Term Paper vs Research Paper vs an Essay: Differences & Tips
Depending on their academic level, students will be tasked with writing different types of academic writing to demonstrate their proficiency as learners.
Academic writings include term papers, research papers, and essays. As a learner, you will be tasked with writing exercises. You should be aware of their differences to deliver what is required.
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Difference between a Term Paper, a Research Paper, and an Essay
What is the difference between the three primary forms of academic writing? First, a term paper can be regarded as written work or academic composition.
It indicates a student’s progress during the school term/semester.
What this means is that a term paper covers the entire course, making it a comparatively large project.
Students are required to write term papers throughout the semester to ensure that they cover all the concepts presented during the term.
In addition to ensuring that they are not overwhelmed by too much work at the end of the semester.
A research paper is an academic piece written by students concerning a particular topic. It is not like a term paper, which may cover more things since it covers a term’s work.
The instructor provides a particular topic to which students are required to apply their research and writing skills. They then write a complete paper in response to the topic.
Essays can be regarded as interpretive or analytic literary compositions. Students write them to test their knowledge of simple concepts. Essays are shorter than research and term papers because they are meant to interpret or analyze particular topics.
In simple terms, a research paper is an academic writing that tests a student’s ability to apply knowledge learned in class or a course. A term paper, on the other hand, is a written assignment that tests a learner’s knowledge of a specific topic or chapter.
On the other hand, an essay is an interpretive or analytic literary composition where a student makes an argument about a topic.
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Comprehensive Definitions of the Three
1. Term Paper
A term paper can be regarded as written work or academic composition that indicates a student’s progress during a school term/semester.
A term paper covers the entire course, making it a comparatively large project. Students are required to write term papers throughout the semester.
This is to ensure that they cover all the concepts presented during the term and are not overwhelmed by too much work at the end of the semester.
For example, imagine that you are studying environmental science in college and have started the semester or term by defining the key concepts.
Finally, you are gradually getting into more details as the semester goes on.
To ensure that you understand the concepts of environmental science and allow the instructor to determine your progress as a learner, they will give you a term paper to complete by the end of the semester.
You should note that it should be completed by the end of the semester. Not at the end of the semester like other papers. Term papers are a continuous writing process that students should do throughout the semester.
In most cases, instructors will notify their students at the beginning of the semester that they must complete a term paper by the end of the semester.
This allows students to start the writing process early enough to avoid being overwhelmed at the end of the semester.
2. Research paper
A research paper can be defined as an academic piece of work written by students concerning a particular topic.
It is not like a term paper that may cover more things since it covers a term’s work.
The instructor provides a topic in which students must apply their research and writing skills to develop a complete paper in response to the topic.
In a research paper, students will also conduct research into specific questions raised by hypotheses and/or scientific theories.
When instructors assign research papers, they are trying to gauge their students’ research capabilities regarding a specific topic within a particular discipline.
Research papers help students become better scholars and field researchers later in life.
Research papers are usually completed at the end of the semester and are comparatively shorter in length than term papers—at least in most cases.
As we have noted, term papers are meant to show a student’s academic process during the term or semester.
However, research papers are meant to tackle specific research issues or topics derived from the course.
This means that as the course continues, research questions or topics will arise, giving students an opportunity to tackle them through their research papers.
Therefore, research papers are usually given to students towards the end or mid-semester to give students enough time to come up with their papers.
Research papers take a different structure of writing. Check out our comprehensive guide on how to write a research paper and learn more.
In brief, a research paper has an introduction, background, literature review, methodology, findings, discussions, and conclusion. This is the major defining characteristic of research papers.
3. An Essay
On the other hand, the essay is an interpretive or analytic literary composition written to test students’ knowledge of simple concepts.
Essays are shorter than research papers and term papers because they are meant to interpret or analyze particular topics.
Students in high school can write essays. This is because the steps of writing an essay are pretty simple.
Essays can also be written by college-level students. However, it is rare for postgraduate students to write them.
Essays have a simpler structure or format than research papers and term papers. They have an introduction, body, and conclusion.
It should be noted that research papers can sometimes be longer than term papers, depending on the academic requirements and the content presented in them.
At the same time, depending on the institution’s academic scheduling, students can be required to start writing their papers at any point during the term/semester.
As such, follow the instructions provided by your professors or teachers when writing essays, term papers, or research papers.
Similarities between a Term Paper and a Research Paper
The first similarity is that both term papers and research papers are longer pieces of academic writing written by college-level students on a particular subject.
This means that they are formal academic works that gauge the student’s understanding of the course concepts. These concepts are used as subtopics in a research paper, which makes the difference.
The second similarity between a term paper and a research paper is that they both follow the same writing or academic format. The basic format is the introduction, background, literature review, methodology, findings and discussions, and finally, conclusion.
However, it can have a table of contents, abstracts, acronyms, acknowledgments, etc. Though there might be a slight difference, both papers must have in-text citations and a reference page at the end.
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Similarities between a Term Paper and an Essay
There are some similarities between a term paper and an essay. The first similarity is that both analyze or interpret particular course concepts.
While an essay is a literary composition that takes a narrow scope regarding the content to be covered, a term paper will also take the form of a literary composition. In addition, it covers a broader scope of concepts within the course. However, both are literary compositions.
The second similarity between a term paper and an essay is that they allow students to be more autonomous when it comes to what they are discussing.
Students are given an opportunity to write their perceptions concerning the course concepts because they are used to gauge the proficiency of the student in terms of how much they have understood the course.
That being said, hope that this article has been worth your time. All the best!
When not handling complex essays and academic writing tasks, Josh is busy advising students on how to pass assignments. In spare time, he loves playing football or walking with his dog around the park.
