Term Paper vs Research Paper vs an Essay: Differences & Tips

Depending on the academic level in which a student is in, they will be tasked with writing different types of academic writings to demonstrate their proficiency as learners.

Academic writings come in the form of term papers, research papers, and essays. As a learner, you will be tasked with writing exercises. You should be aware of their differences so that you can deliver what is required.

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Difference between a Term Paper, a Research Paper, and an Essay

Now, what is the difference between the three major forms of academic writing? Well, first of all, a term paper can be regarded as written work or academic composition.

It is meant to indicate a student’s progress during 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. The reason is 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 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 particular topic in which students are required to apply their research and writing skills. They come up with a complete paper in response to the topic.

Essays can be regarded as interpretive or analytic literary compositions. Alongside they are written by students to test their knowledge of simple concepts. Essays are shorter than research papers and term papers because they are meant to interpret or analyze particular topics.

In simple, 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 contrary is a written assignment to test 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 is meant to indicate a student’s progress during 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. Besides ensure that they are not overwhelmed by too much work at the end of the semester. 

For example, let us imagine that you are studying environmental science in college. You 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 give the instructor an opportunity 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 are required to 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 for a term’s work.

The instructor provides a particular topic in which students are required to apply their research and writing skills to come up with a complete paper in response to the topic.

In a research paper, students will also conduct research into specific questions that have been posted by hypotheses and/or scientific theories.

When instructors give students research papers as assignments, it means that they are trying to gauge the research capabilities of their students concerning 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 they are comparatively shorter in length compared to 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/semester.

However, research papers are meant to tackle specific research issues or topics that have been derived from the course.

What this means is that as the course continues, the research questions or topics will arise. As such giving students an opportunity to tackle them through their research papers.

Therefore, research papers are usually given to students towards the end or at the middle of the 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.

But in brief, there is an introduction, background, literature review, methodology, findings and discussions, and finally a conclusion. This is the major defining characteristic of research papers.

3. An Essay

On the other hand, the essay is an interpretive or an 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.

Essays can be written by students in high school. This is because the steps of writing an essay are pretty simple.

They can also be written by college-level students. However, it is rare for post-graduate students to write essays.

Essays take a simpler structure or format compared to research papers and term papers. Essays have an introduction, body, and a conclusion.

It should be noted that there are times when research papers are longer than term papers depending on the academic requirements and the content presented in the papers.

At the same time, depending on the academic scheduling of the institution, students can be required to start writing their papers at any point during the term/semester.

As such, be keen with 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 writings that are written by college-level students concerning a particular subject matter.

What this means is that they are formal academic works that gauge the student’s understanding of the course concepts. These concepts go into the writing 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 take the same writing or academic format. The basic format is the introduction, the background, literature review, methodology, findings and discussions, and finally conclusion.

However, it can have a table of contents, abstracts, acronyms, acknowledgments, and so on. Though there might be a slight difference, both papers must have both in-text citations and a reference page at the end of the paper.

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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 in terms of the content to be covered, a term paper will also take the form of literary composition. In addition, it covers a wider 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!