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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 This format often has strict length limits, so some experimental details may not be published until the authors write a full Original Research manuscript.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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Types of research papers

Analytical research paper

Argumentative or persuasive paper, definition paper, compare and contrast paper, cause and effect paper, interpretative paper, experimental research paper, survey research paper, frequently asked questions about the different types of research papers, related articles.

There are multiple different types of research papers. It is important to know which type of research paper is required for your assignment, as each type of research paper requires different preparation. Below is a list of the most common types of research papers.

➡️ Read more:  What is a research paper?

In an analytical research paper you:

• pose a question
• collect relevant data from other researchers
• analyze their different viewpoints

You focus on the findings and conclusions of other researchers and then make a personal conclusion about the topic. It is important to stay neutral and not show your own negative or positive position on the matter.

The argumentative paper presents two sides of a controversial issue in one paper. It is aimed at getting the reader on the side of your point of view.

You should include and cite findings and arguments of different researchers on both sides of the issue, but then favor one side over the other and try to persuade the reader of your side. Your arguments should not be too emotional though, they still need to be supported with logical facts and statistical data.

Tip: Avoid expressing too much emotion in a persuasive paper.

The definition paper solely describes facts or objective arguments without using any personal emotion or opinion of the author. Its only purpose is to provide information. You should include facts from a variety of sources, but leave those facts unanalyzed.

Compare and contrast papers are used to analyze the difference between two:

Make sure to sufficiently describe both sides in the paper, and then move on to comparing and contrasting both thesis and supporting one.

Cause and effect papers are usually the first types of research papers that high school and college students write. They trace probable or expected results from a specific action and answer the main questions "Why?" and "What?", which reflect effects and causes.

In business and education fields, cause and effect papers will help trace a range of results that could arise from a particular action or situation.

An interpretative paper requires you to use knowledge that you have gained from a particular case study, for example a legal situation in law studies. You need to write the paper based on an established theoretical framework and use valid supporting data to back up your statement and conclusion.

This type of research paper basically describes a particular experiment in detail. It is common in fields like:

Experiments are aimed to explain a certain outcome or phenomenon with certain actions. You need to describe your experiment with supporting data and then analyze it sufficiently.

This research paper demands the conduction of a survey that includes asking questions to respondents. The conductor of the survey then collects all the information from the survey and analyzes it to present it in the research paper.

➡️ Ready to start your research paper? Take a look at our guide on how to start a research paper .

In an analytical research paper, you pose a question and then collect relevant data from other researchers to analyze their different viewpoints. You focus on the findings and conclusions of other researchers and then make a personal conclusion about the topic.

The definition paper solely describes facts or objective arguments without using any personal emotion or opinion of the author. Its only purpose is to provide information.

Cause and effect papers are usually the first types of research papers that high school and college students are confronted with. The answer questions like "Why?" and "What?", which reflect effects and causes. In business and education fields, cause and effect papers will help trace a range of results that could arise from a particular action or situation.

This type of research paper describes a particular experiment in detail. It is common in fields like biology, chemistry or physics. Experiments are aimed to explain a certain outcome or phenomenon with certain actions.

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.

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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Article Types: What's the Difference Between Newspapers, Magazines, and Journals?

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Journal Article Characteristics

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PMLA -- Publications of the Modern Language Association (an example of an academic journal)

Analyzing a Journal Article

Authors : Authors of journal articles are usually affiliated with universities, research institutions, or professional associations. Author degrees are usually specified with the author names, as are the affiliations.

Abstract : The article text is usually preceded with an abstract. The abstract will provide an overview of what the article discusses or reveals and frequently is useful in identifying articles that report the results of scientific studies. Use of Professional Terminology and Language: The language used in journal articles is specific to the subject matter being covered by the journal. For example, an article written for a psychological journal is written in an academic rather than popular style and will make heavy use of psychological terms.

In Text References : Journal articles normally will be profusely documented with sources that have provided information to the article authors and/or that provide further related information. Documentation of sources can be handled by in-text parenthetical references (MLA, APA, Chicago sciences styles), by the use of footnotes (Chicago humanities style), or by the use of endnotes (Turabian style). Individual journals will specify their own requirements for documentation.

Bibliography : Because journal articles use numerous sources as documentation, these sources are often referenced in an alphabetically or numerically arranged bibliography located at the end of the article. Format of the bibliography will vary depending on the documentation style used in the article.

Charts, Graphs, Tables, Statistical Data : Articles that result from research studies will often include statistical data gathered during the course of the studies. These data are often presented in charts and tables.

Length of Article : Journal articles, in general, tend to be fairly lengthy, often consisting of a dozen or more pages. Some journals also publish book reviews. These are typically brief and should not be confused with the full-length research articles that the journal focuses on.

Use of volume and issue numbering : Journals normally make use of volume and issue numbering to help identify individual issues in their series. Normally a volume will encompass an entire year's worth of a journal's issues. For example, a journal that is published four times yearly (quarterly) will have four issues in its yearly volume. Issues may be identified solely with numbers or with both numbers and date designations. For example, a quarterly journal will typically number its issues 1 through 4, but it might also assign season designations to the individual numbers, such as Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. A monthly journal will have twelve issues in a yearly volume and might use the month names along with the issue numbers (issue 1, January; issue 2, February; and so on). Some magazines, trade publications, and newspapers might also make use of volume and issue numbering, so this isn't always the best indicator.

Subject Focus : Journals typically gather and publish research that focuses on a very specific field of inquiry, like criminology, or southern history, or statistics.

Overall Appearance : Journals are typically heavy on text and light on illustration. Journal covers tend toward the plain with an emphasis on highlighting key research articles that appear within a particular issue.

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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

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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

• 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.

• 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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How to Write and Publish a Research Paper for a Peer-Reviewed Journal

• Open access
• Published: 30 April 2020
• Volume 36 , pages 909–913, ( 2021 )

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• Clara Busse   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-0178-1000 1 &
• Ella August   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-5151-1036 1 , 2  

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Communicating research findings is an essential step in the research process. Often, peer-reviewed journals are the forum for such communication, yet many researchers are never taught how to write a publishable scientific paper. In this article, we explain the basic structure of a scientific paper and describe the information that should be included in each section. We also identify common pitfalls for each section and recommend strategies to avoid them. Further, we give advice about target journal selection and authorship. In the online resource 1 , we provide an example of a high-quality scientific paper, with annotations identifying the elements we describe in this article.

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How to Choose the Right Journal

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Writing and publishing a scientific paper

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• Artificial Intelligence

Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.

Introduction

Writing a scientific paper is an important component of the research process, yet researchers often receive little formal training in scientific writing. This is especially true in low-resource settings. In this article, we explain why choosing a target journal is important, give advice about authorship, provide a basic structure for writing each section of a scientific paper, and describe common pitfalls and recommendations for each section. In the online resource 1 , we also include an annotated journal article that identifies the key elements and writing approaches that we detail here. Before you begin your research, make sure you have ethical clearance from all relevant ethical review boards.

Select a Target Journal Early in the Writing Process

We recommend that you select a “target journal” early in the writing process; a “target journal” is the journal to which you plan to submit your paper. Each journal has a set of core readers and you should tailor your writing to this readership. For example, if you plan to submit a manuscript about vaping during pregnancy to a pregnancy-focused journal, you will need to explain what vaping is because readers of this journal may not have a background in this topic. However, if you were to submit that same article to a tobacco journal, you would not need to provide as much background information about vaping.

Information about a journal’s core readership can be found on its website, usually in a section called “About this journal” or something similar. For example, the Journal of Cancer Education presents such information on the “Aims and Scope” page of its website, which can be found here: https://www.springer.com/journal/13187/aims-and-scope .

Peer reviewer guidelines from your target journal are an additional resource that can help you tailor your writing to the journal and provide additional advice about crafting an effective article [ 1 ]. These are not always available, but it is worth a quick web search to find out.

Identify Author Roles Early in the Process

Early in the writing process, identify authors, determine the order of authors, and discuss the responsibilities of each author. Standard author responsibilities have been identified by The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) [ 2 ]. To set clear expectations about each team member’s responsibilities and prevent errors in communication, we also suggest outlining more detailed roles, such as who will draft each section of the manuscript, write the abstract, submit the paper electronically, serve as corresponding author, and write the cover letter. It is best to formalize this agreement in writing after discussing it, circulating the document to the author team for approval. We suggest creating a title page on which all authors are listed in the agreed-upon order. It may be necessary to adjust authorship roles and order during the development of the paper. If a new author order is agreed upon, be sure to update the title page in the manuscript draft.

In the case where multiple papers will result from a single study, authors should discuss who will author each paper. Additionally, authors should agree on a deadline for each paper and the lead author should take responsibility for producing an initial draft by this deadline.

Structure of the Introduction Section

The introduction section should be approximately three to five paragraphs in length. Look at examples from your target journal to decide the appropriate length. This section should include the elements shown in Fig.  1 . Begin with a general context, narrowing to the specific focus of the paper. Include five main elements: why your research is important, what is already known about the topic, the “gap” or what is not yet known about the topic, why it is important to learn the new information that your research adds, and the specific research aim(s) that your paper addresses. Your research aim should address the gap you identified. Be sure to add enough background information to enable readers to understand your study. Table 1 provides common introduction section pitfalls and recommendations for addressing them.

The main elements of the introduction section of an original research article. Often, the elements overlap

Methods Section

The purpose of the methods section is twofold: to explain how the study was done in enough detail to enable its replication and to provide enough contextual detail to enable readers to understand and interpret the results. In general, the essential elements of a methods section are the following: a description of the setting and participants, the study design and timing, the recruitment and sampling, the data collection process, the dataset, the dependent and independent variables, the covariates, the analytic approach for each research objective, and the ethical approval. The hallmark of an exemplary methods section is the justification of why each method was used. Table 2 provides common methods section pitfalls and recommendations for addressing them.

Results Section

The focus of the results section should be associations, or lack thereof, rather than statistical tests. Two considerations should guide your writing here. First, the results should present answers to each part of the research aim. Second, return to the methods section to ensure that the analysis and variables for each result have been explained.

Begin the results section by describing the number of participants in the final sample and details such as the number who were approached to participate, the proportion who were eligible and who enrolled, and the number of participants who dropped out. The next part of the results should describe the participant characteristics. After that, you may organize your results by the aim or by putting the most exciting results first. Do not forget to report your non-significant associations. These are still findings.

Tables and figures capture the reader’s attention and efficiently communicate your main findings [ 3 ]. Each table and figure should have a clear message and should complement, rather than repeat, the text. Tables and figures should communicate all salient details necessary for a reader to understand the findings without consulting the text. Include information on comparisons and tests, as well as information about the sample and timing of the study in the title, legend, or in a footnote. Note that figures are often more visually interesting than tables, so if it is feasible to make a figure, make a figure. To avoid confusing the reader, either avoid abbreviations in tables and figures, or define them in a footnote. Note that there should not be citations in the results section and you should not interpret results here. Table 3 provides common results section pitfalls and recommendations for addressing them.

Discussion Section

Opposite the introduction section, the discussion should take the form of a right-side-up triangle beginning with interpretation of your results and moving to general implications (Fig.  2 ). This section typically begins with a restatement of the main findings, which can usually be accomplished with a few carefully-crafted sentences.

Major elements of the discussion section of an original research article. Often, the elements overlap

Next, interpret the meaning or explain the significance of your results, lifting the reader’s gaze from the study’s specific findings to more general applications. Then, compare these study findings with other research. Are these findings in agreement or disagreement with those from other studies? Does this study impart additional nuance to well-accepted theories? Situate your findings within the broader context of scientific literature, then explain the pathways or mechanisms that might give rise to, or explain, the results.

Journals vary in their approach to strengths and limitations sections: some are embedded paragraphs within the discussion section, while some mandate separate section headings. Keep in mind that every study has strengths and limitations. Candidly reporting yours helps readers to correctly interpret your research findings.

The next element of the discussion is a summary of the potential impacts and applications of the research. Should these results be used to optimally design an intervention? Does the work have implications for clinical protocols or public policy? These considerations will help the reader to further grasp the possible impacts of the presented work.

Finally, the discussion should conclude with specific suggestions for future work. Here, you have an opportunity to illuminate specific gaps in the literature that compel further study. Avoid the phrase “future research is necessary” because the recommendation is too general to be helpful to readers. Instead, provide substantive and specific recommendations for future studies. Table 4 provides common discussion section pitfalls and recommendations for addressing them.

Follow the Journal’s Author Guidelines

After you select a target journal, identify the journal’s author guidelines to guide the formatting of your manuscript and references. Author guidelines will often (but not always) include instructions for titles, cover letters, and other components of a manuscript submission. Read the guidelines carefully. If you do not follow the guidelines, your article will be sent back to you.

Finally, do not submit your paper to more than one journal at a time. Even if this is not explicitly stated in the author guidelines of your target journal, it is considered inappropriate and unprofessional.

Your title should invite readers to continue reading beyond the first page [ 4 , 5 ]. It should be informative and interesting. Consider describing the independent and dependent variables, the population and setting, the study design, the timing, and even the main result in your title. Because the focus of the paper can change as you write and revise, we recommend you wait until you have finished writing your paper before composing the title.

Be sure that the title is useful for potential readers searching for your topic. The keywords you select should complement those in your title to maximize the likelihood that a researcher will find your paper through a database search. Avoid using abbreviations in your title unless they are very well known, such as SNP, because it is more likely that someone will use a complete word rather than an abbreviation as a search term to help readers find your paper.

After you have written a complete draft, use the checklist (Fig. 3 ) below to guide your revisions and editing. Additional resources are available on writing the abstract and citing references [ 5 ]. When you feel that your work is ready, ask a trusted colleague or two to read the work and provide informal feedback. The box below provides a checklist that summarizes the key points offered in this article.

Checklist for manuscript quality

Data Availability

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Acknowledgments

Ella August is grateful to the Sustainable Sciences Institute for mentoring her in training researchers on writing and publishing their research.

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Busse, C., August, E. How to Write and Publish a Research Paper for a Peer-Reviewed Journal. J Canc Educ 36 , 909–913 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-020-01751-z

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Expert Commentary

How different are preprints from their published versions? 2 studies have some answers

Both studies find that most COVID-19 research papers don’t drastically change between the time they are posted on a preprint server and when they're published in an academic journal.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License .

by Naseem S. Miller, The Journalist's Resource February 2, 2022

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Two new papers, published on Feb. 1 in PLOS Biology, add to the growing body of research that’s attempting to measure how much research papers change between the time they’re posted by authors on preprint servers to when they’re peer reviewed and published in an academic journal.

Both studies find that most COVID-19 research papers don’t drastically change, but one of the studies also shows that about 1 in 5 COVID-19 preprints do have major changes in their conclusions by the time they’re published, a reminder for journalists to be careful and critical when covering scientific studies.

One study , led by Liam Brierley , an epidemiologist and statistician at the University of Liverpool, manually compares 184 life science preprints with their published versions. It finds that for most preprints only minor changes were made to the conclusions in the abstracts of their published version. But it also finds that 17% of COVID-19 preprints had major changes in the conclusion of their abstracts when published. That’s compared with 7% studies that were not about COVID-19.

The other study , led by David Nicholson , a doctoral candidate at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, uses machine learning and text analysis to explore the relationships between nearly 18,000 life science preprints and their published versions. It shows that most differences between the two versions were due to changes in typesetting and the mention of supplementary materials or additional files.

Neither study explores the percentage of preprints that are never published or are retracted.

Preprints and peer review explained

Covering biomedical research preprints amid the coronavirus: 6 things to know

Preprints are research papers that are posted by authors to a server before the formal peer review process and publication in an academic journal.

Many life science and biomedical studies, including those related to the pandemic, are posted to the health sciences server  medRxiv  (pronounced med-archive) and the biological sciences server  bioRxiv (pronounced bio-archive). arXiv is another open-access server for papers on physics, math, computer science and economics. Overall, there are more than 60 preprint servers.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, preprints were mostly used and discussed by scientists. But since early 2020, the number of preprints posted on servers has exponentially grown and preprint studies have been discussed on social media, covered by traditional media and have influenced public opinion and policy.

Peer review is a process that research papers, including preprints, go through in order to be published in an academic journal. The journals’ editors take advice from experts, also called referees, who assess the study. The articles are typically published only after the authors have addressed referees’ concerns and the journal editors are satisfied, according to an explainer on medRxiv.

The peer review process usually takes months, and sometimes more than a year. During the pandemic, many researchers needed to communicate their findings quickly. So they turned to preprint servers, where they can upload their papers and reach a wide audience.

Many preprints are eventually peer reviewed and published. According to some estimates about two-thirds to three-quarters of biomedical preprints are eventually published in academic journals. But with the rapid growth of preprints, there are more discussions around the peer-review process and its role . Researchers are also exploring questions about the reliability of preprints because their conclusions might change after the peer-review process.

What’s peer review? 5 things you should know before covering research

There’s no simple answer to the ongoing discussion, but the bottom line for journalists stays the same: take a pause and scrutinize any study you plan on reporting.

“Before covering a preprint, or any unreviewed or preliminary research, ask yourself: ‘Do the benefits for my audience outweigh the potential risks?'” advised Alice Fleerackers , a researcher at Simon Fraser University’s Scholarly Communications Lab who has been studying the preprint landscape , in an email interview. She was not involved in the studies discussed in this piece.

And remember that “the peer review is not a silver bullet quality control mechanism,” Fleerackers added. “Journalists should be careful and critical when covering  any  scientific research, peer reviewed or not.”

What the two studies show

Tracking changes between preprint posting and journal publication during a pandemic liam brierley ; et al. plos biology, february 2022..

The study’s aim : Researchers wanted to find out whether preprints withstand the scrutiny of the peer review process and whether their conclusions change by the time they’re published.

How they did it : The team identified 105 COVID-19 preprints that were posted on bioRxiv and medRxiv servers between January and April 2020, as well as 105 non-COVID-19 preprints posted between September 2019 and April 2020, and that were eventually published in a peer-reviewed journal. After excluding several studies for various reasons such as lacking an abstract in the published version, they narrowed down the total to 184 preprint-published study pairs. They then used a computer program and the Microsoft Word Track Changes feature to compare the text of the abstract in the preprint and corresponding published version.

Researchers didn’t analyze the entire text of the article and used the abstracts instead. Abstracts are considered the first port of call for most readers. They often contain the summary of the key findings and main conclusions of the study and are freely accessible, even for journals that have paywalls.

What they found : Overall, the study shows that preprints were most often published with only minor changes to the conclusions in their abstracts. This suggests that the publication process has a minimal but beneficial effect on preprints by increasing sample sizes or statistics or by making author language more conservative, the authors write. The study also shows:

• Overall, most abstracts are comparable between the preprinted and published article, but COVID-19 articles underwent greater textual changes in their abstracts compared with non-COVID-19 articles. Specifically, 17.2% of COVID-19 abstracts had major changes in their conclusions compared with 7.2% of non-COVID-19 abstracts.
• More than 85% of preprints didn’t have any changes in authorship when published. However, COVID-19 preprints were almost three times as likely to have additional authors when published, compared with non-COVID-19 preprints (17.2% versus 6.2%).
• On average there was no difference in the total number of figures and tables when comparing preprints with their published version. The authors also find that in more than two-thirds of published studies, the content of the figures didn’t change. But in 23%, there was significant content added or removed.
• The team also investigated the impact of public discourse on preprints — such as discussion on Twitter — and changes to the abstract or figures in the published version. Overall, they didn’t find a strong correlation between the number of comments or tweets and amount of change in publication.
• Also of note, they report COVID-19 preprints don’t always share their data publicly and many authors provide data only upon request. Also, many published articles had faulty hyperlinks to the supporting information. “The biggest surprise was how difficult it was to access supplemental data in published papers — many of the links on journal websites were broken or looped back to the main paper,” wrote Jonathon Alexis Coates , one of the study’s seven co-authors, in an email interview.

Findings apply to more recent preprints. Coates, a post-doctoral researcher at Queen Mary University of London, started a podcast in 2021 called Preprints in Motion , where he discusses preprints with the authors. “Through this, and my observations of using preprints, it definitely appears that our data holds up and that there would probably not be significant differences if we analyzed pairs from 2021,” Coates said in his email. “More, scientifically, we included a control data set of non-COVID preprints that were posted and published during the same time period (or as close as we could get). This data showed a similar pattern to the COVID preprints, suggesting that the results are applicable beyond pandemic-related work.”

The bigger picture : The pandemic has had some impact on the scientific community’s view of preprints, Coates wrote in his email. “Preprints are much more accepted and scientists within the biosciences have a greater awareness and understanding of preprints generally,” he wrote. “Many had positive experiences posting pandemic-related preprints and have, anecdotally stated they will preprint again in the future. I have also noticed that more scientists appear to be actively thinking about the publication process and how it needs to change which I think is a big positive.” He added that the study is not a direct comment on the peer review process.

What other experts say about the study : Fleerackers said it was “shocking” to see that 17.2% of COVID-19 preprints underwent major changes in their conclusions. “This is a scary finding, considering how much preprints have been used in pandemic reporting and policy decisions,” she wrote in her email. “This has major implications for journalists who rely on these preprints in their reporting, and for audiences who try to make health decisions based on this unreviewed evidence. It’s also important for researchers who cite and build on these results in their research.”

Advice to journalists : “For journalists covering preprints, I would consider focusing on big picture findings rather than specific statistics, contextualizing any results within a larger body of evidence, and emphasizing that these findings could change in future — as is the case with all science,” wrote Fleerackers. “[Do] your homework as a journalist: read the methods and limitations critically and seek opinions from independent researchers, particularly on those parts of the manuscript that you don’t have the expertise to vet yourself. This is true for all research, but the results of this study suggest it may be even more important when covering preprints, particularly those about COVID-19.”

Study limitations : Because researchers didn’t compare the entire content of the studies, it’s not clear whether changes in the abstract reflect changes throughout the manuscript. Researchers also add:

• They looked at a small sample of studies that were published in academic journals shortly after they were posted on preprint servers, so they study excludes preprints that may have been published more slowly.
• Because of its short time frame, the study doesn’t use unpublished preprints as a control. This comparison would provide a stronger and more direct findings on the role of journal peer review and the reliability of preprints, the authors note.
• In addition, the study doesn’t measure how much of the changes were introduced by the peer-review process since it is difficult to determine when the preprint was posted relative to submission to the journal. Some preprints are revised and posted on servers several times before they are published.
• Researchers also note that it is difficult to objectively compare two versions of a research paper. For example, abstracts that had many changes in the text, such as rearrangements of words, didn’t have a meaningful change in their conclusion.

Conflicts of Interest : The researchers report that one of the authors is the executive director of ASAPbio , a non-profit organization promoting the productive use of preprints in the life sciences. Another is a bioRxiv affiliate, part of a volunteer group of scientists that screen preprints deposited on the bioRxiv server.

Examining Linguistic Shifts Between Preprints and Publications David Nicholson ; et al. PLOS Biology, February 2022.

The study’s goal: The team wanted to compare the text of preprints in bioRxiv and their corresponding published studies to examine how peer review changes the documents. They used computer programs to analyze and compare the texts. Researchers also used the programs to identify similar papers and journals. It’s important to note that the study doesn’t investigate similarities in results and conclusions.

How they did it : They downloaded a snapshot of PubMed Central , which is an open access digital archive of full text peer-reviewed biomedical and life science research and is part of the U.S. National Library of Medicine on Jan. 31, 2020. They also downloaded a snapshot of the content of bioRxiv on Feb. 3, 2020. In addition, they downloaded a snapshot of New York Times Article Archives on July 7, 2020 as a representative of general English text and to identify bioRxiv preprints linked to a published article. They linked 17,952 preprints with a published version in PubMed.

What they found : Over 77% of bioRxiv preprints had a corresponding published version. “This suggests that most work from groups participating in the preprint ecosystem is now available in final form for literature mining and other applications,” Nicholson and co-authors write. They also find:

• A subset of preprints posted in the first four months of the pandemic were published faster than the broader set of bioRxiv preprints, showing that peer review was accelerated.
• The most common change between a preprint and published version was typesetting and the mention of supporting information or additional materials.
• Preprints that had more versions posted on the servers and more changes in text took longer to publish. Every additional preprint version was associated with an increase of 51 days before a preprint was published. This suggests that authors may be updating their preprints in response to peer reviews or other external feedback.
• The team also created the Preprint Similarity Search website that sifts through 1.7 million  PubMed Central open access documents  and lets users to find 10 papers and journals that are most similar to the textual content of a  bioRxiv  or  medRxiv  preprint.

What other experts say about the study : “I am surprised that more than three-quarters (77%) of the preprints they analyzed are now available in a peer reviewed journal,” wrote Fleerackers in an email. “This is higher than what was found in previous studies, and is likely an underestimate of the true number of preprints that are eventually published. For journalists, this is a really important takeaway as it answers another key question that could influence their decision to cover preprints: ‘How often do preprints actually get published in peer reviewed journals?'”

Fleerackers added that the Nicholson study adds more context to the study by the Brierley team because it looks at a much larger number of preprints and their corresponding published versions.

Advice to journalists : “Treat preprints with a grain of salt, but treat peer-reviewed publications that way too,” said Casey Greene , who’s one of Nicholson’s five co-authors, a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics and the founding director of the Center for Health AI in the University of Colorado School of Medicine. “Ultimately, both are simply steps along our path to better understanding the world around us.”

Conflicts of Interest : Researchers report that one author receives a salary from Elsevier, a Netherlands-based publishing company specializing in scientific, technical and medical content.

What other studies show

In “ Comparing published scientific journal articles to their pre-print versions ,” published in the International Journal on Digital Libraries in February 2018, researchers compared the text of title, abstract and body of preprints posted on arXiv and bioRxiv servers with their published version. They ended up with 12,202 preprints posted between 2003 and 2015 on arXiv and 2,516 posted between 2013 and 2016 on bioRxiv that had a final published version. Their analysis shows that “the text contents of the scientific papers generally changed very little from their pre-print to final published versions.”

News media outlets vary widely in how they cover preprint studies, new research finds

In “ Cross-sectional study of preprints and final journal publications from COVID-19 studies: discrepancies in results reporting and spin in interpretation ,” published in BMJ Open in July 2021, researchers compare preprints and final journal publications for 67 COVID-19 studies and find that one-third had no discrepancies in results. About a quarter had at least one outcome that was included in the journal publication but not in the preprint.

In 12% of the studies, at least one outcome was reported in the preprint only.

They also evaluated the studies for spin, which refers to specific reporting practices that distort the interpretation of results so that results are viewed more favorably.

“The COVID-19 preprints and their subsequent journal publications were largely similar in reporting of study characteristics, outcomes and spin,” the authors write. “All COVID-19 studies published as preprints and journal publications should be critically evaluated for discrepancies and spin.”

Meanwhile, in “ COVID-19 randomized controlled trials in medRxiv and PubMed ,” a small study published in the European Journal of Medicine in November 2020, researchers compare the full text of 13 preprint studies posted on medRxiv with 16 published studies in PubMed, all of which were about COVID-19 and were randomized controlled trials. The preprint studies were not related to the published studies.

Their analysis shows an increased rate of spin — positive terms used in the title or abstract section — in preprints compared with published studies. “Readers should pay attention to the overstatements in preprints of [randomized controlled trials],” the authors write.

Additional reading

Rise of the preprint: how rapid data sharing during COVID-19 has changed science forever , Nature Medicine, January 2022

About The Author

Naseem S. Miller

• Insights blog

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.

Publishing tips, direct to your inbox

Expert tips and guidance on getting published and maximizing the impact of your research. Register now for weekly insights direct to your inbox.

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.

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.

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 .

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 .

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.

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 .

University Library

Distinguish between popular and scholarly journals.

• Types of Periodicals

Introduction

The compilation of resources for research papers or projects necessarily includes not only books, but also articles from periodicals (i.e., journals and/or magazines )—vital sources of up-to-date information and scholarship. When issuing assignments, instructors often specify whether articles consulted are to be from popular or scholarly  publications (the former usually referred to as magazines , the latter as journals ). Although popular sources are not without merit and may also contain well-considered writing, the purpose of distinguishing between these types of works is to determine their degree of authority and depth of research on a given topic, and thereby their intrinsic academic value. The following chart points out the distinctions between popular and scholarly periodicals.

Popular vs. Scholarly

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Land Acknowledgement

The land on which we gather is the unceded territory of the Awaswas-speaking Uypi Tribe. The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, comprised of the descendants of indigenous people taken to missions Santa Cruz and San Juan Bautista during Spanish colonization of the Central Coast, is today working hard to restore traditional stewardship practices on these lands and heal from historical trauma.

The land acknowledgement used at UC Santa Cruz was developed in partnership with the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band Chairman and the Amah Mutsun Relearning Program at the UCSC Arboretum .

The Difference Between a Published & Unpublished Dissertation

How to Locate PhD Dissertations

A dissertation is the main element in completion of a Ph.D. The central element of a doctoral dissertation, and the quality that differentiates it from a master's thesis or an undergraduate thesis, is that it must make an original contribution to its field, usually using primary research. The structure and content of a completed doctoral dissertation is often very different from the structure required for articles or books that are based on it.

Unpublished Dissertations

When a Ph.D. candidate completes her dissertation, this usually results in three or four copies: one each for the candidate, the dissertation supervisor, the university library and sometimes an archive. Unless a dissertation is subsequently published, these are the only copies that are ever created. What this means in practical terms is that unpublished dissertations are almost never widely read. The vast majority of dissertations serve their purpose of gaining a Ph.D. for their author and then fade into obscurity. If you write a dissertation that you want to have an impact, you will need to revise it and publish it in some form.

One of the easiest options for getting your research into published form is to revise a single chapter into an article for a peer-reviewed journal in your field. The difference between this article and an unpublished dissertation is clear: The article is present in a journal that is printed in thousands of copies and distributed to influential academics around the world. In most cases, the editors of the journal will want the form of the dissertation chapter reworked to some extent to make it more accessible to readers who are probably not experts in that particular subject matter.

Motivated dissertation authors often seek to have their dissertations published in book form. As with journal articles, books that are based on dissertations need to be reworked. This usually takes the form of downplaying the methodology and literature-review sections, cutting down on the density of footnotes and references and generally making the text more readable to non-specialists. A published book can get your name out in your academic field and to the world in general. Having a book and some published articles in your field will be helpful to you in advancing your academic career. Within academia, an unpublished dissertation is really nothing more than a prerequisite.

Online Publishing

The Internet has opened up tremendous new opportunities for academic publishing. While having your work accessible online doesn't carry the same weight with hiring committees as an article in a peer-reviewed journal, or better yet a book, it is an effective way to make yourself and your work known, as long as you get it published in the right places. Making contacts through online publishing can be an effective stepping stone toward breaking into journals and book publishing. It's also a useful way to get feedback from other academics about your work.

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Jagg Xaxx has been writing since 1983. His primary areas of writing include surrealism, Buddhist iconography and environmental issues. Xaxx worked as a cabinetmaker for 12 years, as well as building and renovating several houses. Xaxx holds a Doctor of Philosophy in art history from the University of Manchester in the U.K.

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Thesis vs. Research Paper: Know the Differences

It is not uncommon for individuals, academic and nonacademic to use “thesis” and “research paper” interchangeably. However, while the thesis vs. research paper puzzle might seem amusing to some, for graduate, postgraduate and doctoral students, knowing the differences between the two is crucial. Not only does a clear demarcation of the two terms help you acquire a precise approach toward writing each of them, but it also helps you keep in mind the subtle nuances that go into creating the two documents. This brief guide discusses the main difference between a thesis and a research paper.

This article discusses the main difference between a thesis and a research paper. To give you an opportunity to practice proofreading, we have left a few spelling, punctuation, or grammatical errors in the text. See if you can spot them! If you spot the errors correctly, you will be entitled to a 10% discount.

It is not uncommon for individuals, academic and nonacademic to use “thesis” and “research paper” interchangeably. After all, both terms share the same domain, academic writing . Moreover, characteristics like the writing style, tone, and structure of a thesis and research paper are also homogenous to a certain degree. Hence, it is not surprising that many people mistake one for the other.

However, while the thesis vs. research paper puzzle might seem amusing to some, for graduate, postgraduate and doctoral students, knowing the differences between the two is crucial. Not only does a clear demarcation of the two terms help you acquire a precise approach toward writing each of them, but it also helps you keep in mind the subtle nuances that go into creating the two documents.

Defining the two terms: thesis vs. research paper

The first step to discerning between a thesis and research paper is to know what they signify.

  Thesis: A thesis or a dissertation is an academic document that a candidate writes to acquire a university degree or similar qualification. Students typically submit a thesis at the end of their final academic term. It generally consists of putting forward an argument and backing it up with individual research and existing data.

How to Write a Perfect Ph.D. Thesis

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How to Structure a Dissertation: A Brief Guide

A Step-by-Step Guide on Writing and Structuring Your Dissertation

Research Paper: A research paper is also an academic document, albeit shorter compared to a thesis. It consists of conducting independent and extensive research on a topic and compiling the data in a structured and comprehensible form. A research paper demonstrates a student's academic prowess in their field of study along with strong analytical skills.

7 Tips to Write an Effective Research Paper

7 Steps to Publishing in a Scientific Journal

Publishing Articles in Peer-Reviewed Journals: A Comprehensive Guide

10 Free Online Journal and Research Databases for Researchers

How to Formulate Research Questions

Now that we have a fundamental understanding of a thesis and a research paper, it is time to dig deeper. To the untrained eye, a research paper and a thesis might seem similar. However, there are some differences, concrete and subtle, that set the two apart.

1. Writing objectives

The objective behind writing a thesis is to obtain a master's degree or doctorate and the ilk. Hence, it needs to exemplify the scope of your knowledge in your study field. That is why choosing an intriguing thesis topic and putting forward your arguments convincingly in favor of it is crucial.

A research paper is written as a part of a course's curriculum or written for publication in a peer-review journal. Its purpose is to contribute something new to the knowledge base of its topic.

2. Structure

Although both documents share quite a few similarities in their structures, the framework of a thesis is more rigid. Also, almost every university has its proprietary guidelines set out for thesis writing.

Comparatively, a research paper only needs to keep the IMRAD format consistent throughout its length. When planning to publish your research paper in a peer-review journal, you also must follow your target journal guidelines.

3. Time Taken

A thesis is an extensive document encompassing the entire duration of a master's or doctoral course and as such, it takes months and even years to write.

A research paper, being less lengthy, typically takes a few weeks or a few months to complete.

4. Supervision

Writing a thesis entails working with a faculty supervisor to ensure that you are on the right track. However, a research paper is more of a solo project and rarely needs a dedicated supervisor to oversee.

5. Finalization

The final stage of thesis completion is a viva voce examination and a thesis defense. It includes proffering your thesis to the examination board or a thesis committee for a questionnaire and related discussions. Whether or not you will receive a degree depends on the result of this examination and the defense.

A research paper is said to be complete when you finalize a draft, check it for plagiarism, and proofread for any language and contextual errors . Now all that's left is to submit it to the assigned authority.

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In the context of academic writing, a thesis and a research paper might appear the same. But, there are some fundamental differences that set apart the two writing formats. However, since both the documents come under the scope of academic writing, they also share some similarities. Both require formal language, formal tone, factually correct information & proper citations. Also, editing and proofreading are a must for both. Editing and Proofreading ensure that your document is properly formatted and devoid of all grammatical & contextual errors. So, the next time when you come across a thesis vs. research paper argument, keep these differences in mind.

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Best Edit & Proof expert editors and proofreaders focus on offering papers with proper tone, content, and style of  academic writing,  and also provide an upscale  editing and proofreading service  for you. If you consider our pieces of advice, you will witness a notable increase in the chance for your research manuscript to be accepted by the publishers. We work together as an academic writing style guide by bestowing subject-area editing and proofreading around several categorized writing styles. With the group of our expert editors, you will always find us all set to help you identify the tone and style that your manuscript needs to get a nod from the publishers.

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You can also avail of our assistance if you are looking for editors who can format your manuscript, or just check on the  particular styles  for the formatting task as per the guidelines provided to you, e.g.,  APA,  MLA, or Chicago/Turabian styles. Best Edit & Proof editors and proofreaders provide all sorts of academic writing help, including editing and proofreading services, using our user-friendly website, and a streamlined ordering process.

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Visit our  order page  if you want our subject-area editors or language experts to work on your manuscript to improve its tone and style and give it a perfect academic tone and style through proper editing and proofreading. The process of submitting a paper is very easy and quick. Click here to find out how it  works.

Our pricing is based on the type of service you avail of here, be it editing or proofreading. We charge on the basis of the word count of your manuscript that you submit for editing and proofreading and the turnaround time it takes to get it done. If you want to get an instant price quote for your project, copy and paste your document or enter your word count into our  pricing calculator.

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Preparing a research paper is the most painstaking and challenging task for many individuals. However, with rigorous practice, it would be much hassle-free for you to sum up entirely. Are you thinking of the best ways to write an impactful research paper? We are here to help you! We present an easy-to-follow rubric that will help you draft an impeccable research paper.

There are various types of research designs that researchers can opt for. However, to opt for the right design, you first need to know the differences. Also, do not forget that the type of design depends on various variables from your research. Therefore, understanding these variables is of importance. If you are new to academic work or are just here to refresh your memory, this article has just the right content for you. Today, we will focus on the different types of research designs.

For academic achievement, staying ahead of the pack is always a crucial issue. Taking advantage of professional academic editing and proofreading can help you reach your potential and increase chances of your work being published in professional journals. It requires a broad-ranging comprehension to fix a document exceptionally. Therefore, academic editing and proofreading are a critical part of the writing process.

What is most critical is that your thesis statement should reflect the primary points of your paper or essay. Its most frequent place is at the end of the introduction section. Based on the essay you are penning, your thesis may look different. Nevertheless, the essential idea must be in your thesis statement so that people can comprehend your fundamental idea. What is left in your essay should relate to the main idea.

When you deal with experiments, you investigate the causal relationship between variables. What you fundamentally do is manipulate one or more than one independent variable (x) to determine their effect on dependent variables (y).

Educational resources and simple solutions for your research journey

What is the Difference Between Research Papers and Review Papers?

Researchers often have to write different types of articles, from review papers to review papers and more, each with its own purpose and structure. This makes it critical for students and researchers to understand the nuances of good writing and develop the skills required to write various kinds of academic text. With so many different types of academic writing to pursue – scholarly articles, commentaries, book reviews, case reports, clinical study reports – it is common for students and early career researchers to get confused. So in this article, we will explain what is a review paper and what is a research paper, while summarizing the similarities and difference between review papers and research papers.

Table of Contents

What is a Review Paper ?

A review paper offers an overview of previously published work and does not contain any new research findings. It evaluates and summarizes information or knowledge that is already available in various published formats like journals, books, or other publications, all of which is referred to as secondary literature. Well-written review papers play a crucial role in helping students and researchers understand existing knowledge in a specific field or a research topic they are interested in. By providing a comprehensive overview of previous studies, methodologies, findings, and trends, they help researchers identify gaps in a specific field of study opening up new avenues for future research.

What is a Research Paper ?

A research paper is based on original research and primary sources of data. Unlike review papers, researchers writing research papers need to report new findings derived from empirical research or experimentation. It requires the author to draw inferences or make assumptions based on experiments, surveys, interviews, or questionnaires employed to collect and analyze data. Research papers also typically follow the recommended IMRAD format, which includes an abstract, introduction, methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion. Through research papers, authors address a specific research question or hypothesis with the aim of contributing novel insights to the field.

Similarities between research papers and review papers

Research papers and review papers share several similarities, which makes it understandable that it is this pair of academic documents that are often most confused.

• Research papers and review papers are written by scholars and intended for an academic audience; they’re written with the aim of contributing to the existing body of knowledge in a particular field and can be published in peer reviewed journals.
• Both research papers and review papers require a comprehensive understanding of all the latest, relevant literature on a specific topic. This means authors must conduct a thorough review of existing studies, theories, and methodologies in their own subject and related areas to inform their own research or analysis.
• Research papers and review papers both adhere to specific formatting and citation styles dictated by the target journal. This ensures consistency and allows readers to easily locate and reference the sources cited in the papers.

These similarities highlight the rigorous, scholarly nature of both research papers and review papers, which requires both research integrity and a commitment to further knowledge in a field. However, these two types of academic writing are more different than one would think.

Differences between research papers and review papers

Though often used interchangeably to refer to academic content, research papers and review papers are quite different. They have different purposes, specific structure and writing styles, and citation formats given that they aim to communicate different kinds of information. Here are four key differences between research papers and review papers:

• Purpose: Review papers evaluate existing research, identify trends, and discuss the current state of knowledge on a specific topic; they are based on the study of previously published literature. On the other hand, research paperscontain original research work undertaken by the author, who is required to contribute new knowledge to the research field.
• Structure: Research papers typically follow a structured format, including key sections like the introduction, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion. Meanwhile, review papers may have a more flexible structure, allowing authors to organize the content based on thematic or chronological approaches. However, they generally include an introduction, main body discussing various aspects of the topic, and a conclusion.
• Methodology: Research papers involve the collection of data, experimentation, or analysis of existing data to answer specific research questions. However, review papers do not involve original data collection; instead, they extensively analyze and summarize existing studies, often using systematic literature review methods.
• Citation style: Research papers rely on primary sources to support and justify their own findings, emphasizing recent and relevant research. Review papers incorporate a wide range of primary and secondary sources to present a comprehensive overview of the topic and support the evaluation and synthesis of existing literature.

In summary, it’s important to understand the key differences between research papers and review papers. By mastering the art of writing both research papers and review papers, students and researchers can make more meaningful contributions to their chosen disciplines. All the best!

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International Journal of Research (IJR)

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

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RESEARCH PAPER AND JOURNAL ARTICLE

Difference between research paper and journal article.

Research Paper

Argumentative Research Paper

Analytical research paper, journal article, the differences, research paper:, journal article:.

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• Key Differences

Know the Differences & Comparisons

Difference Between Thesis and Research Paper

On the other hand, a research paper is analytical, argumentative and interpretative in nature. It involves the pursuit of knowledge and intelligent analysis of the information collected. It contains the idea of the author, often supported by expert opinions, research and information available in this regard.

Whether you are writing a thesis or research paper, they are equally challenging and take a lot of time to prepare. In this post, we will update you on all the points of difference between thesis and  research paper.

Content: Thesis Vs Research Paper

• Key Elements
• Thesis Statement

How to start a research paper?

Comparison chart.

What is Thesis?

The thesis is a document containing the research and findings that students submit to get the professional qualification or degree . It has to be argumentative, which proposes a debatable point with which people could either agree or disagree. In short, it is a research report in writing that contains a problem which is yet to be dealt with.

In a thesis, the researcher puts forth his/her conclusion. The researcher also gives evidence in support of the conclusion.

Submission of the thesis is a mandatory requirement of a postgraduate course and PhD degree. In this, the primary focus is on the novelty of research along with the research methodology.

It is all about possibilities, by introducing several anti-thesis. Also, it ends up all the possibilities by nullifying all these anti-thesis.

Key Elements of Thesis

• Proposition : The thesis propagates an idea, hypothesis or recommendation.
• Argument : Gives reasons for accepting the proposition instead of just asserting a point of view.
• Maintenance of argument : The argument should be made cogent enough by providing suitable logic and adequate evidence.

Features of An Ideal Thesis

• An Ideal thesis is expected to add fresh knowledge to the existing theory.
• It communicates the central idea of the research in a clear and concise manner.
• An effective thesis is more than a simple statement, fact or question.
• It answers why and how questions concerned with the topic.
• To avoid confusion, it is worded carefully.
• It outlines the direction and scope of your essay.
• It gives reasons to the reader to continue reading.

Also Read : Difference Between Thesis and Dissertation

What is Thesis Statement?

A thesis statement is a sentence of one line, usually written at the end of your first paragraph. It presents the argument to the reader.

It is a blueprint of your thesis that directs the writer while writing the thesis and guides the reader through it.

What is Research Paper?

Research Paper is a form of academic writing. It is prepared on the basis of the original research conducted by the author on a specific topic, along with its analysis and interpretation of the findings.

An author generally starts writing a research paper on the basis of what he knows about the topic and seeks to find out what experts know. Further, it involves thorough and systematic research on a particular subject to extract the maximum information.

In short, a research paper is a written and published report containing the results of scientific research or a review of published scientific papers. Here, the scientific research is the primary research article, while the review of a published scientific paper is the review article.

In case of the primary research article, the author of the research paper provides important information about the research. This enables the scientific community members to:

• Evaluate it
• Reproduce the experiments
• Assess the reasoning and conclusions drawn

On the other hand, a review article is written to analyze, summarize and synthesize the research carried out previously.

When a research work is published in a scientific journal, it conveys the knowledge to a larger group of people and also makes people aware of the scientific work. Research work published as a research paper passes on knowledge and information to many people. The research paper provides relevant information about the disease and the treatment options at hand .

To start writing a research paper, one should always go for a topic that is interesting and a bit challenging too. Here, the key to choosing the topic is to pick the one that you can manage. So, you could avoid such topics which are very technical or specialized and also those topics for which data is not easily available. Also, do not go for any controversial topic.

The researcher’s approach and attitude towards the topic will decide the amount of effort and enthusiasm.

Steps for writing Research Paper

The total number of pages included in a Research Paper relies upon the research topic. It may include 8 to 10 pages, which are:

• Introduction
• Review of Literature
• Methodology
• Research Analysis
• Recommendations

Also Read : Difference Between Research Proposal and Research Report

Key Differences Between Thesis and Research Paper

• A thesis implies an original, plagiarism-free, written academic document that acts as a final project for a university degree of a higher level. But, Research Paper is a novel, plagiarism-free long essay. It portrays the interpretation, evaluation or argument submitted by a researcher.
• The thesis acts as a final project. Whereas a research paper is a kind of research manual of journals.
• The length of the thesis is around 20,000 to 80,000 words. On the contrary, the length of the research paper is relative to the study.
• The thesis focuses on the central question or statement of an intellectual argument that entails further research. On the contrary, the research paper is concerned with proving the central argument.
• The purpose of submitting the thesis is to get the degree or professional qualification. It also presents the knowledge of the candidate in the respective field. Conversely, the aim of publishing research papers is to prove credibility and contribute knowledge in the respective field.
• While the student submits the thesis to the educational committee or panel of professors who review it. In contrast, scientists and other researchers read and review the research paper.
• Preparation and completion of thesis is always under the guidance of a supervisor. For submission of the thesis, the university assigns a supervisor to each student, under whose guidance the thesis must be completed. As against, no supervisor is appointed as a guide in case of a research paper.
• The thesis contains a broader description of the subject matter. In contrast, the research paper contains a narrow description of the subject matter.

Once the research paper is published, it increases the fellowship and job opportunities for new researchers. On the other hand, thesis writing will enable the students to get the desired degree at the end of the course they have opted.

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February 23, 2023 at 2:38 pm

So good and informative. These are quite beneficial insights. Thanks

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Drivers of Racial Differences in C-Sections

Black mothers with unscheduled deliveries are 25 percent more likely to deliver by C-section than non-Hispanic white mothers. The gap is highest for mothers with the lowest risk and is reduced by only four percentage points when controlling for observed medical risk factors, sociodemographic characteristics, hospital, and doctor or medical practice group. Remarkably, the gap disappears when the costs of ordering an unscheduled C-section are higher due to the unscheduled delivery occurring at the same time as a scheduled C-section. This finding is consistent with provider discretion—rather than differences in unobserved medical risk—accounting for persistent racial disparities in delivery method. The additional C-sections that take place for low-risk women when hospitals are unconstrained negatively impact maternal and infant health.

We thank Marcella Alsan, Marika Cabral, Eilidh Geddes, Elisa Jacome, Matt Notowidigdo, Joaquin Rubalcaba, Jonathan Zhang, and participants at the 2022 AEA Annual Meeting, the 2023 NBER Conference on Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, the 2023 Triangle Applied Microeconomics Conference, the University of Southern California-Schaeffer Center, the University of Georgia, and the Booth School of Business for helpful comments. Data for this project is confidential but can be accessed through a process outlined here: https://iphd.rutgers.edu/application-process. Our replication code is available as an online appendix. We would like to thank Barbara Bolden, Darrin Goldman, and Yong Sung Lee from the New Jersey Department of Health for assistance in accessing the data and Jimmy Kim for providing excellent research assistance. The authors have no conflicts to disclose. All interpretations and any errors are solely our own responsibility. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

MARC RIS BibTeΧ

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• DOI: 10.1136/bmjsem-2023-001831
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Comparative effects of time-restricted feeding versus normal diet on physical performance and body composition in healthy adults with regular exercise habits: a systematic review and meta-analysis

• Ke-wen Wan , Zi-han Dai , +2 authors Stephen Heung-Sang Wong
• Published in BMJ Open Sport &amp; Exercise… 1 August 2024
• BMJ Open Sport &amp; Exercise Medicine

42 References

An intervention of four weeks of time-restricted eating (16/8) in male long-distance runners does not affect cardiometabolic risk factors, effect of time-restricted eating and resistance training on high-speed strength and body composition, feasibility of time-restricted eating and impacts on cardiometabolic health in 24-h shift workers: the healthy heroes randomized control trial., effects of wearing a mask during exercise on physiological and psychological outcomes in healthy individuals: a systematic review and meta-analysis, complex physiology and clinical implications of time-restricted eating., clinical application of intermittent fasting for weight loss: progress and future directions, differential effects of one meal per day in the evening on metabolic health and physical performance in lean individuals, effect of time-restricted feeding on anthropometric, metabolic, and fitness parameters: a systematic review., the effects of a macronutrient-based diet and time-restricted feeding (16:8) on body composition in physically active individuals—a 14-week randomised controlled trial, four weeks of 16/8 time restrictive feeding in endurance trained male runners decreases fat mass, without affecting exercise performance, related papers.

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Difference between conference paper and journal paper

Many times I heard about papers published in conference. But still I am not able to find the major difference between papers published in a conference and those published in a journal. What is the difference?

• publications

• 13 You should specify the field you are interested in. In computer science, for example, it is very common to publish in conference proceedings due to the faster publishing cycle. However, this is not necessarily true for other fields where conferences might be just gatherings of the community to talk about ongoing research. –  Michael Mauderer Commented Mar 20, 2014 at 10:36
• 1 I am from mathematics background. –  monalisa Commented Mar 20, 2014 at 10:38
• Most of the conferences employ only one (or two) cycles of review/revise due to the deadlines. At a journal, in theory, you can have many cycles of sending your (revised) paper to the reviewers and then update it according to their comments. –  visoft Commented Mar 20, 2014 at 13:26
• @MichaelMauderer do you mean faster publishing compared to journal articles in general or in CS? Because in Chemistry a typical time between submission and first online is just a few months or even less. –  user64845 Commented Jan 2, 2018 at 0:22
• @DSVA Note: that comment is from '14 and things change. The comment was mostly meant to highlight differences between publication practices in different disciplines. –  Michael Mauderer Commented Jan 2, 2018 at 17:41

3 Answers 3

Conference papers refer to articles that are written with the goal of being accepted to a conference: typically an annual (or biannual) venue with a specific scope where you can present your results to the community, usually as an oral presentation, a poster presentation, or a tabled discussion. The review process for conference papers is typically within a fixed window: everyone submits for a certain deadline, then the review committee (program committee) collaborates to review and discuss papers, then all authors are notified with accept/reject at the same time. Since the review process has a fixed schedule (to meet the schedule of the physical meeting), conference review times are quite predictable.

Conference papers are typically published in collections called "proceedings": sometimes these are printed by university presses, by professional organizations, by big-name publishers, or simply online.

Journal papers refer to an article that's published in an issue of the journal. The frequency of issues for different journals varies from one-a-month to once-a-year, or anything in between; it may not even be regular. The review process for journals often does not have a fixed deadline or schedule: though journals may promise things like "reviews in six weeks", in my experience, this rarely if ever holds true. However, instead of conferences that typically have only accept/reject decisions, journals typically have a rolling review schedule and reviewers can opt to ask the authors for revisions, meaning that there might be multiple review phases (often limited to three, at which stage the paper is rejected/accepted).

Since conference papers have a fixed schedule and provide the authors a venue for discussion and feedback, they are generally for earlier-term work or for "announcing/marking an idea", or for finding collaborators. Furthermore, conference papers tend to have fixed page-limits, which restricts the content to preliminary findings.

Journal papers tend to have generous page-limits (or none at all), but typically require the work to be more comprehensive and self-contained in return.

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 churn of papers in conferences. Top conferences can have acceptance rates around 10%, and as such, A+ conference papers are often held in high regard within the community: these venues are far more competitive than many of the best journals. Still, even in the CS area, metric-wise (for hiring, positions, funding, etc.), journals will often still count for more than a conference following the norm in other academic fields.

• 10 "in most fields, papers in well-recognized journals tend to have more prestige" - with the exception of CS. And the last line of the answer is just not true at all. –  Suresh Commented Mar 20, 2014 at 16:16
• 2 "In most fields" is followed by a full paragraph on the exceptional nature of CS. As for the last line, I use the qualifier "often": this has been the case in many of the institutes I have applied to or been at, has been the case for my PhD, etc. In my experience, although CS departments internally will give due weight to good conference papers, they are still bound by the same standards as the rest of the university departments in terms of hiring/firing/promotions/funds. What are your counter-arguments as to why journals will not often count for more than a conference in CS? –  badroit Commented Mar 22, 2014 at 1:21
• 4 It's based on my experiences (at different levels) evaluating work and people, and watching how others do it, and how people talk about research work. It's not an absolute statement, but CS departments have spent many years in battles with deans convincing them that conferences count for more than journals. –  Suresh Commented Mar 22, 2014 at 5:27
• 1 even in the CS area, metric-wise (for hiring, positions, funding, etc.), journals will often still count for more than a conference — Speaking as the chair of the faculty recruiting committee in a top-5 CS department: This is simply incorrect. I don't recall anyone on my committee ever pointing out a CS journal paper in any junior candidate's CV. (For interdisciplinary folks, it's important for research to be published in journals in the other area: Biology research in biology journals, for example.) –  JeffE Commented Mar 22, 2014 at 17:13
• 2 @JeffE, I think that being in a top-5 CS department in the US means that the department will have it's own policies, etc. ... I think it would be less representative of other departments. As for " this is simply incorrect ": you cannot refute my statement with one counter-example. I said that it is often the case, not that it is always the case. Maybe have a look at: academia.stackexchange.com/a/18434/7746 . –  badroit Commented Mar 22, 2014 at 21:34

It may be useful to expand on something which is implicit in Pete's answer. In pure mathematics, "conference papers" as described by badroit don't actually exist . Some (but by no means all, or even most) math conferences have published "proceedings", but these are not collections of the talks (or posters, or whatever) given at the conference. Likewise, in math there is no review process prior to the conference to decide which presentations will be given.

Instead, it is decided to have a conference, a bunch of people are invited, and some subset of them are asked to give talks. (How all of that happens varies a lot from case to case, but that's an answer for another question.) The point is that the speakers are chosen before anyone knows what they intend to talk about. The talks themselves may be about work in progress, work that's already submitted or published, or a synthesis. Basically, speakers give the same sort of talk they'd give in a departmental seminar which happened to have an audience full of experts. In particular, a talk frequently doesn't correspond to a single paper, or to work which is still available to be submitted for publication. Thus the phrase "present a paper", which people from many other fields use to describe what they do at a conference, sounds rather odd to mathematicians. (At least, it does to me.)

Finally, when there is a proceedings volume, all of the speakers — and possibly also the other participants who didn't give talks — are invited to submit papers. Those papers don't necessarily have anything to do with the actual talks (although hopefully both have to do with the topic of the conference). So the "proceedings" don't necessarily bear any resemblance to what actually happened at the conference, making "proceedings" rather a misnomer. Basically, a proceedings volume is like a one-issue journal (sometimes it is an issue of a regular journal) on the topic of the conference. Pete already explained some of the ways they are perceived differently from regular journals.

• Thanks for this answer. I realized when I wrote my answer that I was underplaying the fact that you are not selected to speak at a conference based on the paper you submit (because you don't submit the paper in advance). One reason I didn't say this is because I wasn't sure whether you do submit papers in advance in other fields! –  Pete L. Clark Commented Mar 22, 2014 at 18:47
• One comment: "Those papers don't necessarily have anything to do with the actual talks...." surprises me a little. "Necessarily" is a strong word, but in my experience the papers in the proceedings more often than not do somehow correspond to the talk that was given (or would have been given if the invitee had attended!), though since they are of the usual size for a paper there is much more there than is in any one talk. In the proceedings I've read such papers often begin by saying a little bit about what was actually said in the talk. –  Pete L. Clark Commented Mar 22, 2014 at 18:47
• Admittedly the practice that I am describing above applies more to lecture series than individual talks, but in my experience these are the types of conference proceedings that I encounter more often. (If you are giving one lecture on your recent work, then most of the time that work just appears in an unrelated, conventional journal.) –  Pete L. Clark Commented Mar 22, 2014 at 18:50
• @Pete: What I've described is probably the extreme case, but it is an accurate description of some conference proceedings which I have seen, published in, and refereed for. –  Mark Meckes Commented Mar 23, 2014 at 7:37

For many questions like this, you can get some kind of answer without including information on your own discipline, but it will be at best some kind of weighted average across different disciplines. If you indicate your discipline in the question then you may well get both general questions and questions focused to your discipline.

You ask about mathematics. We do not have a very strong tradition of conference papers at all compared to most other academic fields. The idea of a "prestigious conference paper" is almost an oxymoron to me. There are a small number of yearly conferences which regularly publish their proceedings, but that the papers are solid and interesting and sufficiently thematically connected to one another that you might actually want to own the book they get published in is close to a best case scenario. Actually I get annoyed even by this because conference proceedings that get published as books tend to be books which are very expensive, difficult to locate (by virtue of bibliographic information handled in a strange way) and often not carried by university libraries.

At the moment I have 22 published papers and half a dozen other submissions, and I have never submitted a paper to a conference. Curious as to whether this was my own idiosyncrasy, I just looked up the published papers of my two senior colleagues in my field (number theory). One of them has no conference papers. The other has three but the most recent is from 1989. I do get the sense that this was a more common phenomenon about a generation ago.

Why don't mathematicians like to publish conference papers? Here are some ideas:

1) I don't get the sense that many people are getting their submissions to conference proceedings turned away: rather, I think most often they simply ask everyone who spoke in the conference [or in the section, or whatever] whether they would like to contribute an article. They usually are "refereed" in some formal sense, but in my understanding it is usually nominal, and the proceedings are viewed mostly as a record of as many of the actual talks as they could persuade people to write up.

2) Because they generally do want a paper from as many people who gave a talk at the conference as possible, the shoe is really on the other foot and they often end up having to cajole busy people to get around to polishing their lecture notes. Thus unlike in other fields where I gather conference proceedings get novel work out quickly, in mathematics the proceedings can appear two years or more after the conference, which is slow even compared to journal publication.

3) There seems to be a sense that conferences (with certain obvious exceptions like the ICM) are more social occasions than serious professional events. (I mean, if I want to hear about the crackerjack theorem you proved last week, it's likely I can just download it from the arxiv or your webpage or ask you to send me a copy.) The number one reason mathematicians like to give conferences is to celebrate someone's birthday, and a popular followup is to train young people in the field: these are often called "summer schools". There is a sort of community awareness that -- again, with certain famous and not so recent exceptions like the Grothendieck Festschrift -- such conference proceedings are more likely to contain heartfelt remarks about one's revered former advisor than really cutting edge research. I have even heard some people jokingly refer to Festschrifts as dumping grounds for inferior product.

• 1 I disagree with 3). whilst social interactions are definitely part of a conference the conferences themselves are in my view very serious professional events where one gets to hear the ideas behind theorems which are not always present in a paper and where you can extend your network. This holds a fortiori for students and junior staff These sort of statements are exactly what administrators will use to cut our limited funding even further. –  Hercule Poirot Commented Jun 14, 2022 at 7:09

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