Description: Comparison of research papers vs. essays, along with the explanation of the differences and similarities between the two types of academic papers. A short guide to understanding essay writing and research writing with definitions of the terms “essay” and “research paper”.
How Does Research Paper Differ From Essay?
Students often have to deal with two different types of academic writing assignments: an essay and a research paper. Writing essays and research papers can be difficult and confusing due to the many similarities they have. To avoid confusion when writing either of these, it’s important to learn their differences. Understanding the differences between an essay and a research paper is also a great way to improve your academic writing skills.
This article aims to help you understand the key differences between essay and research paper writing assignments when you come across them. We’ll study their features, look for relevant academic terminology, and learn what differentiates them. To get to the bottom of the difference between these two academic assignments, we should first define essay vs research paper.
What is an Essay?
An essay is a short piece of writing that aims to express personal views on a particular topic. It should have at least three pieces of evidence to back up the argument. Essays are typically shorter in length and less complex than research writing. At the same time, essay writing has its own specifics, so using expert proofreading services is a good idea if you aren’t confident in your skills.
It’s likely that you’ll write your first essay and research paper when in high school or college. Then arises the question, “Who will write my paper for me?” A good essay should always have a creative component, so having good writing skills is a must. Essays often aren’t as scientific as research papers, yet they nevertheless need a clear structure. The basic essay writing guidelines recommend following a five-paragraph structure with an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.
What is a Research Paper?
A research paper is the in-depth study of a chosen scientific topic that aims to generate new scientific findings based on previous studies and experiments. It isn’t enough for students to just state the facts or give their opinion on this topic. Your professor will evaluate your ability to think critically, choose trustworthy sources, and have a solid theoretical grounding in the topic of your research. Writing a research paper takes originality, knowledge, and subject matter expertise.
Compared to traditional essay writing, research work has a different objective and structure. Research papers use data from primary sources like books on the topic, academic papers, interviews, web sources, and journals. The basic research writing guidelines recommend following this pattern: introduction, methods, results, discussion, and conclusions/recommendations. Research papers may also include acknowledgments, a brief biography of the author for some Master’s or Ph.D. works, references, endnotes, footnotes, and so on.
Key Differences Between Essay and Research Paper
The biggest difference between a research paper and an essay is that a research paper must have a strict methodology and set of study objectives. A research paper should outline a problem and the approaches that can be used to solve it effectively. Meanwhile, an essay can present a personal opinion without any references.
Now let us go over other key differences between an essay and a research paper. The following comparison table outlines the key differences between essays and research papers:
| Essay | Research paper | |
|---|---|---|
| Length | A typical essay has 5 paragraphs, which is shorter than a research paper. | A research paper usually needs to be at least 8 pages long, depending on the assignment |
| Point of View | It needs to reflect your personal opinion or interpretation of a particular topic. | A good research paper focuses on gathering data and studying multiple points of view on the chosen topic while also incorporating the author’s insights and ideas. |
| Research | Most essays don’t require in-depth knowledge of the topic at hand. For instance, an essay can simply rely on your personal opinion and minimal research, if any. | In-depth research is mandatory in research writing to get a full understanding of a certain topic by learning from previous studies in research. Research papers can incorporate different types of research based on the nature of the study topic. |
| Writing Style | While essay writing can be narrative and philosophical, which is uncommon in research writing, it also incorporates other academic writing styles. Writing in a descriptive style is necessary for all of these types of essays. The narration in an essay must be consistent and have a neutral tone throughout. | A research paper uses different writing styles. The most common ones include argumentative writing, analytical writing, and cause-and-effect writing. A research paper must be evidence-based; therefore, the content should be clear and to the point. |
| Timeframe | Essays can be finished in a few days or weeks and are often assigned as shorter-term tasks. | Depending on the complexity of the assignment, writing a research paper may take months or even years. |
| Purpose | The essay writer demonstrates their writing skills by structuring their ideas logically and coherently. The author expresses their ideas on paper by using style, academic formatting, logic, and other writing specifics. The perspective of the audience is also taken into account. The writing is well-structured and includes examples and data that support it. | In the research paper, the author compares different sources of information about the topic and provides an overall summary with their own thoughts on the topic. The author presents the topic from their point of view, backed up by research. |
| Language | The personal essay gives the writer the chance to use a more casual and entertaining language than academic works, which should be free of any slang or derogatory terminology. | In contrast, research papers should have a clear academic tone. The use of personal pronouns like “I” or “you” in your statements will also undermine the impersonal nature of the research paper. |
Similarities Differences Between Essay and Research Paper
It makes sense that you could find it challenging to tell the difference between an essay and a research paper since there’re so many similarities between the two types of academic papers. That’s why it’s important to learn about the similarities of the two as well.
- Research: Basic research is still necessary in both. Even though you don’t need to do in-depth study for an essay, you still need to at least fact-check your information. However, for a research paper, you’ll need to cite more sources to demonstrate that you’re doing more than simply skimming the topic.
- Structure: The research paper has multiple paragraphs, much like an essay. Although the structure is a little different, the material presented in each paragraph should be in an easy-to-follow format to save the reader’s time from having to wade through irrelevant data and concepts. There should be an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion in both types of papers. When you want to conduct research, there’re some differences, but there’re also a few similarities because you need to present the topic properly.
- Thesis statement: Both types of papers should have a thesis statement that presents an opinion, an argument, or a hypothesis. Even though it isn’t always required for an essay, adding a thesis statement will make your essay sound even more scientific.
- Format and Style: Your professor might recommend a specific format for your paper depending on the topic matter and the class itself. The liberal arts and humanities normally utilize the MLA and Chicago/Turabian formats, while the social sciences typically use the APA format. Both research papers and essays must follow specific formatting guidelines for headers, footers, in-text citations, reference pages, and other elements. These forms guarantee consistency and point readers to the relevant sources.
Conclusion
Research papers and essays are two different types of writing. We can draw the conclusion that the key differences between essays and research papers are those relating to purpose, structure, and format. Even though these two types of papers have many things in common, essays and research papers are written for different purposes.
The requirements for a research paper are stricter because it must follow the right structure, format, and methodology. However, an essay is more forgiving because it has a descriptive narrative that allows the author to express their own opinions.
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