During your academic career, you will have to write lots of academic papers like an essay, assignment, coursework, thesis and dissertation etc. The structure and format of these academic papers are different from each other. From an academic point of view, a thesis and a journal article are two different formats of reports. Moreover, the aim of writing a thesis is also different from the aim of writing a journal article. If you are a researcher, it is necessary for you to understand the difference between a thesis and a journal article. Here, we will discuss 10 differences between a thesis and a journal article.
Purpose:
The first main difference between a thesis and a journal article is in their purpose. A thesis is written by keeping in mind the educational purpose. It means that in a thesis, you will have to discuss how much you know about a specific topic. On the other hand, the purpose of a journal article is to bring advancement in your field. It means that by writing a journal article, you will have to establish credibility and you will have to contribute to your area of the field.
Potential Audience:
The audience of a thesis consists of the educational committee members or professors. With the help of a thesis, they will try to evaluate your performance that either you are eligible to get an educational degree or not. On the other hand, the audience of a journal article consists of busy scientists and researchers. They will try to evaluate your journal article on the basis of the practical ideas backed with evidence.
Length:
A thesis is longer than a journal article. A thesis consists of up to 50 pages. It means that there are up to 20,000 words in a thesis. On the other hand, you will have to write a thesis just within 3,000 to 6,000 words.
Abstract:
The meaning of abstract in both thesis and journal article is the same. It means that an abstract provides a short summary of the academic paper. The only difference is in the length of the abstract of a thesis and a journal article. The length of an abstract in the thesis is longer than in a journal article. In a thesis, the abstract consists of just 350 words. On the other hand, in a journal article, the abstract consists of 150 to 250 words.
Introduction:
In a thesis, you will have to write a more detailed introduction. On the other hand, in a journal article, the introduction is concise. While writing the introduction for a thesis, you will have to present all the information relevant to your topic idea. On the other hand, while writing a thesis, you will have to present information that is helpful to you to understand the gap in the literature.
Materials and Methods:
While writing a thesis, you will have to provide complete information about all the methods and approaches that you have adopted to gather the data for your thesis. On the other hand, while writing a journal article, you just need to provide information about specific research methodology that you have adopted to gather the data for your journal article.
Discussion:
While composing the discussion chapter of your thesis, you will have to provide enough and detailed information about the results. On the other hand, while composing discussion chapter of your journal article, you just need to provide clear and concise interpretation about the results.
References:
At the end of a thesis and a journal article, you will have to provide a list of all the resources from where you have gathered the data. While writing a thesis, you will have to provide a references list in the form of an exhaustive list. On the other hand, in a journal article, you will have to provide a references list in the form of a selective list.
Appendices:
While composing the appendices section of your thesis, inclusion is mandatory because you will have to provide a complete detail about the documentation. On the other hand, in a journal article, inclusion is optional.
Findings:
While conducting research, you will get some findings. In a thesis, you will have to provide a list of all the findings. On the other hand, in a journal article, you will have to provide only a selected list of findings.
Author Bio:
Robert Fawl is a professional Content Writer based in London, UK. He is an author and blogger with experience in writing different academic assignments. Currently associated with Dissertation??????? Writers UK. If you need dissertation writing services to write your dissertation, you can contact him.
