I was inquisitive to know the actual difference :P I collected the following notes. here it is!
1. Subject matter:
The subject matter of a research paper needs to be individual and single subject oriented or a part of the subject. It should clearly focus on what it deals about since the reader almost knows the subject matter of interest. When it comes to thesis paper, it is not necessary that you have to stick on focused to only one single point. Yet, it might sometimes be necessary.
2. Authors' Point of view:
A research paper cannot be a complete compilation. It might contain collected information but it should be a compendium of both collected matters and newly found ideas. The author is required to invest his ideas and the work process in the paper. When it comes to thesis, it necessarily need not contain new ideas of the author. It can be a compilation of what the author learned during different stages. It would be enough if it holds points that explain the experience of the author with a particular subject.
3. Proximity:
Research paper is developed in a very long time and states only the observed truth. They don't have any proximity. Whatever is concluded in a research paper should necessarily be true and obvious since the statements are written after a research. A thesis is not so. There are many philosophical theses that are theoretically correct but practically false.
These are the most important differences between a thesis and a research paper. With thesis, more amounts of theoretical facts are observed and with research paper, though with some exclusion, practical approach is taken into full consideration. When a thesis paper is mostly done in academic point of view and interpersonal skills development, with a guide, mostly a class teacher guiding the students, the research paper speaks about the observation and the findings of the author. There are also a few differences in usage of quotations. It is generally correct to write a research paper in APA format with quotations and reference to the quotations. A thesis paper may require most of this since it is a collection of references.
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