research article or research paper

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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Difference between Research Paper and Research Article

Research paper and research articles are bits of composing that require inquiry, critical analysis, demonstration and insight of few special abilities from understudies and researchers. This article endeavors to see whether the two terms are synonymous or there is any contrast between the two.

Research paper

Research can be said as activity which is specified much significance in scholastics. Be that as it may, research papers are not only these task papers composed by understudies as those composed by scholars and researchers and also published in different journals are additionally alluded to as research papers.

Research Article

Research article is a bit of composing that have original research thought with the pertinent data and discoveries. A research article is a composing or paper that advises individuals of a way breaking a finding or research with data to bolster the finding.

Research Paper VS Research Article

 There is a pattern to allude to academic papers and term papers composed by understudies in schools as a research paper

The articles presented by researchers and scholars with their noteworthy examination are known as research articles.

Research papers composed by the students mostly not take in journals.

Research articles composed by researchers or scholars mostly published in prestigious scientific journals.

A research paper depends on the original research. The sort of research may fluctuate, contingent upon your field or topics that include survey, experiments, questionnaire, interview and so on; yet authors require gathering and investigating raw data and make an original and real study. The research paper will be founded on the investigation and understanding of this raw data.

A research article depends on other different published articles. It is usually not depend on original study. Research articles for the most part condense the current writing on a point trying to clarify the present condition of comprehension on topic.

A research paper can be said as the primary source that means, it studies the techniques and consequences of original study performed by the writers.

A research article can be said as secondary source that means it is composed about different articles, and does not studies actual research of its own.

• Importance:

In research paper, every part of this has its own importance. A concise is important in light of the fact that it shows that the writers know about existing literature, and want to add to this presented research definitively. A methods part is usually detailed and it is important in a way that different analysts have the capacity to check and/or duplicate these strategies. A result segment depicts the results of the analysis.

Research articles can be considered very important because they describe upon different articles that they analyze to propose new research bearings, to give powerful support for presented theories or distinguish designs among presented research studies. For understudy analysts, these research articles give an excellent review of presented literature on that topic. In the event that you discover a literature review that can be fit in study, investigate its references/works referred to list for guide on other articles.

From the above article we can conclude that research paper is the primary source whereas research articles are secondary.

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17 Comments Already

good article but which of them is more useful when we conduct a research

both. but research paper is more useful.

Nice explanation

There is a little difference but both are different.

Nice but i have a confusion that can a guys of Bachelors level can write Research Papers?

YEs they can if they do research project instead of development project and do something new in their project.

Thank you 😊

do you have something in your mind then please share with us. We will appreciate that.

Though it may be fairly easy to learn to speak English well enough to be understood, learning to write English correctly is very difficult, as this article so clearly illustrates. Though I greatly admire all those who are making an effort to learn another language, like English, as a non-native speaker, it is wrong for these same individuals to assume they can write English well enough to publish articles.

This article is so poorly written that I cannot understand most of it. For instance, the following phrases are utter nonsense: “A research paper can be said as the primary source that means,” — “A concise is important in light of the fact that it shows that . . .” — “A methods part is usually detailed” — “A result segment depicts the results . . .” — “they describe upon different articles that they analyze to propose new research bearings . . . or distinguish designs among presented . .. studies” — “to clarify the present condition of comprehension” — “Research papers and . . . articles require inquiry, critical analysis, demonstration and insight of few special abilities from . . .”

This article also states that “[a] research article . . . is usually not depend (sic) on original study,” then contradicts that in the next sentence with “[r]esearch articles . . . condense the current writing on a point . . .” Most studies these days are current. But, even if a study was conducted 50 years ago, it’s a cardinal rule that one should always use the original source of information rather than relying on the articles of other authors who may have misquoted something from the original study.

Articles like this one do a grave disservice to the viewing and researching public. To present this article as informative is disingenuous. To ask people who are seeking useful information to struggle with reading and trying to make sense of this poor English is so unkind and inconsiderate that I feel compelled to bring it to the author’s and publisher’s attention.

I would be honored to help anyone with their efforts to write English, but, please, be honest with yourselves about your lack of knowledge, so you will cease and desist the writing of anything online until your English skills have improved significantly. Thank you.

Thanks for such a detail input. Best wishes.

Yes you are saying right. So if you have the skills to deliver the answer in an efficient manner so kindly type it for me. Because I really want to know the difference between research paper and research article

Yes I agree with Martha. I myself found difficulty in going through the article. Although the topic is very important to be discussed because being the student of graduate, I must know the difference. But the way of delivering has dispirited me that now what other website should I visit to get accurate answer.

we need Published example of a scientific research article and another for a scientific research

how can I cite this?

“Difference between Research Paper and Research Article”, Reserachpedia.info, https://researchpedia.info/difference-between-research-paper-and-research-article/ , [27 December 2021].

I don’t understand anything. I am confused more than i came. Otehrwise, thank you for a trial. Simplify this communication.

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Review vs. Research Articles

How can you tell if you are looking at a research paper, review paper or a systematic review  examples and article characteristics are provided below to help you figure it out., research papers.

A research article describes a study that was performed by the article’s author(s). It explains the methodology of the study, such as how data was collected and analyzed, and clarifies what the results mean. Each step of the study is reported in detail so that other researchers can repeat the experiment.

To determine if a paper is a research article, examine its wording. Research articles describe actions taken by the researcher(s) during the experimental process. Look for statements like “we tested,” “I measured,” or “we investigated.” Research articles also describe the outcomes of studies. Check for phrases like “the study found” or “the results indicate.” Next, look closely at the formatting of the article. Research papers are divided into sections that occur in a particular order: abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, and references.

Let's take a closer look at this research paper by Bacon et al. published in the International Journal of Hypertension :

Review Papers

Review articles do not describe original research conducted by the author(s). Instead, they give an overview of a specific subject by examining previously published studies on the topic. The author searches for and selects studies on the subject and then tries to make sense of their findings. In particular, review articles look at whether the outcomes of the chosen studies are similar, and if they are not, attempt to explain the conflicting results. By interpreting the findings of previous studies, review articles are able to present the current knowledge and understanding of a specific topic.

Since review articles summarize the research on a particular topic, students should read them for background information before consulting detailed, technical research articles. Furthermore, review articles are a useful starting point for a research project because their reference lists can be used to find additional articles on the subject.

Let's take a closer look at this review paper by Bacon et al. published in Sports Medicine :

Systematic Review Papers

A systematic review is a type of review article that tries to limit the occurrence of bias. Traditional, non-systematic reviews can be biased because they do not include all of the available papers on the review’s topic; only certain studies are discussed by the author. No formal process is used to decide which articles to include in the review. Consequently, unpublished articles, older papers, works in foreign languages, manuscripts published in small journals, and studies that conflict with the author’s beliefs can be overlooked or excluded. Since traditional reviews do not have to explain the techniques used to select the studies, it can be difficult to determine if the author’s bias affected the review’s findings.

Systematic reviews were developed to address the problem of bias. Unlike traditional reviews, which cover a broad topic, systematic reviews focus on a single question, such as if a particular intervention successfully treats a medical condition. Systematic reviews then track down all of the available studies that address the question, choose some to include in the review, and critique them using predetermined criteria. The studies are found, selected, and evaluated using a formal, scientific methodology in order to minimize the effect of the author’s bias. The methodology is clearly explained in the systematic review so that readers can form opinions about the quality of the review.

Let's take a closer look this systematic review paper by Vigano et al. published in Lancet Oncology :

Finding Review and Research Papers in PubMed

Many databases have special features that allow the searcher to restrict results to articles that match specific criteria. In other words, only articles of a certain type will be displayed in the search results. These “limiters” can be useful when searching for research or review articles. PubMed has a limiter for article type, which is located on the left sidebar of the search results page. This limiter can filter the search results to show only review articles.

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