they are clearly differentiated from other (peer-reviewed) publications.

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Difference between Paper and Article for scientific writings

As I know, in most of situations (in scientific context) these two terms are used to point to same thing and even they are used interchangeably.

For example,

Theory of value with public goods: A survey article
A survey paper on cloud computing

Are there any major differences between them? and can we use them interchangeably in any context?

  • differences

Mari-Lou A's user avatar

  • 1 See also: article vs paper –  Martin Thoma Commented Nov 24, 2019 at 11:46

3 Answers 3

The following extract helps understand the difference between a research article and a research paper :

Research paper and research articles are pieces of writing that require critical analysis, inquiry, insight, and demonstration of some special skills from students and scientists. It is really overwhelming for students when their teachers ask them to write a research paper as a form of assignment. Students remain confused between a research paper and a research article because of their similarities. This article attempts to find out if the two terms are synonymous or there is any difference between the two.

Research Article

What do you do when you are a scientist or a scholar and have arrived at a solution to a problem or have made a discovery that you want to share with the world? Well, one of the best ways to let the world know about your piece of wisdom or knowledge is through a research article. This is a piece of writing that contains an original research idea with the relevant data and findings Research article is published in renowned scientific journals that are involved with works in the area to which the paper pertains. A research article is a paper or writing that informs people of a path breaking research or a finding with clinical data to support the finding.

Research Paper

Research is an activity that is given much importance in academics, and this is why assignments requiring research and technical writing start early in the school. Students are asked to submit a research paper as early as in High School, and they become used to the concept when they are pursuing higher studies in colleges. However, a research paper is not just these assignment papers written by students as those written by scholars and scientists and published in journals are also referred to as research papers.
  • What is the difference between Research Article and Research Paper?
• There is no difference as such between a research article and a research paper and both involve original research with findings. • There is a trend to refer to term papers and academic papers written by students in colleges as research papers whereas articles submitted by scholars and scientists with their groundbreaking research are termed as research articles. • Research articles are published in renowned scientific journals whereas papers written by students do not go to journals.

(www.differencebetween.com)

There is no definitive distinction between papers and articles that can be applied to all scientific disciplines. Usage varies between disciplines. and within disciplines it can vary depending on context.

Both the examples quoted refer to ‘writings’ that are surveys (in other areas often termed reviews) — one in the field of a social science (economics) and the other in a numerical science (computing). However the term science is also (and perhaps more) associated with the experimental sciences (physics, chemistry and biology), where the types of ‘writings’ are different and where different words are used to distinguish them.

Articles and papers in the Experimental Sciences

Let me illustrate this for the Biomolecular Sciences (biochemistry, molecular biology, molecular genetics and the like). As a practitioner in this area, when I hear these terms, e.g. talking to colleagues, I understand:

Paper : A report of a piece of experimental research work in which the original data presented by the authors was central to interpretation and conclusions regarding advancement of knowledge and understanding of the field. Article : A review or commentary in which the author was discussing the previously published work of others (perhaps including his own) in attempting to provide a perspective of the field or to present a new theory/model/interpretation by integrating such work.

However, despite this professional conversational use of the terms, if I go to any specific journal — here the US heavyweight, Journal of Biological Chemistry (JBC) — I would find a somewhat different usage:

JBC publishes several types of articles but only two of those can be submitted as an unsolicited manuscript: regular papers and accelerated communications.

Thus, JBC regards all the ‘writings’ it publishes as ‘articles’, in common with other journals such as The Journal of Biophysics , and this is consistent with general non-scientific usage — “I read an article in the Financial Times yesterday…”

The way JBC uses ‘regular paper’, is consistent with my specialist conversational definition (above), and although it doesn’t actually say what types of ‘article’ are unsolicited, but if you look at a table of contents of the journal , you would conclude that for this journal it is ‘minireviews’ and historical appraisals of the work of individual scientists.

The Journal of Biophysics only uses the term ‘paper’ in describing only one of its categories of ‘article’:

Comments to the Editor | Short commentaries on a paper published earlier in BJ.

Again using ‘paper’ rather in the sense I defined above.

To conclude, in the extended sense used by peer-reviewed journals in the experimental sciences, all published ‘papers’ can be referred to as articles, but not all articles would be referred to as ‘papers’. (One wouldn’t use ‘paper’ for an editorial, a news item and generally not for a review.) This is exactly the opposite conclusion reached by @1006a from his reading of the OED.

Conflict with the OED and non-experimental sciences

How can one resolve the conflict with the OED, mentioned above? I think the OED describes more traditional usage in the non-experimental sciences and the arts. It is pertinent, in this respect, to consider the phrase “reading a paper” .

As far as my area of science goes, this is just a rather outdated term for presenting one’s results orally at a conference. The talk in itself is transitory, the abstract unreviewed, and the information conveyed will most probably be published elsewhere.

However for colleagues in computing science the talk is likely to be based on a ‘paper’ that has been submitted to the conference organisers, selected after peer-review, and will be published as conference proceedings or in a journal associated with the conference. This is more in line with traditional non-scientific academic presentations, although in this case the ‘paper’ might never have been published.

The difference would seem to derive in part from whether the field of science is one in which original work is in the form of ideas or in the form of measurements and their interpretation.

The distinction I would make is that an article is formally published, generally in some kind of periodical. The relevant definition, from Oxford Dictionaries:

A piece of writing included with others in a newspaper, magazine, or other publication.

Scholarly/scientific/research articles are thus "pieces of writing included with others in" an appropriate publication, most often an academic journal (see Wikipedia).

A paper , on the other hand, may or may not be published anywhere; and if it is published, may be in some alternate venue like conference proceedings (though it can be published in a scholarly journal). Again from Oxford:

An essay or dissertation, especially one read at an academic lecture or seminar or published in an academic journal.

So you can generally call any scientific (research) article a paper, but not all papers are articles.

Edited to clarify the last sentence, to which I also added the parenthetical (research):

Of course, not all articles are scientific (or research ) articles; that distinction generally means that the article presents original research, and as I am using it, that it has met certain standards of whichever field it represents (usually some form of peer review) so that it can be published in a scientific/scholarly journal. A scientific (research) paper meets the first of these criteria, but not necessarily the second (it presents original research, but may or may not be published). There are other kinds of articles/papers, which would ordinarily get a different modifier, like review or meta-review (or newspaper/magazine etc. for articles), or might commonly go by other terms altogether, like essay .

By this definition, not all articles are papers, and not all papers are articles, but all scientific (research) articles are also scientific (research) papers.

1006a's user avatar

  • Just to mention that in my consideration of experimental sciences I present the opposite conclusion from that you draw from the OED. Please don't think I am saying you are wrong, but as I explain, that your assertions only hold for certain areas of science. –  David Commented Jul 15, 2017 at 22:27
  • @David The key distinction I make is that articles are published . That would, indeed, include things like (literature) review articles, commentary, and possibly book reviews. It does not exclude original research in any field of which I am aware (which includes "experimental science"). It is certainly possible that certain disciplines or specific journals have non-standard usages, but I don't believe it breaks down along "experimental" and "non-experimental" lines. –  1006a Commented Jul 16, 2017 at 16:38
  • I agree about there being a difference in relation to publication. The whole background of "reading a paper" implies it can exist without being published, and even in the experimental sciences one might say "I wrote a paper about 'whatever' and sent it to such-and-such a Journal, but they rejected it because the referees were too stupid to understand it". You might feasibly say that about an article (I once had a solicited mini-review rejected because it was thought to be in bad taste) but it would be unusual. But a very popular program for storing PDFs of publications is called... "Papers". –  David Commented Jul 16, 2017 at 16:53

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the difference between journal and research paper

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Expert Commentary

White papers, working papers, preprints, journal articles: What’s the difference?

In this updated piece, we explain the most common types of research papers journalists will encounter, noting their strengths and weaknesses.

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by Denise-Marie Ordway, The Journalist's Resource February 25, 2022

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This tip sheet, originally published in May 2018, has been updated to include preprint research, a type of research featured often in news coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.

Journalists rely most often on four types of research in their work. White papers, working papers, preprints and peer-reviewed journal articles.

How are they different? And which is best?

Below, we explain each, pointing out its strengths and weaknesses. As always, we urge journalists to use care in selecting any research to ground their coverage and fact-check claims.

Peer-reviewed article

Peer-reviewed research — the kind that appears in academic journals and that we highlight here at The Journalist’s Resource — has undergone a detailed critique by scholars with expertise in the field. While peer-reviewed research is generally the most reliable, journalists should keep in mind that publication in a prestigious journal is no guarantee of quality and that no single university or research organization always does the best research on a given topic.

It is safe to assume, however, that articles published in top-tier journals have been reviewed and given a stamp of approval by a number of accomplished scholars. For journalists who are uncertain, we’ve put together a list of 13 questions  to ask to gauge the quality of a research article.

Keep in mind that not everything that appears in a scholarly journal has been peer reviewed. Journals publish various types of content, including book reviews, editorials, letters to the editor and, sometimes, even poetry.

Working paper

This broad category describes research papers that have not been peer reviewed or published in a journal. Working papers can be in various stages of completion. One might be ready for publication in a prestigious journal while another requires significant editing and other changes that could actually alter its main findings. Sometimes, working paper findings are so preliminary, authors will advise against citing their work .

Even so, working papers are a great way for journalists to gain access to new research quickly. The peer-review and publication process can take months to a year or longer, which means that by the time studies get published, their findings are sometimes not as useful or the data are old.

In choosing working papers, journalists should communicate with scholars about the progress of their research and how confident they are in their findings. It’s a good idea to seek corroboration from peer-reviewed research and to ask other researchers for help assessing a study.

A preprint is similar to a working paper in that it has not been vetted through a formal peer-review process. However, preprints tend to be more complete . Also, preprints submitted to public servers such as the Social Science Research Network and the health sciences server medRxiv get a cursory screening before they’re published online for public view.

Preprints, like academic journal articles, are assigned a Digital Object Identifier , or DOI, and become a permanent part of the scientific record.

White paper

A white paper is a report, often compiled by government agencies, businesses and nonprofit organizations, that outlines an issue and often explores possible solutions to a problem. For example, in November 2021, the federal Office of Community Oriented Policing Services released a white paper looking at factors that help or hinder law enforcement recruitment of Black Americans. Earlier in the year, the Advanced Technology Academic Research Center published a white paper on the American Rescue Plan ‘s widespread implications for government agencies.

In the business world, white papers also are used for marketing purposes — to describe a new product or approach, for instance, or diagnose a problem.

While a white paper can help journalists get up to speed quickly on an issue, it’s important to note some white papers advocate a specific position or policy change. Some rely on incomplete research or research that has not been peer reviewed.

Looking for more guidance on writing about research? Check out our tip sheets on covering biomedical research preprints amid the coronavirus and what journalists should know about peer review .

The Journalist’s Resource would like to thank Matthew Baum , the Marvin Kalb professor of global communications and professor of public policy at Harvard Kennedy School, for his help preparing this tip sheet.

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How to find and identity empirical articles

  • Identifying Empirical Articles

Identifying scholarly, peer reviewed journals

What is a scholarly journal.

Your instructor has asked you to find an article in a scholarly (or professional or refereed or peer-reviewed) journal. Scholarly journals differ from popular magazines and trade journals/magazines in a number of ways. (See "Comparison Chart" below.) A primary difference between scholarly journals and other types of journals and magazines is that articles in these journals undergo a "peer review" process before they are published. What does this mean?

  • Peer review is the process by which an author's peers, recognized researchers in the field, read and evaluate a paper (article) submitted for publication and recommend whether the paper should be published, revised, or rejected.
  • Peer review is a widely accepted indicator of quality scholarship in a discipline or field. Articles accepted for publication through a peer review process meet the discipline's expected standards of expertise.
  • Peer-reviewed (or refereed) journals are scholarly journals that only publish articles that have passed through this review process.

The following characteristics can help you distinguish between these and two other types of periodicals: popular magazines and trade publications. If in doubt, ask your teacher or a librarian for assistance.

Comparing Characteristics of Journals/Magazines

CRITERIA

SCHOLARLY JOURNALS POPULAR MAGAZINES TRADE PUBLICATIONS
AUTHOR Expert (scholar, professor, researcher, etc.) in field covered. Author is always named. Journalist; nonprofessional or layperson. Sometimes author is not named. Business or industry representative. Sometimes author is not named.
NOTES Usually includes notes and/or bibliographic references. Few or no notes or bibliographic references. Few or no notes or bibliographic references.
CONTENTS News and research (methodology, theory) from the field. Current events; general interest. Business or industry information (trends, products, techniques).
STYLE Written for experts using technical language. Journalistic; written for nonprofessional or layperson. Written for people in the business or industry using technical language.
AUDIENCE Scholars or researchers in the field. General public. People in the business or industry.
REVIEW Usually reviewed by peer scholars (referees) not employed by the journal. Reviewed by one or more editors employed by the magazine. Reviewed by one or more editors employed by the magazine.
APPEARANCE Plain; mostly print, sometimes with black and white figures, tables, graphs and/or charts. Glossy, with many pictures in color. Glossy, with many pictures in color.
ADS Few or none; if any, usually for books or other professional materials. Many, often in color. Some, often in color.
FREQUENCY Usually monthly or quarterly. Usually weekly or monthly. Usually weekly or monthly.
EXAMPLES (published by the American Psychological Association). (commercially published).

(published by the American Psychological Association

Finding articles in scholarly/peer-reviewed journals

Many of the Library's article databases allow you to limit the search results to peer-reviewed or scholarly articles by:

  • do an Articles (Quick Search) in the search bar at the top of this page. Look for articles tagged as peer-reviewed.
  • checking the box "Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals" under limit or refine search.
  • clicking on the tab "Scholarly Journals" or "Academic Journals" while viewing results of a search.

Keep in mind , even though a particular journal is peer reviewed, an individual item in that journal may not be. Some article types, e.g. news items, comments, editorials, may not have gone through the peer review process. Scholarly articles are generally several pages long.

From SDSU Libraries http://library.sdsu.edu/research-services/research-help/peer-reviewed-articles

What Are Empirical Articles?

As a student at the University of La Verne, faculty may instruct you to read and analyze empirical articles when writing a research paper, a senior or master's project, or a doctoral dissertation. How can you recognize an empirical article in an academic discipline? An empirical research article is an article which reports research based on actual observations or experiments. The research may use quantitative research methods, which generate numerical data and seek to establish causal relationships between two or more variables.(1) Empirical research articles may use qualitative research methods, which objectively and critically analyze behaviors, beliefs, feelings, or values with few or no numerical data available for analysis.(2)

How can I determine if I have found an empirical article?

When looking at an article or the abstract of an article, here are some guidelines to use to decide if an article is an empirical article.

  • Is the article published in an academic, scholarly, or professional journal? Popular magazines such as Business Week or Newsweek do not publish empirical research articles; academic journals such as Business Communication Quarterly or Journal of Psychology may publish empirical articles. Some professional journals, such as JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association publish empirical research. Other professional journals, such as Coach & Athletic Director publish articles of professional interest, but they do not publish research articles.
  • Does the abstract of the article mention a study, an observation, an analysis or a number of participants or subjects? Was data collected, a survey or questionnaire administered, an assessment or measurement used, an interview conducted? All of these terms indicate possible methodologies used in empirical research.
  • Introduction -The introduction provides a very brief summary of the research.
  • Methodology -The method section describes how the research was conducted, including who the participants were, the design of the study, what the participants did, and what measures were used.
  • Results -The results section describes the outcomes of the measures of the study.
  • Discussion -The discussion section contains the interpretations and implications of the study.
  • Conclusion -
  • References -A reference section contains information about the articles and books cited in the report and should be substantial.
  • How long is the article? An empirical article is usually substantial; it is normally seven or more pages long.

When in doubt if an article is an empirical research article, share the article citation and abstract with your professor or a librarian so that we can help you become better at recognizing the differences between empirical research and other types of scholarly articles.

How can I search for empirical research articles using the electronic databases available through Wilson Library?

  • A quick and somewhat superficial way to look for empirical research is to type your search terms into the database's search boxes, then type STUDY OR STUDIES in the final search box to look for studies on your topic area. Be certain to use the ability to limit your search to scholarly/professional journals if that is available on the database. Evaluate the results of your search using the guidelines above to determine if any of the articles are empirical research articles.
  • In EbscoHost databases, such as Education Source , on the Advanced Search page you should see a PUBLICATION TYPE field; highlight the appropriate entry. Empirical research may not be the term used; look for a term that may be a synonym for empirical research. ERIC uses REPORTS-RESEARCH. Also find the field for INTENDED AUDIENCE and highlight RESEARCHER. PsycArticles and Psycinfo include a field for METHODOLOGY where you can highlight EMPIRICAL STUDY. National Criminal Justice Reference Service Abstracts has a field for DOCUMENT TYPE; highlight STUDIES/RESEARCH REPORTS. Then evaluate the articles you find using the guidelines above to determine if an article is empirical.
  • In ProQuest databases, such as ProQuest Psychology Journals , on the Advanced Search page look under MORE SEARCH OPTIONS and click on the pull down menu for DOCUMENT TYPE and highlight an appropriate type, such as REPORT or EVIDENCE BASED. Also look for the SOURCE TYPE field and highlight SCHOLARLY JOURNALS. Evaluate the search results using the guidelines to determine if an article is empirical.
  • Pub Med Central , Sage Premier , Science Direct , Wiley Interscience , and Wiley Interscience Humanities and Social Sciences consist of scholarly and professional journals which publish primarily empirical articles. After conducting a subject search in these databases, evaluate the items you find by using the guidelines above for deciding if an article is empirical.
  • "Quantitative research" A Dictionary of Nursing. Oxford University Press, 2008. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. University of La Verne. 25 August 2009
  • "Qualitative analysis" A Dictionary of Public Health. Ed. John M. Last, Oxford University Press, 2007. Oxford Reference Online . Oxford University Press. University of La Verne. 25 August 2009
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Peer-Reviewed Journals

When it comes to scholarly journals, the terms peer-reviewed and refereed are interchangeable. Before publication, peer-reviewed/refereed journals go through a highly critical and rigorous review process by other scholars in the author's field or specialty. This review process ensures that the content being published is first being evaluated by the author's peers and also, reflect a solid scholarship in the their fields of study.

Scholarly Journals

Although peer-reviewed journals are always scholarly in nature, scholarly journals are not always peer-reviewed.  

Scholarly journals are research focused, reporting results of original research and experimentation. They are heavily cited in the form of either footnotes or bibliographies, and written by, and addressed to, experts in a discipline. However, whereas peer-reviewed journals require a strict "peer-approval" for publishing, a scholarly journal that is not peer-reviewed only requires the approval of an editorial board.

The quickest and easiest way to identify if a journal is peer-reviewed is to look it up in Ulrichsweb, a database that provides bibliographic and publisher information on all types of serials (journals, magazines, newspapers, etc.).

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Provides bibliographic and publisher information on more than 300,000 periodicals of all types: academic and scholarly journals, Open Access publications, refereed (i.e. peer-reviewed) titles, popular magazines, newspapers, newsletters, and more, from around the world.

the difference between journal and research paper

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Difference Between Research Paper and Journal Paper

Whether you have been attending a university or college or planning to pursue the career in the trading such as medicine, there remains always a chance that you may hear a lot about the “journal papers” and “research papers”.

Difference Between Research Paper and Journal Paper

For having the complete knowledge regarding these two, it is important to know the basics of each of them and the difference amid them. So, lets dig deeper and get a glimpse of each form and its use.

Research Paper

The professor history named, Dr. Jane once said that “the design and work are created by your mind, however your mind can’t do it without depending on the wisdom and efforts of other minds”.

This is right as per Jane’s notion. The research papers are considered as a form of the writing, general utilized in academic world by the students in universities or colleges for investigating and doing research on a given topic, which they give a certain conclusion or findings.

Students are encouraged and also need some support for their findings using the facts taken from the reputable references. Typical research papers range 5 to 15 pages in length.

The work of students will get organize in a framework after compilation of all the proper info taken from the various sources. The instructors usually assign these tasks to the students for teaching them how to create balance in the writing skills, and encouraging the structural discipline as well as known formatting.

Moreover, as per the famous research guides for the students, the research papers usually gather the genuine info on the given topic and after then they gather data during the stage of investigation, a student has to sum up giving the concise and clear analysis or disposition.

The research papers use different major kinds of the citation formats like APA , Chicago, and MLA. The paper is provided with the consistent focus, clear research, and gives a deep understanding of the subject or topic while distinguishing the opinions and facts, and is reliable when it comes to findings and conclusion. Most of the times a research paper is also termed as the research project or term paper too.

For sure, most of the research papers have the thesis statements in accordance with the given topic. And, sometimes the students may need to write down any of the two kinds of the research papers given below;

Difference Between Research Paper and Journal Paper

Journal Paper

As per the definition given by the University of Simon Fraser, the journal paper is a piece of writing which is done on a particular topic. Moreover, you can see this usually written by the expert of the field. This type of writing is also known as the peer reviews.

The journal paper is the short writing on the specific topic which gets chiefly published in the periodicals and issues. It may also include the updated info and research regarding some particular topic including latest development, short paper reviewing ideas and reviews on the product or method.

With the journal paper, you can find info, for instance, regarding the recent medicine or the techniques of a certain subject, for example, “latest ways used for eradicating the medicine in 21 st century”.

Few other examples of the journal papers include the case studies, peer reviews, scholarly articles, social and scientific science articles. Journal paper are published in the publications after the extensive research done in the corresponding field. The Publication Manual can call journal papers as a way of categorizing the primary literature as well as review articles.

The Differences

Now, an important thing to know here is what is the difference between the two kinds of writing?

  • The major difference amid research paper and journal paper is that you can call journal paper as an article which comprises of few particular criteria. While a research paper is like a sheet of information regarding particular topic.
  • Meaning of the term ‘journal’ means the book in which you can write about the personal thoughts and experiences.

It is an article kind of content which comprises of the particular format where the thoughts are put in form of the words. It works like an experience booklet which gets updated on the regular basis. Journal papers are educational book logs. They can have a pre-defined kind of content which is needed to be monitored accordingly. They are mostly used for the referring purposes.

A journal paper comprises of the desired concentration of the info that can be utilized for the reference. They are also called as the reference books. After going through some particular contents, a content is done in the general form and give the shape of a journal. Journal papers are the particular records which are kept in form of booklets. They are like the periodicals which get published on a specific topic. They have reviews about the other researches and papers.

Talking about the research paper, it is just like a description. It consists of the detailed layout on a particular topic which is presented in form of a paper. It also possesses the related stuff and the explanation of the topic.

  • Journals may also consist of group of research papers arranged in quite systematic way, where each of the paper develops a systematic preview to the reader. Most of these papers together contribute to give a shape to the journal.
  • Most of the research papers are done in a traditional way by the students at college or university, where the work is usually assigned. On the other hand, journal paper is a paper, regarding a topic which has researched or reviewed recently, and written by the experts of some field. Both of these kinds of paper use same kind of techniques, the research papers are done and evaluated by the instructors or teachers.
  • A small difference between two is an extent of references utilized. More often, the journal papers are expected to have the extensive bibliographies, whereas the research paper don’t have an extensive list of references.
  • The research paper doesn’t get published in any of the publications unless it has some reference of how to write a research paper, whereas journal paper is submitted to the magazines or periodicals.
  • A journal paper reviews a current or possible idea and is related to the impact. While a research paper also offers a thesis, however it is not as deep as an actual thesis paper.
  • The lengths and format of two are opposite traditionally. A journal paper can reach up to 15 pages – but usually it doesn’t. while the range of length of research paper is 3 pages to 10 pages. The way of delivering the research paper also looks different as compared to journal paper – including indenting and spacing.
  • At last, a research paper has no authority to present the original research, but it can show empirical data, whereas a journal paper has the explanation for the readers about its original research.

Research Paper and Journal Paper Comparison

Difference Between Research Paper and Journal Paper

Along with the differences amid these writing methods, there remains some similarities too like both of these have concise and clear grammatical structure or formatting along with the conclusions and list of references.

Examples of the differences between two are given below:

Research Paper:

A research paper can have the name of student with date, and name of instructor, everything written on the left side of paper, with the title in center.

Journal Paper:

A journal paper can have a title on the top center of paper. Name of author is written below the title and whole format is kept same like the one in magazine article’s format.

A main difference is the usage of each paper. Research paper is for practical writing while other one is for practicing by the fellow practitioners.

Other than this a research paper is utilized as the method for educating students about how to do writing clearly and efficiently regarding a topic, while journal paper is done for educating the reader about the subject.

Related Posts

Research paper example, how to write a motivational statement, how to write a good psychology research proposal, how to write a mechanical engineering research paper, apa research paper parts and sections, how to research a topic, how to write a personal essay, research project outline example, research paper format, what is a dissertation paper, leave a comment cancel reply.

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Planning Tank

Difference between a research paper, dissertation & thesis

When it comes to writing academic papers, students should have the right skills if they must succeed. Whether it is doing a weekly essay assignment, crafting a term paper, or doing research, the best learners are those who have mastered the art of literary composition. You should also note that understanding how each school paper differs from the other puts you ahead of the pack. Most of the schools, universities and institutions require you to undertake research at some point or another in form of coursework .

Differences based on the definition

Definitive differences between academic papers simplify things for a college newbie yet to write his or her academic paper. Now, on defining the thesis, research and dissertation, the following are worth noting:

Length of paper and methodology

Differences based on knowledge inference and hypothesis.

A hypothesis is an educated guess. Before you conduct a study, assumptions have to be made that something will turn out in some way. Most importantly, how the outcome will impact a population informs the construction of a hypothesis/thesis statement. In research and dissertation writing, students must exhibit a rigorous understanding of a subject based on a study. It is on this premise that they must come up with/infer a meaningful conclusion. However, when writing thesis papers, the formulation of a hypothesis comes after researching and writing on a subject.

Differences based on the approach

Mode of publication and utilization, differences based on the level of academia.

While students can write research papers at any level, they are most common at the undergraduate level. Completion of a research paper often leads to the conferment of an undergraduate degree. And when it comes to writing dissertation papers, the bargain is qualifying for a master’s degree, thusly; postgraduate, Mphil or MBA.  It means if you are not writing a dissertation to obtain a postgraduate degree, you do so as a means of enrolling in a postgraduate program. Thesis papers lead to the conferment of a Ph.D. degree or a doctorate as some scholars call it. Students who write thesis papers do so within the last two years of their academic life.

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What are the boundaries between draft, manuscript, preprint, paper, and article?

In the terminology for a peer-reviewed publication to be submitted to a reputable scientific journal, what are the differences and characteristic properties of the following?

My own take on it would be that my text is a draft until I submit it to a journal, at which point it becomes a manuscript. When the manuscript is accepted it becomes a preprint, and when it gets published it becomes a paper, which is synonymous to article.

Would that be an accurate summary? Would anyone have corrections or additions?

  • publications
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gerrit's user avatar

  • See also this related question on the difference between preprints and accepted manuscripts, and on its copyright implications. –  henning no longer feeds AI Commented Feb 3, 2016 at 23:20

5 Answers 5

paper = article : In the academic meaning of the words, papers and articles refer to the same thing: a published piece of writing. The term is used for journal papers or journal articles , which means they have been published by a journal, but also for less traditional publications, including self-publication ( “Dr. Who just published a great paper on the intricacies of time travel on his webpage” ) and e-print repositories such as arXiv ( “check out the latest paper by Galileo on arXiv, that guy has mad ideas!” ).

Some journals have different categories of “articles”, and differentiate between letters, communications, reports, reviews, and full papers (sometimes abbreviated as just “papers”). In usage I have seen, paper (or article ) used as a generic term covers all of those: you would say, for example, that “letters and full papers are two types of articles” .

A preprint (more commonly used without the hyphen) refers to the distribution, in advance of formal publication, of something that will be published in print . The preprint may differ from the final publication.

Preprint status does not always indicate that the work has been formally accepted for publication. It just means the authors intend to publish it in a more formal venue (journal, book, etc.) but wanted to distribute by other means beforehand (preprints used to be distributed to colleagues as photocopies, but are now mostly circulated by email or repositories).

A manuscript is, in the New Oxford American Dictionary 's words, “an author's text that has not yet been published ”. Any piece of writing that you have not published in any way (but intend to) is a manuscript.

A draft is the same as a manuscript, except that it insists on the unfinished state of the manuscript.

Summarizing, I could say:

Here's the draft I've been working on, please amend it with your corrections. Once we have done this final round of revision, I will upload the manuscript to the editor's website, and we can start circulating it as a preprint to colleagues whom you think may be interested. Once it is accepted and published, we'll just send them the published version of the paper for their records.

F'x's user avatar

  • 9 These rules sound really weird to me. I describe any written result as a paper regardless of its publication or submission status. ("Are you planning to submit your TSP paper to FOCS?" "No, it still needs some more work.") Similarly, a preprint is a paper that is available but not in final published form, again regardless of submission or publication status. For example, all papers on arXiv are preprints, but not all arXiv preprints have been submitted for publication. In my opinion, the only word in this category with a restricted definition is publication . –  JeffE Commented Sep 30, 2013 at 16:54
  • @JeffE I believe there is some confusion on what a “preprint” is, so I listed the term as it is used by notable sources ( Nature policy, SHERPA RoMEO , etc.). Of particular note: while arXiv is sometimes called a “preprint server”, it calls itself an “e-print server” –  F'x Commented Sep 30, 2013 at 17:01
  • While I am not a mother-tongue English speaker, I've occasionally had the impression that paper and article , while being synonyms, have slightly different connotations. One tends to say "paper" for an own result, or one that they feels closer/related to, and "article" for "something you read in a journal, but you have no personal interest in". Is it the case? Or is it only a wrong impression created by talking too much with other non-native speakers? –  Federico Poloni Commented Oct 1, 2013 at 12:39
  • 2 -1 This might vary between fields, but the word "paper" is certainly used for unpublished writeups, including the editors of the top journals in my field (economics). Working papers are papers too. –  Michael Greinecker Commented Feb 13, 2018 at 9:31
  • I guess this is field-dependent, since other commenters report different usages, but my understanding of paper (from pure maths/logic) definitely agrees with this answer: to me, paper implies published status just as strongly as article does. –  PLL Commented Mar 22, 2019 at 16:51

In French, paper is definitely informal, while article is the term to be used in a written document.

However, in English I feel that we tend to use

  • "journal article" more often that "journal paper",
  • "conference article" less than "conference paper",
  • "workshop article" far less often than "workshop paper".

So paper might tend to designate a piece of work of lesser importance than article, or as jakebeal said have a more general use. It still sounds slightly more informal to me, probably because I am a French native speaker, but I'm pretty sure many French colleagues of mine have the same feeling even if they work in some English-speaking country.

My field computer science > machine learning, in case the terminology changes from field to field, and my location is the US.

Some statistics (obviously biased by the corpus):

Journal paper vs. journal article :

enter image description here

Conference paper vs. conference article :

enter image description here

Workshop paper vs. workshop article :

enter image description here

  • @FranckDernoncourt In the last plot, what's the difference between three lines? They are all workshop papers. –  enthu Commented Oct 18, 2014 at 16:40
  • 1 @EnthusiasticStudent Different cases: in the Ngram Viewer when you only plot 1 ngram with case-insensitive mode on, it will plot different cases separately. Since not enough occurrences of "workshop article" were found, the query "workshop paper, workshop article" was regarded as plotting only 1 ngram, not 2. –  Franck Dernoncourt Commented Oct 18, 2014 at 17:03
  • What about "newspaper article", or "student newspaper article" are these of less value then a conference paper? –  Ian Commented Oct 18, 2014 at 18:16
  • 3 Since you mention French, a quick note about Italian: the formal word is articolo ; there is no Italian word with the same root as "paper", but people in academia often use informally the humorous Italianization papero , which literally means "duck". So it has a more informal connotation, too. And one often gets weird looks from non-academics when using it in their presence. –  Federico Poloni Commented Oct 18, 2014 at 20:20
  • Is it OK with you if I merge this answer into the duplicate (i.e., it will appear as an answer to this post with a note indicating that it was merged to explain why it only partially addresses that question.) Since the other post is the 'canonical' one that we point people to when they ask similar questions, I think it would be a shame not to have this answer there. –  ff524 Commented Dec 12, 2014 at 7:43

I think that a piece of writing during the pre-submission stage is a draft and during the post-acceptance, but pre-publication, stage is a preprint. I think that this agrees with your terminology.

Many journals publish original research findings under a number of categories including articles, letters, and reports and in some fields books are the predominant mode of publishing research. Therefore, I would say that a preprint does not necessarily become a paper/article when published and instead becomes whatever it is.

Defining a manuscript is the hardest for me. I have often seen acknowledgements which thank someone for reading a previous version of the manuscript. This happens frequently enough in my field that I believe that a piece of writing becomes a manuscript prior to submission to a publisher. I am not sure when a piece of writing becomes a manuscript. I think a piece of writing becomes a manuscript when the first complete draft is completed.

StrongBad's user avatar

An "article" typically specifically means a paper in a journal, while "paper" is a more general term that also includes conferences, technical memos, etc.

jakebeal's user avatar

  • I would add that other accompanying words often clarify the meaning. For instance a "published paper" nearly always means a journal article, while a "conference paper" may mean something that was just a presentation with no actual written article. In some cases, an "article" can also mean a publication in a non-academic venue (e.g., Scientific American, The New Yorker), in which case it may also be qualified (as "article in the popular press" or the like). –  BrenBarn Commented Oct 18, 2014 at 20:18
  • 2 @BrenBarn This is very field dependent. In computer science, for example, conference papers are often stiffly peer reviewed and quite clearly count as a "published paper." –  jakebeal Commented Oct 18, 2014 at 20:24

I would consider a preprint is the read-proof document that some Journals allow the author to distribute under some rules. So it is in post-acceptance but pre-publication stage. I don´t think the draft-manuscript-paper distinctions are relevant.

Oscar Carvallo Valencia's user avatar

  • 4 No, this is definite not what the term preprint usually refers to. –  Tobias Kildetoft Commented Feb 12, 2018 at 17:52

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the difference between journal and research paper

IMAGES

  1. Journal Article vs. Research Paper

    the difference between journal and research paper

  2. Difference Between Journal and Research Paper?

    the difference between journal and research paper

  3. Difference Between Journal Article and Research Paper

    the difference between journal and research paper

  4. Difference between Journal Article and Research Paper

    the difference between journal and research paper

  5. Difference Between Journal Article and Research Paper

    the difference between journal and research paper

  6. Difference Between Research Paper and Journal Paper

    the difference between journal and research paper

VIDEO

  1. What is a Research

  2. Difference between Research paper and a review. Which one is more important?

  3. Difference between journal and ledger #class11##shorts #imp #reels #ytshorts

  4. Difference Between Newspaper and Journal

  5. Differences Between Journal and Magazine

  6. Difference Between Journal And Ledger #youtubeshorts #account

COMMENTS

  1. Difference Between Journal and Research Paper?

    However, the key difference between a journal and a research paper is that a journal is limited to 5,000 - 10,000 words unlike a research paper. A journal can provide you with a list of national and international conferences as it is a periodical publication. It also provides you with conference alerts as it is a periodical publication like ...

  2. Difference Between Research Paper and Journal Article

    The key difference is the use of each. One is for practice in writing, and the other is a certain practice for fellow practitioners. That said, one (research paper) is used more as a way to educate a student on how to write clearly and effectively about a topic, while the other (journal article) is written to educate the reader on a subject or ...

  3. Exploring the Differences Between Research Papers and Journals

    The main difference between a journal and a research paper lies in where it is published. Journals are typically released by large publishers or organizations after undergoing some sort of review process; while research papers tend to be self-published without peer review - though this may vary depending on context.

  4. Research Article vs. Research Paper

    A research article is typically a shorter document that is published in a peer-reviewed journal. It focuses on a specific research question and provides a concise summary of the study's methodology, results, and conclusions. On the other hand, a research paper is usually a longer document that provides a more comprehensive analysis of a ...

  5. What is the difference between letter, communication and journal paper?

    Often "paper" has no limit. Typically the shorter the length limit, the more prestigious it is and the tougher the acceptance criteria. The subject matter covered by the journal is the same for all categories. Some journals also have a "review" category which includes papers which are not original research. Often a review is by invitation only.

  6. Types of journal articles

    Learn about the different types of articles published by journals, such as Original Research, Review Articles, Short reports or Letters, Case Studies, and Methodologies. Find out how to write and format each type of article according to the journal guidelines.

  7. Exploring the Difference Between Research Papers and Journals

    In the concluding section of this paper, it has been demonstrated that there is a distinct difference between research papers and journals. Research Papers are usually longer in length than journal articles, and can provide an expansive overview of a topic due to their comprehensive nature. In addition to being heavily researched, they often ...

  8. Journal Article vs. Research Paper

    Learn the key differences between a Journal Article and a Research Paper, such as audience, review process, length, purpose, and publication. Compare the definitions, examples, and common curiosities of these academic writings.

  9. Distinguishing between different types of journal articles

    Distinguishing between different types of journal articles When writing a paper or conducting academic research, you'll come across many different types of sources, including periodical articles. Periodical articles can be comprised of news accounts, opinion, commentary, scholarly analysis, and/or reports of research findings.

  10. Scholarly Journals and Popular Magazines: Differences in Research

    Scholarly journals may include book reviews or other content that have not been peer reviewed. Empirical Study: (Original or Primary) based on observation, experimentation, or study. Clinical trials, clinical case studies, and most meta-analyses are empirical studies. ... INFOGRAPHIC: 5 Differences between a research paper and a review paper ...

  11. Types of research article

    Learn about the common and unique article types published in scholarly journals, such as book reviews, case reports, clinical studies, and more. Find out how to write and submit different kinds of articles and what requirements they have.

  12. Journal vs conference papers: Key differences & advice

    Learn the main differences between journal and conference papers, their advantages and disadvantages, and how to choose the best format for your academic work. A conference paper is a piece of academic work that is written for a specific conference, while a journal paper is a peer-reviewed publication in an academic journal.

  13. 5 Differences between a research paper and a review paper

    INFOGRAPHIC :5 Differences between a research paper and a review paper. Andrea Hayward. Senior Editor, Global Community Engagement, Editage Insights. Dec 11, 2017. There are different types of scholarly literature. Some of these require researchers to conduct an original study, whereas others can be based on previously published research.

  14. Difference between conference paper and journal paper

    In general, in most fields, papers in well-recognized journals tend to have more prestige than papers in well-recognized conferences (esp. in terms of metrics). But this is a simplification. While in some fields, conference papers are akin to talk abstracts, in areas like computer science, conference papers can be very meaty and there is a high ...

  15. How do research papers differ from research articles?

    1. Research article refers mainly to research published in a journal, whereas research paper refers to a research report whether it is a published one or not. Share. Improve this answer. answered Mar 22, 2019 at 18:34. Ayalew A.

  16. Difference between Paper and Article for scientific writings

    Research paper and research articles are pieces of writing that require critical analysis, inquiry, insight, and demonstration of some special skills from students and scientists. It is really overwhelming for students when their teachers ask them to write a research paper as a form of assignment. Students remain confused between a research ...

  17. White papers, working papers, preprints: What's the difference?

    Learn the differences and strengths of four types of research papers journalists may encounter: white papers, working papers, preprints and peer-reviewed journal articles. Find out how to assess the quality and reliability of each type and get tips on covering research topics.

  18. What Is the Difference Between Conference Papers, Journal Papers, Term

    Learn the difference between conference paper and journal paper, two types of research papers with different formats, purposes, and publication venues. A conference paper is a written document and an oral presentation for a specific event, while a journal paper is a longer and peer-reviewed article for a periodical publication.

  19. Identifying scholarly, peer-reviewed, empirical articles

    A primary difference between scholarly journals and other types of journals and magazines is that articles in these journals undergo a "peer review" process before they are published. ... faculty may instruct you to read and analyze empirical articles when writing a research paper, a senior or master's project, or a doctoral dissertation ...

  20. Understanding Journals: Peer-Reviewed, Scholarly, & Popular

    What is the difference? Peer-Reviewed Journals. ... Scholarly journals are research focused, reporting results of original research and experimentation. They are heavily cited in the form of either footnotes or bibliographies, and written by, and addressed to, experts in a discipline. However, whereas peer-reviewed journals require a strict ...

  21. Difference Between Research Paper and Journal Paper

    A journal paper can have a title on the top center of paper. Name of author is written below the title and whole format is kept same like the one in magazine article's format. A main difference is the usage of each paper. Research paper is for practical writing while other one is for practicing by the fellow practitioners.

  22. Difference between a research paper, dissertation & thesis

    Learn how to distinguish between research paper, dissertation and thesis based on definition, length, methodology, hypothesis, approach, publication and level of academia. Find out the similarities and differences between these types of academic papers and how to write them.

  23. What are the boundaries between draft, manuscript, preprint, paper, and

    paper = article: In the academic meaning of the words, papers and articles refer to the same thing: a published piece of writing.The term is used for journal papers or journal articles, which means they have been published by a journal, but also for less traditional publications, including self-publication ("Dr.Who just published a great paper on the intricacies of time travel on his webpage ...

  24. Full article: Understanding the relationship between in-store and

    Cost considerations play a significant role in shaping customers' shopping channel preferences. Customers are sensitive to price differences between online and offline channels. Research has shown that lower prices in online channels often lead customers to choose online shopping over traditional brick-and-mortar stores.