term paper and research paper difference

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Differences between term papers and research papers

While you might think they are the same, the term paper and the research paper are really two different things. The two share similar features. They may even be related. But there are differences to consider.

Generally speaking, one writes a term paper to indicate that he or she has learned or acquired the knowledge of a particular subject. The term paper is given at the end of the term and counts as a significant percentage of the final exam. A term paper typically runs between 3,000 and 5,000 words. Term papers allow for a critical examination of current topics and usually allow for the writer’s opinion. The term paper contains arguments and/or persuasions that must be supported with facts taken from a variety of reliable sources, such as academic papers, scholarly magazines or textbooks.

On the other hand, a research paper is typically an academic study carried out with regards to answering theoretical questions. The student is required to interpret the information given and turn it into a significant, noteworthy paper. A research paper can consist of up to 5,000 words. It is up to your instructor to indicate the length of the research paper…

In each instance, topics are chosen by the instructor and/or the student. In each instance, research and reference materials are required. In each instance, it is helpful to develop an outline before attempting to write the final drafts. In fact, the term paper and the research paper share a lot of the same qualities.

The real difference between a term paper and a research paper is that a research paper can be assigned at any time, whereas, a term paper is typically assigned at the end of the term...

Writing term papers or research papers may seem like a waste of good time; yet, both are designed to help you better communicate your knowledge and understanding of a specific topic. Both are designed to help you understand the methodologies involved in note-taking, referencing and research.

One final note: As you endeavor to write each of these papers respectively, acknowledge and incorporate what you have learned from previous writing assignments. And, always utilize your writing as an opportunity to communicate in interesting and creative ways. Make an argument. State your case. And be sure to back up what you say with sound, reliable evidence. The best writers will give one-hundred percent, regardless of what the assignment entails.

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Term Paper vs. Research Paper: What are the Differences?

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As a college student, you’re most probably familiar with a research paper. But have you heard of its lesser-known cousin, the term paper?

Not sure what the differences are or if there is a difference at all? Though most students are skeptical, there’s a significant difference between a term paper and a research paper.

This post will discuss term paper vs. research paper and help you distinguish between the two. We’ll help you understand what makes each type of these papers unique so you can be confident when handling both.

What is a term paper?

A term paper is a form of academic writing that requires extensive research and focus on a particular subject. It’s an assignment that college students are expected to complete at the end of an academic term.

A term paper typically requires extensive research and strong analytical skills. It demonstrates a student's understanding of the topics studied and allows them to form arguments based on the information collected throughout the term.

Depending on the course and professor, term papers can take many forms, including reports, essays, or reviews but must always meet high academic standards.

Does a term paper need a thesis?

No. Unlike research papers, term papers don’t always need a thesis. While some instructors may require you to include a thesis in your term paper, others may be more flexible. If you're unsure whether your assignment requires a thesis, always ask your professor before you start writing.

What is a research paper?

A research paper is an academic document that involves the systematic investigation of a specific research topic. It requires comprehensive research to collect and analyze relevant data, form a hypothesis, and draw meaningful conclusions.

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A research paper may include primary research, such as experiments and surveys, or secondary sources, like published works and peer-reviewed journal articles. The structure and format of a research paper vary depending on the topic and the type of research undertaken.

Research papers are effective tools for establishing, discussing, and expanding upon current knowledge within the given field.

What is the difference between a research thesis and a term paper?

A research thesis is usually present in research papers and outlines the central argument or the claim the paper is trying to make, supported by evidence. A term paper may or may not have a thesis, depending on the assignment. It may also present an original argument or claim, but it will be shorter and based primarily on primary sources.

Term paper vs. research paper: 8 key differences

Let’s discuss the key components that set the two papers apart so you won’t confuse one for the other when writing.

One of the main differences between the two is in the purpose they serve.

The main purpose of a term paper is, to sum up the course material learned during the semester. It’s typically assigned at the end of a semester to evaluate what a student has known and understood throughout the semester.

On the other hand, the purpose of a research paper is to assess your understanding of a particular topic through original research. It requires you to conduct research and draw your own conclusions about the topic at hand. A research paper can be assigned as part of a larger project or as an independent assignment.

Term papers tend to be more general in nature, while research papers are more specific. Term papers require you to synthesize information from multiple sources, but they will generally not require you to conduct original research.

Research papers will require you to conduct your own original research on a specific topic. They may also require you to find and synthesize information from published research studies. Research papers are often longer and more comprehensive.

Topic selection

The topics for term papers are usually assigned by professors, while for a research paper, students choose the topics themselves. This can sometimes make it easier to write a term paper because you’re not responsible for researching and coming up with the topic. However, it also means you may have less control over the direction of your paper.

For a research paper, you can choose the topic you want to research and write about. The topic of a term paper may be broad, for instance, "the effects of social media on college students."

On the other hand, the topic of a research paper should be more specific, for instance, "the effects of social media on the mental health of college students."

Level of research

As mentioned, research papers require more in-depth research than term papers. This means you’ll have to spend more time gathering sources and evidence to support your claims in a research paper.

Since term papers are generally broad in nature, they require less research than a research paper. However, both papers require you to find and use outside sources to support your claims and arguments.

References and sources

A research paper relies heavily on primary sources and first-hand accounts of an event or phenomenon. Primary sources include interviews, surveys, or field research.

A term paper may only require secondary sources, which are second-hand accounts written about an event or phenomenon. It typically relies on information from lecture notes, texts, and class discussions.

You may also need to get more information to support your points from journal articles, dissertations, textbooks, political commentary, and biographies.

In order to write a successful research paper, you must have an in-depth understanding of the topic and be able to synthesize information from multiple sources. On the other hand, writing a term paper focuses on summarizing the materials already presented to you in class.

Paper length

Term papers are usually shorter than research papers. They often range from 1-3 pages in length, while research papers tend to be longer .

Research papers are often 5-10 pages or more, depending on the instructions of the assignment and the subject matter. This makes sense considering research papers require more effort, more in-depth research, and more content than a term paper.

Some research papers can go as long as 15 pages if the topic under investigation is broad and requires a lot of written content.

Structure and organization

A term paper typically follows one main structure with few variations. It involves an introduction containing your thesis statement , the body paragraphs which support your thesis statement, and a conclusion that summarizes your main points.

The number of body paragraphs may vary depending on the number of points you want to discuss in the paper. However, 3-4 paragraphs are usually enough.

A research paper may also follow the same structure but often has additional sections like the literature review, the methodology, data collection, data analysis, and the discussion.

Since you need to draw conclusions from different sources of information, an organization is a key factor to consider when writing a research paper.

Time of assignment

Another key factor that differentiates a term paper from a research paper is that they are written at different times during the semester.

Term papers are often assigned near the end of the semester or trimester. This is because they require students to demonstrate what they have learned throughout their coursework.

However, research papers can be assigned at any point during the semester since they focus on any particular topic or issue related to your coursework, regardless of the timing. That said, don’t be surprised when your professor assigns you a research paper towards the end of the semester.

Key takeaway

In the end, understanding the difference between a term paper and a research paper is vital to completing a successful academic paper.

While both a term paper and a research paper require research and analysis, each aims to uniquely contribute to a student's writing competency and understanding of a topic. You should always be aware of the expectations from your professor when writing both types of papers.

Even though they’re both different types of academic papers, our team of professional paper writers can help you with both. They are well aware of the requirements of these two assignments and can research, write, proofread, edit, and cite a high-quality, custom-written term paper and research paper for high school and college.

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Term Paper vs Research Paper: How Do They Compare

by  Antony W

November 14, 2022

It’s easy to confuse term and research paper for the same thing because they have a number of elements that easily overlap. However, there are features that set them apart. In this term paper versus research paper guide, we look at the similarities and differences so you never confuse the two assignments for the same thing ever again.

What is a Research Paper?

We can define a research paper as an academic piece of assignment that requires a student to investigate subject methodically and theoretically and present their findings on the topic. Notably, research papers focus on analyzing issues (or problems) within a specific course.

In other words, when your professor asks you to write a research paper, they expect you to study a specific problem. More often than not, the problem under investigation is one that either has had questionable results in the past or hasn’t had an extensive coverage in the already existing studies.

What is a Term Paper?

A term paper, on the other hand, is an assignment issued to test student’s knowledge on a given subject or themes after a given duration of studies.

The type of assignment you write in the case of a term paper will vary depending on your instructor’s preference. They may ask you to write an essay, complete a test, or do some school work linked to the theme you’ve explored in a classroom setting.

You will write a term paper near the end of a class, and what you score for the assignment will count in that specific subject’s final grades.

Term Paper vs Research Paper: What Are The Key Differences?

Many elements easily overlap between a term paper and a research paper, but that doesn’t mean they’re 100% similar to one another. You need to learn the differences so that you never confuse between these two types of assignments.

The table below indicates the apparent differences between a term paper and a research paper.

These differences may not be clear at a first glance, so it often helps to do a lookup when in doubt.

Let’s take this even further by explaining these similarities and differences in more details so that you have more insights on the same.

Term Paper Vs Research Paper: Similarities

Topic Selection

The criterion for topic selection is the same for term and research paper. Your instructor can either assign you a topic to work on or ask you to choose one yourself, with the option to identify your own topic being the most common option.

If your instructor has given you the freedom to choose a topic yourself, make sure the subject you pick relates to the discussion had and study material issued in class.

Requirements

Both term and research paper need to adhere to academic formatting and referencing style. You’ll find these requirements clearly indicated in the assignments’ instructions. If your instructor doesn’t give you a formatting and referencing style to use, stick to MLA or APA.

A Term Paper Can Be a Research Assignment

We understand that this can bring a lot of confusion, but it’s important to note that a term paper can also be a research assignment. If your instructor has asked you to investigate a topic based on existing evidence by using a methodological approach in a 10-page term paper, they’re most likely asking you to write a research assignment.

Term Paper vs Research Paper: Understanding the Differences

Structural Differences

One clear difference between term paper and a research paper is the components that go into the assignment.

A research paper should have an introduction, literature review, methodology, results (or findings), discussion (or analysis), conclusion, and reflection (optional).

You won’t have a question to explore in a term paper and it doesn’t include a hypothesis either. The assignment doesn’t require appendices, but your instructor may ask you to include an annotated bibliography in the term paper.

Differences in Goals

The goal of a research paper assignment is to solve a specific problem. Often, you’ll have to study existing literature to find gaps or contradictions and then suggest solutions based on your findings. 

A term paper, on the other hand, seeks to test your knowledge on a topic. The emphasis is on testing your understanding of a given subject or theme discussed in classroom.

Differences in Length

A term paper can be longer than a typical essay, but it won’t be as voluminous as a research paper. In fact, term papers hardly ever go beyond 20 pages, and the shortest ones that Help for Assessment writers have worked on are as short as 1,000 words.

A research paper is longer than a term paper, with the number of pages ranging between 10 and 40 give or take, if not more at least.

Term papers tend to be shorter because, in part, they’re a bridge between essays and research works, and mostly because they don’t presuppose serious data collection and detailed analysis.

Differences in Deadlines and Grades

The word term, in respect to academic assignments, refers to a finite period within which a task should be complete. Therefore, in essence, a term paper is an assessment given at the very end of a course, and it often determines a student’s final grades.

A research paper may or may not influence your final grade depending on the instructions given – or your professor’s preference.

About the author 

Antony W is a professional writer and coach at Help for Assessment. He spends countless hours every day researching and writing great content filled with expert advice on how to write engaging essays, research papers, and assignments.

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Term papers versus research papers and how to write them, rachel r.n..

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College and university students often have to do writing assignments that involve a lot of research, planning, and writing. While many students know about research papers, only a few really understand what a term paper is and how to write one.

If you’re confused about the differences or wondering if there’s any distinction between the two, you’re not alone. Many students can’t tell a research paper apart from a term paper and end up not doing as well as they could.

In this short guide about term papers versus research papers, we’ll break down the differences and similarities of these common assignments in college and university. This will help clear up any confusion and get you ready for the work ahead.

Why is it important to know the difference between a research paper and a term paper?

Well, first things first, these two papers serve different purposes and have different structures. When you compare an essay to a research paper, you’ll notice that an essay is simpler. It usually involves discussing a specific problem based on personal observations.

On the other hand, a research paper is a more serious task. It requires a thorough analysis of a topic from various perspectives, and the writer needs to study credible and relevant sources.

Now, once you grasp the essential difference between an essay and a research paper, let’s look at how to understand the distinction between a term paper and a research paper. Knowing the nature of these papers is crucial for figuring out how to organize your writing and meet your professor’s requirements.

Now that we have a solid overview, let’s explore the nuances of term papers and research papers in more detail.

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What is a Term Paper?

A term paper is an important academic writing assignment that students undertake at the end of an academic term . It involves extensive research and analysis of a particular subject, demonstrating a student’s knowledge and understanding of the course material. Term papers can take various forms, such as reports, essays, or reviews, but they all require adherence to high academic standards.

Unlike research papers, term papers may not always require a thesis statement. Instead, they focus on summarizing and synthesizing the concepts and information learned throughout the term. Term papers provide an opportunity for students to showcase their comprehension of the course material and their ability to apply critical thinking skills to analyze and discuss the topics covered.

Completing a term paper successfully requires thorough research, organization, and clear writing. It is important to gather relevant sources, cite them properly, and present the findings in a coherent manner. Term papers are typically assigned towards the end of the term, giving students enough time to delve into the subject matter and produce a well-researched and well-structured paper.

What is a Research Paper?

A research paper is an academic document that involves the systematic investigation of a specific research topic . It requires comprehensive research, data analysis, and the formation of meaningful conclusions. Research papers can include primary research through experiments, surveys, or interviews, or rely on secondary sources such as books, scholarly articles, or online databases.

Research papers are typically longer and more in-depth than term papers, and they often require a thesis statement to guide the research process. The structure and format of a research paper can vary based on the discipline and the specific requirements set by the instructor or academic institution. However, research papers generally include sections such as an introduction, literature review, methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion .

When writing a research paper, it is important to choose a specific research topic that aligns with your academic interests and goals. Conducting thorough research and critically analyzing the collected data are crucial steps in the research process. The findings and conclusions drawn from the research should contribute to the existing knowledge within the field and provide valuable insights for further study

Related blog article: A Comprehensive Guide to Writing a Nursing Research Paper

Key Characteristics of a Research Paper:

• Systematic investigation of a specific research topic
• Comprehensive research and data analysis
• Inclusion of primary or secondary sources
• Potentially longer and more in-depth than term papers
• Structured with sections such as introduction, literature review, methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion
• Contribution to existing knowledge within the field

By understanding the purpose and characteristics of research papers, students can effectively conduct research, analyze data, and contribute to their chosen academic field.

Key Differences Between Term Papers and Research Papers

When it comes to academic assignments, term papers and research papers are often mentioned interchangeably. However, there are distinct differences between the two in terms of purpose , approach , topic selection , level of research , references and sources , paper length , structure and organization , and time of assignment .

A term paper aims to summarize course material and evaluate a student’s understanding of the topics studied. On the other hand, a research paper requires original research and analysis of a specific topic to contribute to existing knowledge within a field.

Approach and Topic Selection

Term papers tend to have a more general approach, focusing on summarizing the material learned throughout a semester, while research papers require a more specific and in-depth analysis of a chosen topic. Term papers are often assigned by professors, while research papers allow students to select their own topics.

Level of Research

Term papers mostly rely on secondary sources, such as textbooks and scholarly articles, to support arguments and provide evidence. In contrast, research papers require more extensive research , often relying on a combination of primary sources and secondary sources.

References and Sources

Term papers typically use a limited number of sources for referencing, while research papers require a comprehensive list of sources and citations. Research papers also commonly include a literature review section to provide a context for the research topic.

Paper Length and Structure

Term papers are generally shorter in length compared to research papers. They usually follow a traditional essay structure with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Research papers, on the other hand, can be more extensive and often include additional sections such as an abstract, literature review, methodology, results, and discussion.

Time of Assignment

Term papers are often assigned at the end of a semester, serving as a comprehensive assessment of what students have learned. Research papers, however, can be assigned at any point during an academic term, depending on the course requirements and objectives.

Understanding these key differences is crucial for students to meet the specific requirements of term papers and research papers. It allows them to approach the assignments with the appropriate level of research , structure their papers effectively, and deliver a successful academic output.

The Purpose of Term Papers

Term papers serve a specific purpose in academia, as they are designed to summarize the course material learned during a semester and evaluate a student’s knowledge and understanding of the topics studied. They are a way for students to demonstrate their comprehension of the subject matter through written analysis and arguments. Term papers play a crucial role in assessing what students have learned and serve as a culmination and reflection of the knowledge acquired throughout the term.

When writing a term paper, the primary goal is to summarize the course material accurately. This requires a thorough understanding of the topics covered, as well as the ability to condense and synthesize the information into a coherent and concise written document. Term papers allow students to showcase their ability to analyze, evaluate, and draw connections between different concepts discussed in class.

Furthermore, term papers also serve as an opportunity for students to express their own thoughts and insights on the subject matter. While summarizing the course material is essential, term papers also provide an avenue for students to critically engage with the content, offering their own perspectives, interpretations, and arguments based on their understanding of the material.

Key Components of a Term Paper

When writing a term paper, there are key components that should be included to effectively fulfill its purpose. These components include:

• A clear introduction that provides an overview of the topic and sets the context for the paper.
• A well-structured body that presents and analyzes the course material, drawing connections between different concepts.
• Evidence-based arguments that support the student’s understanding and interpretation of the material.
• Proper citation and referencing of sources used to avoid plagiarism.
• A conclusion that summarizes the main points and demonstrates the student’s mastery of the course material.

Benefits of Writing Term Papers

While writing term papers may seem like a daunting task, they offer several benefits to students. Firstly, term papers provide an opportunity for students to develop and enhance their research, analysis, and writing skills. By engaging in extensive research and synthesizing information, students strengthen their ability to critically evaluate sources and draw meaningful conclusions.

In addition, term papers also foster independent thinking and intellectual growth. They allow students to explore topics of interest in greater depth, encouraging curiosity and a deeper understanding of the subject matter. Term papers also cultivate effective communication skills, as students must articulate their ideas clearly and persuasively through written expression.

Overall, the purpose of term papers is to challenge students to engage with the course material, apply critical thinking skills, and effectively communicate their understanding. Through this process, students develop essential academic skills and gain a deeper appreciation for the subject matter.

The Purpose of Research Papers

Research papers serve a distinct purpose in academia: to conduct original research and analyze a specific topic. Through in-depth investigation and critical analysis, researchers aim to contribute to the existing body of knowledge within a given field. By delving into their chosen subject matter, researchers generate new insights, ideas, and arguments that can shape and advance their field of study.

Unlike term papers, which focus on summarizing course material , research papers require researchers to embark on their own intellectual journey. They formulate research questions, gather relevant data, and analyze findings to draw meaningful conclusions. This process often involves reviewing existing literature, designing and conducting experiments, or studying real-world phenomena. By engaging in original research, researchers contribute valuable knowledge that expands the understanding of their chosen topic and fosters academic growth.

The analysis and interpretation of research findings are essential components of a research paper. Researchers critically evaluate their data, draw connections between different pieces of information, and explore the implications of their findings. This rigorous examination allows for the development of new theories, the validation of existing hypotheses, and the exploration of alternative perspectives. Through their work, researchers contribute to the ongoing dialogue in their field and inspire future studies and discoveries.

Research papers provide a platform for researchers to share their discoveries, insights, and theories. Through the analysis and interpretation of original research findings, researchers contribute valuable knowledge to their field and advance the collective understanding of a specific topic.

Tips for Writing Term Papers and Research Papers

Writing term papers and research papers can be challenging tasks, but with the right approach and techniques, you can successfully complete these academic assignments. Here are some tips to help you write your term papers and research papers effectively:

1. Develop a clear outline:

Before you start writing your paper, it’s essential to create a well-structured outline. This will serve as a roadmap for your writing and help you organize your thoughts and arguments. Your outline should include the main sections and subheadings that you plan to cover in your paper.

2. Conduct thorough research:

Both term papers and research papers require extensive research to support your arguments and provide evidence. Make sure to gather relevant sources from reputable academic journals, books, and credible websites. Take detailed notes and keep track of your sources for proper citation.

3. Analyze and synthesize your findings:

Once you have gathered all the necessary research materials, analyze and synthesize the information. Identify key findings, arguments, and supporting evidence. Look for patterns and connections between different sources to develop a comprehensive understanding of your topic.

4. Follow proper structure and organization:

Ensure that your paper follows the appropriate structure and organization . Use clear and concise paragraphs to present your ideas and provide smooth transitions between different sections. Introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion should be well-defined and logically connected.

Remember to cite all your sources properly to avoid plagiarism and maintain academic integrity. By following these tips, you can improve your writing skills and produce high-quality term papers and research papers.

What is the difference between term papers and research papers?

Term papers focus on summarizing course material and evaluating a student’s understanding, while research papers require original research and analysis of a specific topic.

What is a term paper?

A term paper is an assignment completed by college students at the  end of an academic term . It involves extensive research and focuses on a particular subject.

What is a research paper?

A research paper is an  academic document  that involves the  systematic investigation  of a specific research topic. It requires comprehensive research, data analysis, and the formation of meaningful conclusions.

What are the key differences between term papers and research papers?

Term papers are more general in approach and summarize course material, while research papers require more specific research and analysis. Term papers are often assigned at the end of a semester, while research papers can be assigned at any point. Term papers typically use secondary sources, while research papers require original research and often rely on primary sources. Additionally, the structure and organization of term papers and research papers can differ.

What is the purpose of a term paper?

The purpose of a term paper is to summarize the course material learned during the semester and evaluate a student’s knowledge and understanding of the topics studied.

What is the purpose of a research paper?

The purpose of a research paper is to conduct original research and analyze a specific topic. Research papers aim to contribute to the existing knowledge within a given field by conducting thorough research, analyzing data, and drawing meaningful conclusions.

What are some tips for writing term papers and research papers?

Some tips for  writing term papers  and research papers include developing an outline, conducting in-depth research, gathering and analyzing relevant sources, developing a thesis statement (if required), ensuring proper structure and organization, and citing all sources properly to avoid plagiarism.

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Term Papers Versus Research Papers: What is the Difference?

College and university students do many writing assignments involving intensive research, planning, and writing. Although many students are familiar with research papers, only a few understand a term paper and how to write one.

If you are confused about the differences or wonder whether there is any difference between the two, you are not alone. Many students cannot distinguish a research paper from a term paper and end up not performing as required.

In this brief term paper versus research paper guide, we narrow down the differences and similarities of these typical college and university assignments to clear your doubts and prepare you for the task ahead.

What is a Term Paper, and what is a Research Paper?

A term paper is an academic writing assignment involving comprehensive research with a specific focus on certain concepts, topics, or issues covered within a given course over a semester. Term papers can take many forms, including essays, reviews, projects, or reports. Term papers must demonstrate a deeper understanding of the topics and course content, mostly exploring information gathered throughout the semester.

A research paper, on the other hand, is a formal writing task that involves research into a specific subject and examination of data. It entails systematic research to explore a specific topic. Although some research papers might require data collection, analysis, and reporting, some research papers are longer essays that expound a research thesis statement. Research papers may include primary research such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, and experiments. It also involves using secondary sources such as peer-reviewed journal articles, government or institutional documents, and other secondary sources.

Related Blog Article: How to write a terrorism research paper.

Research Paper vs. Term Paper: The Differences

If you have written a term or research paper, you might conclude they are the same. However, these two pieces of assignments are not similar. Let's categorize the comparison into themes to explore the differences and similarities better.

Purpose and Scope

A research paper is a comprehensive document that reports the results of a given research process. It entails synthesizing information from primary and secondary research to answer a research question or prove a hypothesis. Research papers contribute new insights or knowledge to your field. When writing a research paper, you must conduct an in-depth investigation, critical analysis, and examination of existing literature to support claims and findings.

On the other hand, a term paper covers the materials, concepts, and theories studied during a specific academic term, semester, or course. The core role of a term paper is to assess the student’s level of understanding of the subject matter. When writing a term paper, you synthesize information from assigned readings, lecture slides and notes, and class discussions.

Related: How to write a research thesis statement.

Writing a research paper is time-consuming and requires considerable planning and execution. You can spend several weeks or months working on a research paper. Some professors will require a research proposal at first before approving you to conduct the research and write a research paper.

Term papers are usually assigned within shorter frames. Your professor will expect the term paper within a few weeks or the entire semester. The course timeline dictates how long you will be expected to deliver the final draft. The main thing is that they are assigned when you have covered a lot of material to prove that you have a good grasp of the contents.

Originality and Contribution

Unlike a research paper that requires in-depth inquiry into new topics and testing new theories, a term paper only requires structured arguments supported by evidence. The main aim of a term paper is to demonstrate that you have comprehended the concepts and can apply them in real-life situations. A research paper, on the other hand, must be original as you can. There is an emphasis on generating new ideas, insights, and knowledge to the already existing body of knowledge. When writing a research paper, you can critique the existing theories, fill existing research gaps, and combine theories to explain different issues. Research Methodology

Research paper writing entails conducting either primary or secondary research. This way, you must design a study, collect and analyze data, and write a paper showing a well-ordered discourse. You have to conduct original research on a given research topic. A short research paper can also involve synthesizing information from published research studies or journal articles. On the other hand, a term paper relies on secondary sources such as articles, textbooks, and other scholarly or credible materials. Some professors will also direct you to conduct primary research, although you are not limited to the extensive methodology as with research papers.

Related Reading: Steps for writing a research paper.

Format and Structure

Research papers might be prose, like longer essays with headings and subheadings. They can also take the scientific paper format, including an abstract, introduction, literature review, methodology, research findings (results), discussion, conclusion, and recommendations (IMRAD format). A research paper is written in a formal, objective, and concise format, focusing heavily on academic phrases and words.

Term papers have an introduction, main body, and conclusion. If you must write a literature review or formal methodology section, the tone is generally conversational and less formal than in research papers.

A term paper is generally longer than a typical essay but less voluminous than a research paper. Most term papers range between 7 and 20 pages, with some professors assigning short papers ranging from 1000 to 1200 words.

Research papers are longer than term papers. Although there are shorter research papers, 7-9 pages long, most research papers are typically 10-40 pages or more. A standard research paper is 4000-6000 words long, excluding the abstract, references, and appendices pages.

Sources and references

A research paper is anchored on your primary or secondary research. You need to design and conduct primary research. The only part you are to use secondary data is when introducing the research paper topic, stating the problem, literature review, and the discussions section to expound on knowledge.

A successful research paper must prove an in-depth understanding of the topic, theories, and concepts so that you can synthesize information from various sources.

When writing a term paper, you primarily use secondary scholarly sources such as journals, articles, book chapters, dissertations, theses, biographies, commentaries, and other materials. You will learn from lecture notes, class discussion posts and responses, and other assignments. While a term paper also synthesizes information, it also summarizes findings from other scholars to help advance knowledge.

Related Readings: Steps for writing a nursing paper

Similarities between Research and Term Papers

You are not doubting, nor is it false, that a research paper and a term paper share similarities. There are certain features that you will find in either of the assignment. Here are some of the similarities between research papers and term papers.

Topic Selection

Both the research paper and term paper topic selection process are the same. In many cases, your professor or instructor will assign you a topic to explore, or they can let you choose a topic you are comfortable handling. When you can select a research topic on your own, which is more likely, go for a narrow, engaging, and manageable one. Select a topic you can spend many hours researching and writing about without changing your mind midway.

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Requirements

A research paper and a term paper prompt might be the same. You need to adhere to standard academic writing conventions. You should also frame the papers in a given format and include citations in APA, MLA, Chicago, ASA, AMA, Turabian, Oxford, Harvard, etc. You must also adhere to the submission deadlines and ensure the paper is entirely plagiarism-free.

They can mean the same thing

A term paper can be a research paper. Yes, although this might come out as confusing, it is true. Your instructor can assign you a research topic and expect that you conduct in-depth research that includes a methodological approach. For instance, you can be asked to research a given issue or problem using qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods approaches and then write a 10–12-page term paper. In this case, you must write a research paper using the IMRAD format.

As you Ruminate Everything …

Understanding the difference and similarities between a research paper and a term paper helps you differentiate what to include when assigned either assignment.

Both share some slight similarities, but they also have glaring differences. The next time you are required to write a research paper assignment, you will know what scope to cover. The same applies to term paper writing.

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What Is the Difference between Research Paper and Term Paper?

Attending a college, you are sure to write a number of essays and other types of papers. Sometimes it may be difficult to differentiate between the types of the papers. This differentiation is required when one is asked to write a specific type of the paper (either a research paper or a term paper), but it appears a problem for him/her. Why do students need to know the particular type of the paper before writing it? The reason is obvious: each paper type has a specific structure and the purpose. Everything’s clear with an essay, which is defined as a paper devoted to a particular problem and written in accordance with a specific structure: the introduction, the main body, and the conclusion. When speaking about a term paper and a research paper, understanding the differences is important in order to understand what should be written in a paper to meet the instructions. Trying to get the main distinguishing features between a research paper and a term paper, it is important to identify the basic common aspects. Both these types of the papers are aimed at showing students’ knowledge and understanding of a particular problem under analysis. The differences are presented below.

Research Paper

“Research is what I’m doing when I don’t know what I’m doing” Wernher von Braun

Here is a list of the points, which make a research paper different from other paper types

• A research paper is devoted to a problem within a specific course. Research papers are usually written to study some specific problem, which has not been covered effectively, which has some little research, or which results are doubtful. A research paper has a specific structure despite the subject. The title page, the table of contents, the introduction / background, the literature review, the methodology, the results, the discussion and the conclusions / recommendations. Each of these sections has specific guidelines for writing. No matter which problem is under research , the structure is the same.
• This type of paper writing requires some time for conducting a research and writing it. There are a lot of different types of research, interview, observation, questionnaire, survey, experiment, etc. Depending on the hypothesis and the purpose of the study, the research may take from a day to even the years.
• A research paper is usually a lengthy piece of writing. Usually research papers start from 10 pages and may be even 100 pages and more. One can rarely meet a research paper less than 10 pages as in this case it is impossible to explain the major points, to discuss the results and to prove the hypothesis.
• A research paper can cover the material studied during different years and laid out in various courses. Writing a research paper on a particular problem may require turning to the particular problems discussed in the past. The materials learned in the past may help in explaining some processes, discussing the background information and analyzing the literature on the issue.
• A term paper, being a part of a course, is usually completed after a specific period of studying. The course is usually divided into terms and themes. Having come to an end of a term, students are usually asked to take a test or to complete another task, which will show how well students have learnt the course material during the discussed time period. The grades for this task usually have a special value in the overall student’s grade.
• A term paper is aimed at checking students’ knowledge after some themes studied. Having completed a specific theme, students may also be asked to take a test, to write an essay, or to complete some task devoted to this particular theme.
• A term paper can be of any nature and structure. Opposing to a research paper with a specific structure, a term paper may be written in a form of an essay, it can have a questions-answers structure, it can be an article, a review, an annotated bibliography, a test, and even a research paper.
• A term paper can be of any length. It can be one page and 20 pages, no matter which topic is used and what type of the task is requested. Overall, each professor should select what kind of task fits better the specific topic which has been studied.
• A term paper involves the material studied during the course. Usually, a term paper covers the theme or the themes studied during the particular time period. The main purpose of such task is to show how well students have understood the material.

To the word, a task in a term paper can be to write a research paper, while it is impossible to have a task in a research paper to write a term paper. These two types of writing are different despite the fact that each student’s task is aimed at checking their knowledge. Educational process is very complicated and requires constant motivation and encouragement from the side of the professors. Students do want to receive new knowledge, but they need to know that this new knowledge is needed in the future. Moreover, some students may need the appreciation of their skills or some additional punishment, which may stimulate them for working harder.

Being aware of the differences between the term papers and the research papers, one may become a better student, improve his/her grades and enlarge the scope of knowledge and skills. Overall, the difference is usually explained by the teacher, but being in the process of studying new information one may miss these points and become frustrated. A term paper and a dissertation have different focus and display various experience of students. Only being aware of the purpose and the structure of the particular task one is sure to complete it successfully. Each student want to receive the highest grades and this article may be in use for those, who strive for higher grades and better knowledge.

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Difference Between Term Paper and Research Paper

Research and term papers look rather similar at first glance. They both are the types of academic writing assignments that are usually given to college students. They both carry significant weight on students’ grades. They are both challenging for inexperienced students. 

So what is the difference between a term paper and a research paper? Let’s learn more about it in our comparison down below. 

Term Paper vs. Research Paper: Differences

The two main distinctions between these two academic texts lie in timing and purpose. Here’s what we mean by that. 

Term Paper 

This body of work is always given to students at the end of the course. Hence, its name. It’s the assignment that should summarise your entire course. It means that its timing is very strict and predetermined. You can write it only by the end of your classes as the goal of such work is to assess a student’s knowledge after the course. Hence, students must create a work that showcases their understanding of the materials they have learned during the given course. 

Also, this sort of assignment can be given in the form of an exam or, for the very least, provide the largest share of the final grade. Hence, the stakes of writing good coursework are really high. 

Research Paper

Now, the timing of this assignment is very different from the coursework. A student can be assigned to do this type of writing assignment at any time during their classes, regardless of whether they are in the middle of the course or the end of it. To compare, coursework, as we have mentioned, is given only at the end of a large course. 

Now, the purpose of this assignment is to elaborate on some theoretical questions. Hence, a student must pick a theory, question, issue, and break it down. It should be related to the class where they received the assignment. Yet, it shouldn’t be based solely on the materials that were covered during the classes thus far. 

The Similarities

First and foremost, both assignments use a lot of resources in the main body of the text. A literature review and the use of multiple sources become the core of each work. Hence, the extensive use of reference materials is definitely one thing they share in common. Also, citing the references using specific academic formats is also a similarity they share. 

Next and final, the role of these assignments in academia is pretty much the same. By their design, they should help students process, analyze, and critically evaluate the received information and materials. Thus, by writing both of these works, students perform basic academic, technical requirements, like formatting and structuring, while also extending their knowledge in certain areas. 

As you can see, there is not so much difference between a term paper and a research paper. These are: 

These both versions of academic assignments share more important traits in common than they share distinctions. It’s important to distinguish those assignments when writing either one of them, of course. However, learning how to write one of them will significantly increase your chances of mastering the other one as well. 

How to Write a Term Paper From Start to Finish

The term paper, often regarded as the culmination of a semester's hard work, is a rite of passage for students in pursuit of higher education. Here's an interesting fact to kick things off: Did you know that the term paper's origins can be traced back to ancient Greece, where scholars like Plato and Aristotle utilized written works to explore and document their philosophical musings? Just as these great minds once wrote their thoughts on parchment, you, too, can embark on this intellectual voyage with confidence and skill.

How to Write a Term Paper: Short Description

In this article, we'll delve into the core purpose of this kind of assignment – to showcase your understanding of a subject, your research abilities, and your capacity to communicate complex ideas effectively. But it doesn't stop there. We'll also guide you in the art of creating a well-structured term paper format, a roadmap that will not only keep you on track but also ensure your ideas flow seamlessly and logically. Packed with valuable tips on writing, organization, and time management, this resource promises to equip you with the tools needed to excel in your academic writing.

Understanding What Is a Term Paper

A term paper, a crucial component of your college education, is often assigned towards the conclusion of a semester. It's a vehicle through which educators gauge your comprehension of the course content. Imagine it as a bridge between what you've learned in class and your ability to apply that knowledge to real-world topics.

For instance, in a history course, you might be asked to delve into the causes and consequences of a significant historical event, such as World War II. In a psychology class, your term paper might explore the effects of stress on mental health, or in an environmental science course, you could analyze the impact of climate change on a specific region.

Writing a term paper isn't just about summarizing facts. It requires a blend of organization, deep research, and the art of presenting your findings in a way that's both clear and analytical. This means structuring your arguments logically, citing relevant sources, and critically evaluating the information you've gathered.

For further guidance, we've prepared an insightful guide for you authored by our expert essay writer . It's brimming with practical tips and valuable insights to help you stand out in this academic endeavor and earn the recognition you deserve.

How to Start a Term Paper

Before you start, keep the guidelines for the term paper format firmly in mind. If you have any doubts, don't hesitate to reach out to your instructor for clarification before you begin your research and writing process. And remember, procrastination is your worst enemy in this endeavor. If you're aiming to produce an exceptional piece and secure a top grade, it's essential to plan ahead and allocate dedicated time each day to work on it. Now, let our term paper writing services provide you with some valuable tips to help you on your journey:

• Hone Your Topic : Start by cultivating a learning mindset that empowers you to effectively organize your thoughts. Discover how to research a topic in the section below.
• Hook Your Readers: Initiate a brainstorming session and unleash a barrage of creative ideas to captivate your audience right from the outset. Pose intriguing questions, share compelling anecdotes, offer persuasive statistics, and more.
• Craft a Concise Thesis Statement Example : If you find yourself struggling to encapsulate the main idea of your paper in just a sentence or two, it's time to revisit your initial topic and consider narrowing it down.
• Understand Style Requirements: Your work must adhere to specific formatting guidelines. Delve into details about the APA format and other pertinent regulations in the section provided.
• Delve Deeper with Research : Equipped with a clearer understanding of your objectives, dive into your subject matter with a discerning eye. Ensure that you draw from reputable and reliable sources.
• Begin Writing: Don't obsess over perfection from the get-go. Just start writing, and don't worry about initial imperfections. You can always revise or remove those early sentences later. The key is to initiate the term papers as soon as you've amassed sufficient information.

Ace your term paper with EssayPro 's expert help. Our academic professionals are here to guide you through every step, ensuring your term paper is well-researched, structured, and written to the highest standards.

Term Paper Topics

Selecting the right topic for your term paper is a critical step, one that can significantly impact your overall experience and the quality of your work. While instructors sometimes provide specific topics, there are instances when you have the freedom to choose your own. To guide you on how to write a term paper, consider the following factors when deciding on your dissertation topics :

• Relevance to Assignment Length: Begin by considering the required length of your paper. Whether it's a substantial 10-page paper or a more concise 5-page one, understanding the word count will help you determine the appropriate scope for your subject. This will inform whether your topic should be broad or more narrowly focused.
• Availability of Resources : Investigate the resources at your disposal. Check your school or community library for books and materials that can support your research. Additionally, explore online sources to ensure you have access to a variety of reference materials.
• Complexity and Clarity : Ensure you can effectively explain your chosen topic, regardless of how complex it may seem. If you encounter areas that are challenging to grasp fully, don't hesitate to seek guidance from experts or your professor. Clarity and understanding are key to producing a well-structured term paper.
• Avoiding Overused Concepts : Refrain from choosing overly trendy or overused topics. Mainstream subjects often fail to captivate the interest of your readers or instructors, as they can lead to repetitive content. Instead, opt for a unique angle or approach that adds depth to your paper.
• Manageability and Passion : While passion can drive your choice of topic, it's important to ensure that it is manageable within the given time frame and with the available resources. If necessary, consider scaling down a topic that remains intriguing and motivating to you, ensuring it aligns with your course objectives and personal interests.

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Term Paper Outline

Before embarking on the journey of writing a term paper, it's crucial to establish a well-structured outline. Be mindful of any specific formatting requirements your teacher may have in mind, as these will guide your outline's structure. Here's a basic format to help you get started:

• Cover Page: Begin with a cover page featuring your name, course number, teacher's name, and the deadline date, centered at the top.
• Abstract: Craft a concise summary of your work that informs readers about your paper's topic, its significance, and the key points you'll explore.
• Introduction: Commence your term paper introduction with a clear and compelling statement of your chosen topic. Explain why it's relevant and outline your approach to addressing it.
• Body: This section serves as the meat of academic papers, where you present the primary findings from your research. Provide detailed information about the topic to enhance the reader's understanding. Ensure you incorporate various viewpoints on the issue and conduct a thorough analysis of your research.
• Results: Share the insights and conclusions that your research has led you to. Discuss any shifts in your perspective or understanding that have occurred during the course of your project.
• Discussion: Conclude your term paper with a comprehensive summary of the topic and your findings. You can wrap up with a thought-provoking question or encourage readers to explore the subject further through their own research.

How to Write a Term Paper with 5 Steps

Before you begin your term paper, it's crucial to understand what a term paper proposal entails. This proposal serves as your way to introduce and justify your chosen topic to your instructor, and it must gain approval before you start writing the actual paper.

In your proposal, include recent studies or research related to your topic, along with proper references. Clearly explain the topic's relevance to your course, outline your objectives, and organize your ideas effectively. This helps your instructor grasp your term paper's direction. If needed, you can also seek assistance from our expert writers and buy term paper .

Draft the Abstract

The abstract is a critical element while writing a term paper, and it plays a crucial role in piquing the reader's interest. To create a captivating abstract, consider these key points from our dissertation writing service :

• Conciseness: Keep it short and to the point, around 150-250 words. No need for lengthy explanations.
• Highlight Key Elements: Summarize the problem you're addressing, your research methods, and primary findings or conclusions. For instance, if your paper discusses the impact of social media on mental health, mention your research methods and significant findings.
• Engagement: Make your abstract engaging. Use language that draws readers in. For example, if your paper explores the effects of artificial intelligence on the job market, you might begin with a question like, 'Is AI revolutionizing our work landscape, or should we prepare for the robots to take over?'
• Clarity: Avoid excessive jargon or technical terms to ensure accessibility to a wider audience.

Craft the Introduction

The introduction sets the stage for your entire term paper and should engage readers from the outset. To craft an intriguing introduction, consider these tips:

• Hook Your Audience: Start with a captivating hook, such as a thought-provoking question or a compelling statistic. For example, if your paper explores the impact of smartphone addiction, you could begin with, 'Can you remember the last time you went a whole day without checking your phone?'
• State Your Purpose: Clearly state the purpose of your paper and its relevance. If your term paper is about renewable energy's role in combating climate change, explain why this topic is essential in today's world.
• Provide a Roadmap: Briefly outline how your paper is structured. For instance, if your paper discusses the benefits of mindfulness meditation, mention that you will explore its effects on stress reduction, emotional well-being, and cognitive performance.
• Thesis Statement: Conclude your introduction with a concise thesis statement that encapsulates the central argument or message of your paper. In the case of a term paper on the impact of online education, your thesis might be: 'Online education is revolutionizing learning by providing accessibility, flexibility, and innovative teaching methods.'

Develop the Body Sections: Brainstorming Concepts and Content

Generate ideas and compose text: body sections.

The body of your term paper is where you present your research, arguments, and analysis. To generate ideas and write engaging text in the body sections, consider these strategies from our research paper writer :

• Structure Your Ideas: Organize your paper into sections or paragraphs, each addressing a specific aspect of your topic. For example, if your term paper explores the impact of social media on interpersonal relationships, you might have sections on communication patterns, privacy concerns, and emotional well-being.
• Support with Evidence: Back up your arguments with credible evidence, such as data, research findings, or expert opinions. For instance, when discussing the effects of social media on mental health, you can include statistics on social media usage and its correlation with anxiety or depression.
• Offer Diverse Perspectives: Acknowledge and explore various viewpoints on the topic. When writing about the pros and cons of genetic engineering, present both the potential benefits, like disease prevention, and the ethical concerns associated with altering human genetics.
• Use Engaging Examples: Incorporate real-life examples to illustrate your points. If your paper discusses the consequences of climate change, share specific instances of extreme weather events or environmental degradation to make the topic relatable.
• Ask Thought-Provoking Questions: Integrate questions throughout your text to engage readers and stimulate critical thinking. In a term paper on the future of artificial intelligence, you might ask, 'How will AI impact job markets and the concept of work in the coming years?'

Formulate the Conclusion

The conclusion section should provide a satisfying wrap-up of your arguments and insights. To craft a compelling term paper example conclusion, follow these steps:

• Revisit Your Thesis: Begin by restating your thesis statement. This reinforces the central message of your paper. For example, if your thesis is about the importance of biodiversity conservation, reiterate that biodiversity is crucial for ecological balance and human well-being.
• Summarize Key Points: Briefly recap the main points you've discussed in the body of your paper. For instance, if you've been exploring the impact of globalization on local economies, summarize the effects on industries, job markets, and cultural diversity.
• Emphasize Your Main Argument: Reaffirm the significance of your thesis and the overall message of your paper. Discuss why your findings are important or relevant in a broader context. If your term paper discusses the advantages of renewable energy, underscore its potential to combat climate change and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.
• Offer a Thoughtful Reflection: Share your own reflections or insights about the topic. How has your understanding evolved during your research? Have you uncovered any unexpected findings or implications? If your paper discusses the future of space exploration, consider what it means for humanity's quest to explore the cosmos.
• End with Impact: Conclude your term paper with a powerful closing statement. You can leave the reader with a thought-provoking question, a call to action, or a reflection on the broader implications of your topic. For instance, if your paper is about the ethics of artificial intelligence, you could finish by asking, 'As AI continues to advance, what ethical considerations will guide our choices and decisions?'

Edit and Enhance the Initial Draft

After completing your initial draft, the revision and polishing phase is essential for improving your paper. Here's how to refine your work efficiently:

• Take a Break: Step back and return to your paper with a fresh perspective.
• Structure Check: Ensure your paper flows logically and transitions smoothly from the introduction to the conclusion.
• Clarity and Conciseness: Trim excess words for clarity and precision.
• Grammar and Style: Proofread for errors and ensure consistent style.
• Citations and References: Double-check your citations and reference list.
• Peer Review: Seek feedback from peers or professors for valuable insights.
• Enhance Intro and Conclusion: Make your introduction and conclusion engaging and impactful.
• Coherence Check: Ensure your arguments support your thesis consistently.
• Read Aloud: Reading your paper aloud helps identify issues.
• Final Proofread: Perform a thorough proofread to catch any remaining errors.

Term Paper Format

When formatting your term paper, consider its length and the required citation style, which depends on your research topic. Proper referencing is crucial to avoid plagiarism in academic writing. Common citation styles include APA and MLA.

If unsure how to cite term paper for social sciences, use the APA format, including the author's name, book title, publication year, publisher, and location when citing a book.

For liberal arts and humanities, MLA is common, requiring the publication name, date, and location for referencing.

Adhering to the appropriate term paper format and citation style ensures an organized and academically sound paper. Follow your instructor's guidelines for a polished and successful paper.

Term Paper Example

To access our term paper example, simply click the button below.

The timeline of events from 1776 to 1861, that, in the end, prompted the American Civil War, describes and relates to a number of subjects modern historians acknowledge as the origins and causes of the Civil War. In fact, pre-Civil War events had both long-term and short-term influences on the War—such as the election of Abraham Lincoln as the American president in 1860 that led to the Fall of Fort Sumter in April of the same year. In that period, contentions that surrounded states’ rights progressively exploded in Congress—since they were the initial events that formed after independence. Congress focused on resolving significant issues that affected the states, which led to further issues. In that order, the US’s history from 1776 to 1861 provides a rich history, as politicians brought forth dissimilarities, dissections, and tensions between the Southern US & the people of slave states, and the Northern states that were loyal to the Union. The events that unfolded from the period of 1776 to 1861 involved a series of issues because they promoted the great sectional crisis that led to political divisions and the build-up to the Civil War that made the North and the South seem like distinctive and timeless regions that predated the crisis itself.

Final Thoughts

In closing, approach the task of writing term papers with determination and a positive outlook. Begin well in advance, maintain organization, and have faith in your capabilities. Don't hesitate to seek assistance if required, and express your individual perspective with confidence. You're more than capable of succeeding in this endeavor!

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is a seasoned educational writer focusing on scholarship guidance, research papers, and various forms of academic essays including reflective and narrative essays. His expertise also extends to detailed case studies. A scholar with a background in English Literature and Education, Daniel’s work on EssayPro blog aims to support students in achieving academic excellence and securing scholarships. His hobbies include reading classic literature and participating in academic forums.

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Term Paper – Format, Examples and Writing Guide

Table of Contents

Definition:

Term paper is a type of academic writing assignment that is typically assigned to students at the end of a semester or term. It is usually a research-based paper that is meant to demonstrate the student’s understanding of a particular topic, as well as their ability to analyze and synthesize information from various sources.

Term papers are usually longer than other types of academic writing assignments and can range anywhere from 5 to 20 pages or more, depending on the level of study and the specific requirements of the assignment. They often require extensive research and the use of a variety of sources, including books, articles, and other academic publications.

Term Paper Format

The format of a term paper may vary depending on the specific requirements of your professor or institution. However, a typical term paper usually consists of the following sections:

• Title page: This should include the title of your paper, your name, the course name and number, your instructor’s name, and the date.
• Abstract : This is a brief summary of your paper, usually no more than 250 words. It should provide an overview of your topic, the research question or hypothesis, your methodology, and your main findings or conclusions.
• Introduction : This section should introduce your topic and provide background information on the subject. You should also state your research question or hypothesis and explain the importance of your research.
• Literature review : This section should review the existing literature on your topic. You should summarize the key findings and arguments made by other scholars and identify any gaps in the literature that your research aims to address.
• Methodology: This section should describe the methods you used to collect and analyze your data. You should explain your research design, sampling strategy, data collection methods, and data analysis techniques.
• Results : This section should present your findings. You can use tables, graphs, and charts to illustrate your data.
• Discussion : This section should interpret your findings and explain what they mean in relation to your research question or hypothesis. You should also discuss any limitations of your study and suggest areas for future research.
• Conclusion : This section should summarize your main findings and conclusions. You should also restate the importance of your research and its implications for the field.
• References : This section should list all the sources you cited in your paper using a specific citation style (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago).
• Appendices : This section should include any additional materials that are relevant to your study but not essential to your main argument (e.g., survey questions, interview transcripts).

Structure of Term Paper

Here’s an example structure for a term paper:

I. Introduction

A. Background information on the topic

B. Thesis statement

II. Literature Review

A. Overview of current literature on the topic

B. Discussion of key themes and findings from literature

C. Identification of gaps in current literature

III. Methodology

A. Description of research design

B. Discussion of data collection methods

C. Explanation of data analysis techniques

IV. Results

A. Presentation of findings

B. Analysis and interpretation of results

C. Comparison of results with previous studies

V. Discussion

A. Summary of key findings

B. Explanation of how results address the research questions

C. Implications of results for the field

VI. Conclusion

A. Recap of key points

B. Significance of findings

C. Future directions for research

VII. References

A. List of sources cited in the paper

How to Write Term Paper

Here are some steps to help you write a term paper:

• Choose a topic: Choose a topic that interests you and is relevant to your course. If your professor has assigned a topic, make sure you understand it and clarify any doubts before you start.
• Research : Conduct research on your topic by gathering information from various sources such as books, academic journals, and online resources. Take notes and organize your information systematically.
• Create an outline : Create an outline of your term paper by arranging your ideas and information in a logical sequence. Your outline should include an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion.
• Write a thesis statement: Write a clear and concise thesis statement that states the main idea of your paper. Your thesis statement should be included in your introduction.
• Write the introduction: The introduction should grab the reader’s attention, provide background information on your topic, and introduce your thesis statement.
• Write the body : The body of your paper should provide supporting evidence for your thesis statement. Use your research to provide details and examples to support your argument. Make sure to organize your ideas logically and use transition words to connect paragraphs.
• Write the conclusion : The conclusion should summarize your main points and restate your thesis statement. Avoid introducing new information in the conclusion.
• Edit and proofread: Edit and proofread your term paper carefully to ensure that it is free of errors and flows smoothly. Check for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors.
• Format and cite your sources: Follow the formatting guidelines provided by your professor and cite your sources properly using the appropriate citation style.
• Submit your paper : Submit your paper on time and according to the instructions provided by your professor.

Term Paper Example

Here’s an example of a term paper:

Title : The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity

As the world becomes more digitally interconnected, cybersecurity threats are increasing in frequency and sophistication. Traditional security measures are no longer enough to protect against these threats. This paper explores the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in cybersecurity, including how AI can be used to detect and respond to threats in real-time, the challenges of implementing AI in cybersecurity, and the potential ethical implications of AI-powered security systems. The paper concludes with recommendations for organizations looking to integrate AI into their cybersecurity strategies.

Introduction :

The increasing number of cybersecurity threats in recent years has led to a growing interest in the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to improve cybersecurity. AI has the ability to analyze vast amounts of data and identify patterns and anomalies that may indicate a security breach. Additionally, AI can automate responses to threats, allowing for faster and more effective mitigation of security incidents. However, there are also challenges associated with implementing AI in cybersecurity, such as the need for large amounts of high-quality data, the potential for AI systems to make mistakes, and the ethical considerations surrounding the use of AI in security.

Literature Review:

This section of the paper reviews existing research on the use of AI in cybersecurity. It begins by discussing the types of AI techniques used in cybersecurity, including machine learning, natural language processing, and neural networks. The literature review then explores the advantages of using AI in cybersecurity, such as its ability to detect previously unknown threats and its potential to reduce the workload of security analysts. However, the review also highlights some of the challenges associated with implementing AI in cybersecurity, such as the need for high-quality training data and the potential for AI systems to be fooled by sophisticated attacks.

Methodology :

To better understand the challenges and opportunities associated with using AI in cybersecurity, this paper conducted a survey of cybersecurity professionals working in a variety of industries. The survey included questions about the types of AI techniques used in their organizations, the challenges they faced when implementing AI in cybersecurity, and their perceptions of the ethical implications of using AI in security.

The results of the survey showed that while many organizations are interested in using AI in cybersecurity, they face several challenges when implementing these systems. These challenges include the need for high-quality training data, the potential for AI systems to be fooled by sophisticated attacks, and the difficulty of integrating AI with existing security systems. Additionally, many respondents expressed concerns about the ethical implications of using AI in security, such as the potential for AI to be biased or to make decisions that are harmful to individuals or society as a whole.

Discussion :

Based on the results of the survey and the existing literature, this paper discusses the potential benefits and risks of using AI in cybersecurity. It also provides recommendations for organizations looking to integrate AI into their security strategies, such as the need to prioritize data quality and to ensure that AI systems are transparent and accountable.

Conclusion :

While there are challenges associated with implementing AI in cybersecurity, the potential benefits of using these systems are significant. AI can help organizations detect and respond to threats more quickly and effectively, reducing the risk of security breaches. However, it is important for organizations to be aware of the potential ethical implications of using AI in security and to take steps to ensure that these systems are transparent and accountable.

References:

• Alkhaldi, S., Al-Daraiseh, A., & Lutfiyya, H. (2019). A Survey on Artificial Intelligence Techniques in Cyber Security. Journal of Information Security, 10(03), 191-207.
• Gartner. (2019). Gartner Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2020. Retrieved from https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/gartner-top-10-strategic-technology-trends-for-2020/
• Kshetri, N. (2018). Blockchain’s roles in meeting key supply chain management objectives. International Journal of Information Management, 39, 80-89.
• Lipton, Z. C. (2018). The mythos of model interpretability. arXiv preprint arXiv:1606.03490.
• Schneier, B. (2019). Click Here to Kill Everybody: Security and Survival in a Hyper-Connected World. WW Norton & Company.
• Wahab, M. A., Rahman, M. S., & Islam, M. R. (2020). A Survey on AI Techniques in Cybersecurity. International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, 11(2), 22-27.

When to Write Term Paper

A term paper is usually a lengthy research paper that is assigned to students at the end of a term or semester. There are several situations when writing a term paper may be required, including:

• As a course requirement: In most cases, a term paper is required as part of the coursework for a particular course. It may be assigned by the instructor as a way of assessing the student’s understanding of the course material.
• To explore a specific topic : A term paper can be an excellent opportunity for students to explore a specific topic of interest in-depth. It allows them to conduct extensive research on the topic and develop their understanding of it.
• To develop critical thinking skills : Writing a term paper requires students to engage in critical thinking and analysis. It helps them to develop their ability to evaluate and interpret information, as well as to present their ideas in a clear and coherent manner.
• To prepare for future academic or professional pursuits: Writing a term paper can be an excellent way for students to prepare for future academic or professional pursuits. It can help them to develop the research and writing skills necessary for success in higher education or in a professional career.

Purpose of Term Paper

The main purposes of a term paper are:

• Demonstrate mastery of a subject: A term paper provides an opportunity for students to showcase their knowledge and understanding of a particular subject. It requires students to research and analyze the topic, and then present their findings in a clear and organized manner.
• Develop critical thinking skills: Writing a term paper requires students to think critically about their subject matter, analyzing various sources and viewpoints, and evaluating evidence to support their arguments.
• Improve writing skills : Writing a term paper helps students improve their writing skills, including organization, clarity, and coherence. It also requires them to follow specific formatting and citation guidelines, which can be valuable skills for future academic and professional endeavors.
• Contribute to academic discourse : A well-written term paper can contribute to academic discourse by presenting new insights, ideas, and arguments that add to the existing body of knowledge on a particular topic.
• Prepare for future research : Writing a term paper can help prepare students for future research, by teaching them how to conduct a literature review, evaluate sources, and formulate research questions and hypotheses. It can also help them develop research skills that they can apply in future academic or professional endeavors.

Advantages of Term Paper

There are several advantages of writing a term paper, including:

• In-depth exploration: Writing a term paper allows you to delve deeper into a specific topic, allowing you to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the subject matter.
• Improved writing skills: Writing a term paper involves extensive research, critical thinking, and the organization of ideas into a cohesive written document. As a result, writing a term paper can improve your writing skills significantly.
• Demonstration of knowledge: A well-written term paper demonstrates your knowledge and understanding of the subject matter, which can be beneficial for academic or professional purposes.
• Development of research skills : Writing a term paper requires conducting thorough research, analyzing data, and synthesizing information from various sources. This process can help you develop essential research skills that can be applied in many other areas.
• Enhancement of critical thinking : Writing a term paper encourages you to think critically, evaluate information, and develop well-supported arguments. These skills can be useful in many areas of life, including personal and professional decision-making.
• Preparation for further academic work : Writing a term paper is excellent preparation for more extensive academic projects, such as a thesis or dissertation.

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

a Term Paper, a Research Paper, and an Essay

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

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

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

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

It is meant to indicate a student’s progress during school term/semester.

What this means is that a term paper covers the entire course, making it a comparatively large project.

Students are required to write term papers throughout the semester. The reason is to ensure that they cover all the concepts presented during the term.

In addition to ensuring that they are not overwhelmed by too much work at the end of the semester. 

A research paper is an academic piece of work written by students concerning a particular topic. It is not like a term paper that may cover more things since it covers a term’s work.

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

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

In simple, a research paper is an academic writing that tests a student’s ability to apply knowledge learned in class or a course. A term paper on the contrary is a written assignment to test a learner’s knowledge of a specific topic or chapter.

On the other hand, an essay is an interpretive or analytic literary composition where a student makes an argument about a topic.

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Comprehensive Definitions of the Three

1. term paper.

A term paper can be regarded as written work or academic composition that is meant to indicate a student’s progress during school term/semester.

A term paper covers the entire course, making it a comparatively large project. Students are required to write term papers throughout the semester.

This is to ensure that they cover all the concepts presented during the term. Besides ensure that they are not overwhelmed by too much work at the end of the semester. 

For example, let us imagine that you are studying environmental science in college. You have started the semester or term by defining the key concepts.

Finally, you are gradually getting into more details as the semester goes on.

To ensure that you understand the concepts of environmental science and give the instructor an opportunity to determine your progress as a learner, they will give you a term paper to complete by the end of the semester.

You should note that it should be completed by the end of the semester. Not at the end of the semester like other papers. Term papers are a continuous writing process that students should do throughout the semester.

In most cases, instructors will notify their students at the beginning of the semester that they are required to complete a term paper by the end of the semester.

This allows students to start the writing process early enough to avoid being overwhelmed at the end of the semester.

2. Research paper

A research paper, can be defined as an academic piece of work written by students concerning a particular topic.

It is not like a term paper that may cover more things since it covers for a term’s work.

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

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

When instructors give students research papers as assignments, it means that they are trying to gauge the research capabilities of their students concerning a specific topic within a particular discipline.

Research papers help students become better scholars and field researchers later in life.

Research papers are usually completed at the end of the semester and they are comparatively shorter in length compared to term papers – at least in most cases.

As we have noted, term papers are meant to show a student’s academic process during the term/semester.

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

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

Therefore, research papers are usually given to students towards the end or at the middle of the semester to give students enough time to come up with their papers.

Research papers take a different structure of writing. Check out our comprehensive guide on how to write a research paper and learn more.

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

3. An Essay

On the other hand, the essay is an interpretive or an analytic literary composition written to test students’ knowledge of simple concepts.

Essays are shorter than research papers and term papers because they are meant to interpret or analyze particular topics.

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

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

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

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

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

As such, be keen with the instructions provided by your professors or teachers when writing essays, term papers, or research papers.

Similarities between a Term Paper and a Research Paper

The first similarity is that both term papers and research papers are longer pieces of academic writings that are written by college-level students concerning a particular subject matter.

What this means is that they are formal academic works that gauge the student’s understanding of the course concepts. These concepts go into the writing as subtopics in a research paper , which makes the difference.

The second similarity between a term paper and a research paper is that they both take the same writing or academic format. The basic format is the introduction, the background, literature review, methodology, findings and discussions, and finally conclusion.

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

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Similarities between a Term Paper and an Essay

There are some similarities between a term paper and an essay. The first similarity is that both analyze or interpret particular course concepts.

While an essay is a literary composition that takes a narrow scope in terms of the content to be covered, a term paper will also take the form of literary composition. In addition, it covers a wider scope of concepts within the course. However, both are literary compositions.

The second similarity between a term paper and an essay is that they allow students to be more autonomous when it comes to what they are discussing.

Students are given an opportunity to write their perceptions concerning the course concepts because they are used to gauge the proficiency of the student in terms of how much they have understood the course.

That being said, hope that this article has been worth your time. All the best!

When not handling complex essays and academic writing tasks, Josh is busy advising students on how to pass assignments. In spare time, he loves playing football or walking with his dog around the park.

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The Difference between Term and Research Papers

Term paper and research papers have a lot in common, but they have some significant differences. First and for most, term papers are more personalized, while research assignments do not have to point to the student's personal achievements. It is rather general. Term paper is a collection of student's skills towards a particular academic Research paper highlights student's knowledge gained during the course marginally: an instructor can only guess the effectiveness of teaching methods and tools used within that class. The reason why term paper format is a bit more complex is that it provides a more detailed picture of what student actually knows. It shows the path for further education. For instance, student has to add up an appendix. This part only seems complicated, but, in fact, you just have to include some tables and graphs (if any) used as the basis for your research. Written Assignments Evaluation Criteria Term papers always go in the end of a semester. Students can face the challenge of writing a research at any time. It means that a student can be asked to accomplish multiple research papers during the semester. However, the process of grading these two tasks looks pretty much similar. The evaluation process is based on the:

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Difference Between Research Paper and Term Paper

Term paper and Research paper are two different things. The two share similar features and they may even be related, but exhibit differences to consider.

The research paper is an academic style of writing that requires the student to answer a significant, methodical, and theoretical level of questioning. Similarly, term paper requires the student to interpret what he or she gathered from the subject matter to display a clear understanding in the form of a paper. It can be of various lengths, which can be up to five thousand words.

A research paper is devoted to a problem within a specific course. Research papers are written to study some specific problems which have not been covered efficaciously or sometimes when results are doubtful. Research paper usually has elements of research.

A research paper has a specific structure despite the subject; the title page, the table of contents, the introduction/background information, the literature review, the methodology, the results, the discussion, and the conclusions/recommendations. Each of these sections has specific guidelines for writing. No matter the problem question under research, the structure usually remains the same. This type of paper writing usually requires time for conducting research and writing it.

There are many types of research which differ in properties according to the mode of information gathering technique, examples; interview, observation, questionnaire, survey, and experiment. Depending on the hypothesis and the purpose of the study, the research may take time ranging from a day to years depending on the volume and difficulty of problem question.

A research paper is usually a lengthy piece of writing. Usually, research papers are a minimum of ten pages and may be up to hundred pages and more. One can rarely meet a research paper less than ten pages; it is almost impossible in its case to explain the major points, discuss results and prove the hypothesis in a low number of pages.

A research paper can cover materials studied over previous years which are laid out in various courses in forms of books, journals, previous research papers, and published articles. Writing a research paper on a particular problem may require turning to the particular problem discussed in the past. The materials learned from the past may help in explaining some processes, discussing the background information, and analyzing the literature on the problem question. Look for examples of research paper to get practical idea to write your own.

A term paper , on the other hand, is aimed at checking students’ knowledge after some themes studied. Having completed a specific theme, students may also be asked write an essay, take a test, or complete some task devoted to this particular theme study. Students are required to write term papers to demonstrate that they have gained the required knowledge and skills in a certain subject matter.

A term paper is usually assigned to students near the end of a class as a tool to count toward the subject’s final grade; in fact, in some instances, it will be the only assigned means to grade. Although the length may vary greatly, it is common for them to be from three to five thousand words.

A term paper can come in the form of a critical essay that covers a current or popular topic. When structured like this, the student must include their point of view on the subject while also demonstrating an accurate and clear understanding of the topic. The paper should also contain some arguments that are both compelling and accompanied by evidence or facts for support

Generally speaking, one writes a term paper to indicate that he or she has learned or acquired the knowledge of a particular subject. The term paper is usually given at the end of the term and counts as an important percentage of the final exam. A term paper generally runs between 3,000 and 5,000 words.

A term paper permits for a vital examination of current topics and usually allows the writer’s opinion. Term paper contains arguments and persuasions that must be supported with facts taken from various reliable sources, such as scholarly magazines, academic papers, and textbooks.

A term paper, being part of a course, is usually completed after a specific period of studying. The course is usually divided into terms and themes. Having come to an end of a term, students are usually asked to take a test or complete another task, which will show how well students have learned the course material during the discussed period. The grades for this task usually have a special value in the overall student’s grade.

A term paper can be of any nature and structure. Opposing to a research paper with a specific structure. A term paper may be written in the form of an essay or other forms of writing; it can have a questions-answers structure; it can be an article, a review, an annotated bibliography, a test, and even a research paper.

A term paper can be of any length. It can be one-paged, unlike the typical research paper which cannot be adequately expressed on a page and could also be twenty paged, no matter what the topic is and what type of the task is requested. Overall, each professor should select what kind of task fit better the specific topic which has been studied. Usually, a term paper covers the theme or the themes studied during a particular period, the main purpose of such task is to show how well students have understood the materials and lessons taught during that period.

A task in a term paper can be in the form of a research paper, while it is impossible to have a task in a research paper to write a term paper. These two types of writing are different even though each student’s task is aimed at checking their knowledge. Educational process can be complicated and usually require constant motivation and encouragement from the professors. Therefore it is advised that tutors should try not to impose his/her opinion on students when writing term papers, this helps term paper serve its purpose better, which is to determine students’ knowledge on the topic. Some students may need the appreciation of their skills or some additional punishment, which may stimulate them to work harder.

The Main Characteristics of a Research Paper

This kind of academic writing involves exploration of the topic idea which aims to answer a particular theoretical question. A typical document consists of 5,000 words but is often a bit longer. The student is asked to interpret information provided on a chosen topic and analyze it thoroughly. It can be assigned anytime, yet most instructors give this task at the beginning of the semester to allow students to have enough time to gather data and compose their works. This kind of paper often involves primary data collection and its further interpretation.

The Key Features of a Term Paper

A student writes this paper to demonstrate his or her knowledge of a particular subject studied. The length of the work usually varies from 3,000 to 5,000 words. A chosen topic should be carefully examined, and the writer should provide his or her personal opinion towards the issue under study.

This assignment is usually given at the end of the semester and significantly influences the final grade. The term paper should be based on credible sources, such as scholarly articles, academic works, lab reports, and textbooks.

The Differences between These Assignments

Despite both assignments share some qualities. In each instance, students can pick a topic that arouses their interest. They use the same type of resources and the structures of the documents could be quite similar. The real difference between these pieces of academic writing, is that a research paper is assigned at any time and doesn’t generally count toward the final grade . Another aspect that writing instructors pay their attention to is the fact that a research paper often contains a hypothesis while a term paper supports a thesis statement. Besides, the research paper usually has a long list of references. The term paper assignment, however, is shorter and does not usually contain appendixes.

Another significant difference between a research paper and a term paper is that the research paper is used to make the student engage in problem-solving activities while term paper is simply meant to test the student’s knowledge, not necessarily solve the problem.

This table summarizes the difference between research paper and term paper;

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The InfoGraphic seems to suggest that it ‘Takes Moths… to complete’. This is new to me.

very nice description for undertanding thank you

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The term paper and the research project are two distinct things, even though you might think they are the same although they both have similar qualities. Even so, they might be connected. But one must take into account the distinctions.

A term paper is typically written to demonstrate that a student has learned or gained knowledge of a particular subject, the final test includes a sizable portion of the term paper, which is due at the end of the term and the normal word count for a term paper is between 3,000 and 5,000, term papers typically permit the writer’s views and allow for a critical analysis of current issues, the term paper includes arguments and/or persuasions that need to be backed by data gathered from a wide range of trustworthy sources, like academic papers, scholarly periodicals, or textbooks, a research project, on the other hand, is often an academic study done to address theoretical concerns, the task for the student is to analyze the supplied data and produce an important, remarkable paper, the word count for a research project is limited to 5,000, your instructor will decide how long the research project should be, the instructor or the student choose the themes in each case.

Research and reference materials are needed in each situation and each case, and creating an outline before attempting to write the final versions is beneficial. In actuality, there are many similarities between term papers and research project.

A research paper may be assigned at any time, whereas a term paper is typically assigned at the end of the term this is the main distinction between the two types of papers, although writing term papers or research project might feel like a waste of time, both are intended to improve how well you can express your knowledge and understanding of a particular subject and both are intended to aid in your understanding of the note-taking, referencing, and research procedures, recognize and incorporate the lessons you’ve gained from prior writing assignments as you work to compose each of these papers in turn and always use writing as a tool to express yourself in unique and fascinating ways.

You should be able to present a case, lay out your argument, and make sure you provide solid, credible evidence to support your claims, no matter what the job requires, the greatest writers will give it their all.

A major, methodical, and theoretical level of questioning must be addressed by the student when writing a research paper, which is an academic writing style. Similarly to that, a term paper demands the student to analyze the information they have learned to present their comprehension of the subject coherently, it can range in length from a few sentences to 5,000 words, during a particular course, a problem is the focus of a research project.

Research papers are created to investigate particular issues that haven’t been adequately addressed or occasionally when the findings are in question. Typically, a research report includes components of research and regardless of the topic, a research project has a set format that includes a title page, table of contents, introduction, background information, literature review, methods, results, discussion, and conclusions/recommendations.

Specific writing instructions are provided for each of these parts and the format often doesn’t change, regardless of the study problem question. Writing a project of this nature typically takes time, both for the research and the writing.

There are numerous research types, and each has unique characteristics depending on the method used to gather the data, some examples include interviews, observation, questionnaires, surveys, and experiments, the length of the research project will rely on the hypothesis and the goal of the investigation, as well as the volume and complexity of the problem question.

A research project often takes a lot of time to write. Research project typically include a minimum of ten pages and a maximum of one hundred pages, rarely does a research report come in under ten pages; in this situation, it would be very impossible to clarify the main ideas, examine the findings, and demonstrate the hypothesis.

A term paper, on the other hand, is meant to test students’ understanding of certain topics they have studied, students may be required to write an essay, take an exam, or complete another work after they have finished studying a certain issue.

Term papers are a requirement for students to show that they have acquired the necessary knowledge and skills in a particular subject area, near the end of a class students are typically given a term paper assignment that will contribute toward the subject’s final mark; in some cases, it may even be the sole one, despite the wide range in length, they typically range from three to five thousand words.

good project topics

A critical essay covering a current or well-liked topic can be the format for a term paper and when the assignment is set up in this way, the student is required to present both their point of view and evidence of a thorough understanding of the subject, the essay should also include some arguments that are convincing and supported by data or facts.

A term paper allows for an essential analysis of current issues and typically offers the writer’s viewpoint, the arguments and persuasions in a term paper must be backed up with data gathered from a variety of trustworthy sources, including academic journals, academic papers, and textbooks, because it is a component of the course, a term paper is often finished after a set amount of time studying.

Typically, phrases and themes are used to split up the course and at the end of a term, students are typically required to take a test or complete another assignment to demonstrate their understanding of the content covered throughout the term. The grades for this assignment typically carry considerable weight in the student’s final grade.

A term paper might have any format or content, contrasting with a research paper that follows a particular format, an essay or other type of writing may be used as the basis for a term paper, as may a questions-and-answers format, an article, review, annotated bibliography, test, or even a research paper.

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Difference Between a Term Paper and Thesis

Getting an education in college comes with many challenges for students. You have so many tasks to write, and many of them are pretty different from one another. There are many extracurricular activities you can take part in that can help you meet new people and make friends.

But at the same time, there are many academic milestones you need to pass, and among these, there might be two of the ones we will focus on today. You may need to write a term paper at the end of each term and a thesis before you graduate.

Even though they seem pretty similar, they are indeed very different. There are some little-known secrets about dissertation writing, but we will uncover them all in this article. So, which are the differences between a term paper and a thesis? Find out below.

• 1 Where to get help with writing
• 2 The Purpose
• 3 Requirements
• 5 The Similarity Between Them?
• 6 Conclusion

Where to get help with writing

If you find writing term papers or your thesis too difficult and you need support, you can search for writers for hire. There are exceptional writers you can find and who can write your essay or any other assignment. Every essay writing service promises to offer professional services, so you can benefit from great help. They have the expertise you need to progress with your writing and deliver a compelling paper.

The Purpose

The main difference between a term paper and a thesis is their purpose. As a student, you will need to write a thesis in order to graduate. It is the paper you present at the end of your study years to show what you have learned during college and to get a degree.

On the other hand, a term paper is presented at the end of each term. You may have many term papers to write, depending on the professor. But a research term paper is for a specific class, opposite to a thesis.

Requirements

When it comes to requirements, these two types of written papers are very different. A thesis paper should have about 25,000 words , which means a maximum of 130 pages. This is why students work on their thesis for quite a few months or years. It is comprehensive work that needs to be done right. If we take a look at term papers, they have different requirements. Usually, a term paper should have about 15,000 words, which means about 60 pages. A half of a thesis. Of course, these requirements may be different depending on the college.

Because a term paper is shorter in length and lower in complexity than a thesis, it has different goals. Students usually have to write a term paper to complete coursework, so its goal should not be as the ones of a thesis. Usually, term papers focus on research . And the goals are related to this as well. A term paper has the goal of researching and understanding a single statement. On the contrary, a thesis has many hypotheses. And then, you need to conduct a study to prove or disprove those hypotheses. It is more than research on a topic. We can say that the work you do for a research term paper will be multiplied for a thesis.

The Similarity Between Them?

Is there any similarity between these two besides the fact that both of them are written papers? Well, the research part and how you organize your work could be the similarity. For both of them, you need to research thoroughly and pay attention to the sources you use. You need to pay attention to your questions and how you answer them in your paper. But of course, these are some guidelines that apply to most written papers.

Is there a difference between a term paper and a thesis? Well, there is more than one. Many students fail to deliver powerful papers because they do not know the difference between these two papers. Hopefully, this article has shed more light on this topic and will help students from all over the world organize their writing process easier. Do not forget that term papers are usually done at the end of each term, while a thesis is a work that helps you get a degree.

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Integrating Clinical Trials and Practice : A New JAMA Series and Call for Papers

• 1 Executive Editor, JAMA
• Special Communication The Integration of Clinical Trials With the Practice of Medicine Derek C. Angus, MD, MPH; Alison J. Huang, MD, MAS; Roger J. Lewis, MD, PhD; Amy P. Abernethy, MD, PhD; Robert M. Califf, MD; Martin Landray, PhD; Nancy Kass, ScD; Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, PhD, MD, MAS; JAMA Summit on Clinical Trials Participants; Ali B Abbasi; Kaleab Z Abebe; Amy P Abernethy; Stacey J. Adam; Derek C Angus; Jamy Ard; Rachel A Bender Ignacio ; Scott M Berry; Deepak L. Bhatt; Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo; Robert O. Bonow; Marc Bonten; Sharon A. Brangman; John Brownstein; Melinda J. B. Buntin; Atul J Butte; Robert M. Califf; Marion K Campbell; Anne R. Cappola; Anne C Chiang; Deborah Cook; Steven R Cummings; Gregory Curfman; Laura J Esserman; Lee A Fleisher; Joseph B Franklin; Ralph Gonzalez; Cynthia I Grossman; Tufia C. Haddad; Roy S. Herbst; Adrian F. Hernandez; Diane P Holder; Leora Horn; Grant D. Huang; Alison Huang; Nancy Kass; Rohan Khera; Walter J. Koroshetz; Harlan M. Krumholz; Martin Landray; Roger J. Lewis; Tracy A Lieu; Preeti N. Malani; Christa Lese Martin; Mark McClellan; Mary M. McDermott; Stephanie R. Morain; Susan A Murphy; Stuart G Nicholls; Stephen J Nicholls; Peter J. O'Dwyer; Bhakti K Patel; Eric Peterson; Sheila A. Prindiville; Joseph S. Ross; Kathryn M Rowan; Gordon Rubenfeld; Christopher W. Seymour; Rod S Taylor; Joanne Waldstreicher; Tracy Y. Wang JAMA
• Viewpoint Why Should the FDA Focus on Pragmatic Clinical Research? Ali B. Abbasi, MD; Lesley H. Curtis, PhD; Robert M. Califf, MD JAMA

Randomized clinical trials remain the cornerstone of evidence-based medicine. As a leading medical journal publishing the science that advances the clinical care of patients and the health of the public, JAMA is committed to the publication of clinical trials, as well as promoting the discourse on how clinical trial evidence can best serve the needs of patients and clinicians.

In autumn of 2023, JAMA hosted its inaugural in-person JAMA Summit 1 on the topic of randomized clinical trials and the challenges and opportunities to improve their design and conduct to be most responsive to the needs of clinical practice. The Special Communication published in JAMA, 2 “The Integration of Clinical Trials With the Practice of Medicine: Repairing a House Divided,” was written on behalf of the participants in the JAMA Summit and outlines many of the themes discussed during this provocative 2-day meeting.

A central theme of the JAMA Summit, which is elaborated on in the Special Communication in this issue, is how best to integrate clinical trials with clinical practice. Traditionally, clinical trialists and clinicians have worked independently, and, as the authors of the Special Communication underscore, their separate missions, incentives, and infrastructures have been siloed. The result is inefficiency in the performance of trials and limitations in their scope and impact. The authors offer solutions, including advances in implementation science, novel approaches to statistical analysis of trial data, and integration of trials with the electronic health record as a very rich source of clinical data. The clinical trial and health care delivery disciplines have functioned as a house divided. The authors proffer an approach to bridging the gap.

The future of clinical medicine will be greatly influenced by the data derived from randomized clinical trials, and trials will need to be accomplished more quickly, efficiently, and cheaply than they are today. A recent example is the platform trials 3 that were conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. 4 - 6 These trials were embedded within clinical care and permitted the study of multiple therapeutic interventions simultaneously, with the results applicable to patient care in short order. The platform trials are exemplary of the types of novel approaches to clinical trials that are needed to realign the house divided.

With this Special Communication and an accompanying Viewpoint, 7 we launch a new series in JAMA— Integrating Clinical Trials and Practice. JAMA invites submissions that explore innovations in clinical trial design, implementation, funding, regulation, education, and application that may bring randomized trial evidence to more effectively address the needs in clinical practice. Our goal is to engage the research community in a significant publishing project to advance clinical trials and better align them with clinical practice. We welcome articles of any type, and we are happy to hear from you with presubmission inquiries. We are eager to chart a new path for randomized clinical trials and the delivery of health care, and we hope you will participate in navigating the road ahead.

Published Online: June 3, 2024. doi:10.1001/jama.2024.10266

Corresponding Author: Greg Curfman, MD, JAMA, Editorial Office, 330 N Wabash Ave, Chicago, IL 60611 ( [email protected] ).

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: None reported.

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What is the Difference Between a Term Paper and a Research Paper?

There are two things that are distinct: research paper and term paper. Both have many similarities, and they may even be related. You should be aware of the differences. To get assistance from experts, you can also check out research papers or term papers for sale online .

Research papers

• Academic writing

Research papers are academic writing. These papers require students to address significant, methodical and theoretical questions. For the term paper, students must interpret the information they have gathered. They will be able to clearly communicate their understanding of the subject matter through a term paper. There are five thousand words.

A research paper is a written report that addresses a specific problem within a course. Research papers can be used to address specific problems in a course. Research papers often include elements of research

• Is there a particular structure?

Research paper has a different structure despite the subject; the title page, the table of contents, the introduction or the background information, the literature review, the methodology, the results, the discussion, and the conclusions/recommendations. Each section has its own guidelines. No matter what research question is being asked, the structure of the paper remains the same. This type of paper is time-consuming to write and research.

• Collect information

There are many types of research. Depending on how the information is collected, each type of research has different properties. There are many options: interview, questionnaire and survey. The purpose and hypothesis of the research will determine how long it takes. It can take several days depending on the difficulty of the problem.

Research papers are often long pieces of writing. Research papers are usually at least ten pages long, but they can go as far as a hundred pages. Research papers should not be shorter than ten pages. It’s almost impossible to present the main points, the results, and the hypothesis in a very small number of pages.

Materials that have been covered in research papers may be included. These materials can be found in journals, books, research papers, or published articles. You may be required to write a research paper on a particular problem. It may be possible to describe some processes or discuss background information. Look at examples to get an idea of what you should do when writing your research paper.

• This quiz is designed to assess students’ knowledge

The term paper is intended to assess students’ knowledge on certain topics. After completing the course, students may need to complete essays, take a test, or do a task on a specific topic. Students will have to write term papers in order to prove their knowledge and skills in a particular subject.

A format is used for term papers

To help students count towards their final grades, they are often given a term paper at class’ end. It may be the only way to grade in some cases. They typically range in length from three to five thousand words, but this can vary greatly.

• It is a crucial essay

A critical essay is an example of a term paper. It is current in nature. The structure allows students to voice their opinions on the topic while still having a clear understanding of the topic. Your arguments should be supported by facts and evidence.

• It verifies the knowledge

Term papers are usually written to demonstrate that you have learned and acquired knowledge about a topic. The term paper is usually given at the end. It counts towards the final exam. Term paper usually contains between 3 and 5 thousand words.

• It’s a collection of arguments

A term paper is a critical analysis of current topics that often offers the writer an opinion. A term paper is a compilation of arguments and persuasions. These arguments must be supported with facts from reliable sources like academic papers, scholarly magazines, or textbooks.

• A term paper is an integral part of a course

A term paper is part of a course. It is usually completed after a period of study. The course is often divided into themes or terms. After the term ends, students are often required to complete a task and take a test. This will show how well the students have grasped the material during the discussion. This task usually gets a special grade in overall student grades.

Comparison between Research Papers and Term Papers

• Writing Structure

A term paper can be of any type and structure. A research paper must have a special structure. The term paper can also be structured an essay or any other writing. You can also use it as a question-answers format.

• Format for Writing

A term paper can be of any length. A term paper can be one page long, while a research paper cannot be properly written on one page. It can be as long as twenty pages depending on the topic or the task. Every professor should pick the task that is most relevant to the topic being studied. Term papers typically cover the subject or themes that were studied during a particular period. These tasks are designed to show how well students have understood the material and lessons learned in that time period. Type of writing

A task for a term paper can be written in the same format as a research paper. However, it is impossible to have a task to write a research essay. Although both types of writing are similar, the goal for each student is to prove their knowledge. Professors can provide encouragement and motivation throughout the educational process. Tutors should not force their opinions onto students when writing term papers. This allows the paper to fulfill its purpose of assessing students’ knowledge. Students might be rewarded for their talents or punished in a way to encourage them to work harder.

What are the main characteristics of a research paper?

This type of academic writing focuses on exploring a topic idea in order to answer a particular theoretical question. The average document is around 5,000 words but can go longer. The student must analyze and interpret information provided on a topic. It can be given at any moment, but most instructors assign it at the beginning of each semester to allow students enough time to gather data and create their work. This paper requires the collection and interpretation of primary data.

What are the Key Features in a Term Paper?

A student writes this paper to demonstrate his or her knowledge of a topic. This work can be as long as 3,000 words or as long at 5K words. The picked topic should be carefully considered and the author should voice his or her opinions.

The assignment is usually given at the end of the semester and can have a significant impact upon the final grade. The term paper should be based on credible sources like academic works, lab reports and textbooks.

These Assignments: The Differences

There are some similarities between the two assignments. Each assignment can be chosen by students to reflect their interests. These documents could use similar types of resources and have similar structures. Research papers can be given at any time and do not count towards final grades. The fact that research papers can be assigned at any time is important to writing instructors. Term papers, on the other hand, have a thesis statement. Research papers will typically have many references. The term paper assignment usually has fewer references and does not include any appendices.

A term paper is a paper written by students to solve problems. A research paper should be used to learn and not to solve problems.

This table illustrates the differences between research papers and term papers.

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• Published: 30 May 2024

Three-year outcomes of post-acute sequelae of COVID-19

• Miao Cai   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0170-6905 1 , 2 ,
• Yan Xie   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-2457-9382 1 , 2 , 3 ,
• Eric J. Topol 4 &
• Ziyad Al-Aly   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-2600-0434 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 , 7  

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• Viral infection

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection causes post-acute sequelae of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) (PASC) in many organ systems. Risks of these sequelae have been characterized up to 2 years after infection, but longer-term follow-up is limited. Here we built a cohort of 135,161 people with SARS-CoV-2 infection and 5,206,835 controls from the US Department of Veterans Affairs who were followed for 3 years to estimate risks of death and PASC. Among non-hospitalized individuals, the increased risk of death was no longer present after the first year of infection, and risk of incident PASC declined over the 3 years but still contributed 9.6 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.4–18.7) disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) per 1,000 persons in the third year. Among hospitalized individuals, risk of death declined but remained significantly elevated in the third year after infection (incidence rate ratio: 1.29 (95% CI: 1.19–1.40)). Risk of incident PASC declined over the 3 years, but substantial residual risk remained in the third year, leading to 90.0 (95% CI: 55.2–124.8) DALYs per 1,000 persons. Altogether, our findings show reduction of risks over time, but the burden of mortality and health loss remains in the third year among hospitalized individuals.

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Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection leads to long-term health effects in nearly every organ system, collectively referred to by the patient-coined term Long Covid 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 . Studies following infected individuals for 1 year and 2 years described risk trajectories for many conditions 1 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 . Risks for some conditions abate after the first year after infection, but risks for many conditions persist at 2 years after initial infection, especially among individuals who were hospitalized for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during the acute phase of illness 20 . About 25% of the burden of the 2-year cumulative burden of disability and disease due to SARS-CoV-2 emanates from the second year after initial infection 20 . However, studies with longer follow-up times are limited 21 . It is unclear whether and to what extent risks remain in the third year after infection and whether new latent risks (that have not yet been observed) become apparent in the third year after infection.

Accordingly, we undertook a comprehensive assessment of the risks and burdens of post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) across care settings of the acute infection—both non-hospitalized and hospitalized individuals—in the 3 years after infection. Addressing this knowledge gap is important to deepen understanding of the post-acute and long-term health trajectories of people who had SARS-CoV-2 infection and will inform care of people with these conditions.

In this work, we used the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) national health care databases to build a cohort of 135,161 US veterans who survived the first 30 d of COVID-19 and a control of 5,206,835 users of the VA healthcare system with no evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection. To ensure 3-year follow-up, these cohorts were enrolled between March and December 2020, an era that pre-dated the availability of COVID-19 vaccines and antivirals and when the ancestral SARS-CoV-2 virus predominated. These cohorts were followed longitudinally for 3 years to estimate the risks of death and incident sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 throughout the 3-year follow-up and cumulatively at 3 years in mutually exclusive groups according to care setting of the acute phase of the disease (in non-hospitalized and hospitalized).

There were 114,864 participants (13,810 (12.0%) females and 101,054 (88.0%) males) in the non-hospitalized COVID-19 group and 20,297 participants in the hospitalized COVID-19 group (1,177 (5.8%) females and 19,120 (94.2%) males), and there were 5,206,835 participants in the control group without infection (503,509 (9.7%) females and 4,703,326 (90.3%) males). All participants had a full 3 years of follow-up, totaling 344,592, 60,891 and 15,620,505 person-years of follow-up in the non-hospitalized COVID-19, hospitalized COVID-19 and control groups, respectively. Altogether, this corresponded to 16,025,988 person-years of follow-up. Demographic, health characteristics and standardized mean differences of the non-hospitalized COVID-19, hospitalized COVID-19 and control groups before and after inverse probability weighting for baseline covariates are presented in Supplementary Tables 1 and 2 and Extended Data Fig. 1 .

We examined risks and burdens of death and a set of pre-specified PASC as well as sequelae aggregated by organ system and aggregated as an overall outcome of PASC by care setting during the acute phase of SARS-CoV-2 infection (non-hospitalized ( n  = 114,864) and hospitalized ( n  = 20,297) groups) in the first, second and third year after SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Risks in non-hospitalized participants

Compared to the control group without infection, people with COVID-19 who were not hospitalized during the acute phase of the disease were at an increased risk of death (incidence rate ratio (IRR): 1.58, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.53–1.62; excess burden per 1,000 persons: 16.20, 95% CI: 14.90–17.51; Fig. 1a ) during the first year after SARS-CoV-2 infection but not in the second year (IRR: 0.97, 95% CI: 0.94–1.00; excess burden per 1,000 persons: −0.91, 95% CI: −2.20 to 0.38) and third year (IRR: 1.01, 95% CI: 0.97–1.04; excess burden per 1,000 persons: 0.22, 95% CI: −1.14 to 1.58) after the infection.

a , The solid lines at the center of shaded bands were adjusted cumulative excess death rate per 1,000 persons in non-hospitalized COVID-19 ( n  = 114,864) and hospitalized COVID-19 ( n  = 20,297) groups compared to the control group without infection ( n  = 5,206,835), and the shaded bands present the 95% CIs for cumulative excess rates. The number at risk, weighted IRR and weighted excess rate per 1,000 persons in the COVID-19 groups by care setting of the acute phase compared to the control group without infection are also presented in the lower panel. b , IRR of overall PASC and by organ system in non-hospitalized COVID-19 group ( n  = 114,864) compared to the control group without infection ( n  = 5,206,835). The dots at the center of error bars in both panels represent the adjusted IRRs estimated using the number of post-acute sequelae, and the error bars correspond to the 95% CIs. c , IRR of overall PASC and by organ system in hospitalized COVID-19 group ( n  = 20,297) compared to the control group without infection ( n  = 5,206,835). Outcomes are ordered from top to bottom by largest cumulative number of post-acute sequelae at 3 years after infection in the non-hospitalized COVID-19 group. The dots at the center of error bars in both panels represent the adjusted IRRs estimated using the number of post-acute sequelae, and the error bars correspond to the 95% CIs.

The risks on the relative scale (IRRs) of PASC were 1.23 (95% CI: 1.22–1.25), 1.16 (1.14–1.18) and 1.05 (1.03–1.08) in the first, second and third year, respectively (Fig. 1b and Supplementary Table 3 ). The risks of individual outcomes in years 1, 2 and 3 are presented in Fig. 2 , Supplementary Table 4 and Extended Data Fig. 2 .

Heatmaps include non-hospitalized COVID-19 ( n  = 114,864; top rows) and hospitalized COVID-19 ( n  = 20,297; bottom rows) groups. IRRs were estimated in comparison to a control group without infection ( n  = 5,206,835). ACD, acute coronary disease; AKI, acute kidney injury; CKD, chronic kidney disease; DVT, deep vein thrombosis; ESRD, end-stage renal disease; GAD, general anxiety disorder; GERD, gastroesophageal reflux disease; IBS, irritable bowel syndrome; ICM, ischemic cardiomyopathy; ILD, interstitial lung disease; NA, not applicable; NCD, neurocognitive decline; NICM, non-ischemic cardiomyopathy; PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder; TIA, transient ischemic attack; VTE, venous thromboembolism. If potential risk horizon (non-significant (NS) cell with a numeric IRR estimate) for an outcome was reached in a previous period, the IRRs for that outcome in all subsequent periods will not be estimated and are indicated by gray cells with NAs (not applicable) inside. yr, year.

The cumulative number of post-acute sequelae over the 3 years was 378.7 (95% CI: 356.6–401.1) per 1,000 persons, including 212.3 (197.5–227.0), 125.0 (107.2–142.7) and 41.2 (20.2–62.3) in the first, second and third year, respectively, which corresponded to 56.1% (52.2–60.0%), 33.0% (28.3–37.7%) and 10.9% (5.3–16.5%) of the total 3-year cumulative burden of PASC, respectively (Fig. 3 and Supplementary Table 3 ).

a , Number of post-acute sequelae overall and by organ system per 1,000 persons in the first, second and third year after SARS-CoV-2 infection by care setting of acute phase. b , Relative percentage of number of post-acute sequelae overall in the first, second and third year after SARS-CoV-2 infection by care setting of acute phase. Number of post-acute sequelae for COVID-19 not significantly different from the control group without infection in a year is marked by gray bars. The left column represents numbers of post-acute sequelae for the non-hospitalized COVID-19 group ( n  = 114,864), and the right column represents the numbers for the hospitalized COVID-19 group ( n  = 20,297), compared to the control group without infection ( n  = 5,206,835). Outcomes are ordered from top to bottom by cumulative number of post-acute sequelae at 3 years after infection.

The 3-year cumulative burden of DALYs due to PASC was 91.2 (95% CI: 81.6–101.0) per 1,000 persons, including 54.3 (47.9–60.7), 27.3 (19.5–35.0) and 9.6 (0.4–18.7) in the first, second and third year, respectively, which corresponded to 59.6% (52.5–66.6%), 29.9% (21.4–38.4%) and 10.5% (0.4–20.6%) of the total 3-year cumulative DALYs, respectively (Fig. 4 and Supplementary Table 3 ).

a , DALYs of overall PASC and by organ system per 1,000 persons in the first, second and third year after SARS-CoV-2 infection by care setting of acute phase. b , Relative percentage of DALYs of overall PASC in the first, second and third year after SARS-CoV-2 infection by care setting of acute phase. DALYs for COVID-19 not significantly different from the control group without infection in a year are marked by gray bars. The left panels of a and b represent the DALYs of post-acute sequelae for the non-hospitalized COVID-19 group ( n  = 114,864), and the right panels of a and b represent the number for the hospitalized COVID-19 group ( n  = 20,297), compared to the control group without infection ( n  = 5,206,835). Outcomes are ordered from top to bottom by cumulative DALYs of post-acute sequelae at 3 years after infection.

In the analyses for numbers of post-acute sequelae by organ system, the risks and burdens for each organ system in years 1, 2 and 3 for non-hospitalized group are provided in Figs. 1b and 3 and Supplementary Table 3 . Compared to the control group without infection, there was increased risk for post-acute sequelae in all 10 organ systems in the first year; nine organ systems (all except kidney disorders) exhibited increased risks in the second year; and three organ systems exhibited increased risks in the third year, including neurologic, pulmonary and gastrointestinal disorders—contributing 14.2 (95% CI: 8.4–20.0), 11.1 (6.3–15.8) and 7.4 (0.8–13.9) sequelae per 1,000 persons in the third year, respectively. This corresponded to 7.2 (1.0–13.4), 1.5 (0.6–2.4) and 0.8 (0.02–1.5) DALYs in the third year for neurologic, pulmonary and gastrointestinal disorders, respectively (Fig. 4 and Supplementary Table 3 ). A Sankey plot showing the relative ranking of number of sequelae and DALYs by organ system in years 1, 2 and 3 is shown in Fig. 5a,b .

a , Changes of number of post-acute sequelae by organ system in 3 years after SARS-CoV-2 infection in the non-hospitalized COVID-19 group ( n  = 114,864). b , Changes of DALYs of post-acute sequelae by organ system in 3 years after SARS-CoV-2 infection in the non-hospitalized COVID-19 group ( n  = 114,864). c , Changes of number of post-acute sequelae by organ system in 3 years after SARS-CoV-2 infection in the hospitalized COVID-19 group ( n  = 20,297). d , Changes of DALYs of post-acute sequelae by organ system in 3 years after SARS-CoV-2 infection in the hospitalized COVID-19 group ( n  = 20,297). The height of each box represents the number of sequelae or DALYs in COVID-19 groups that are significantly different from the control group without infection in each year after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Outcomes are ordered from top to bottom by number/DALYs of post-acute sequelae per 1,000 persons in each year after SARS-CoV-2 infection in the COVID-19 group.

The 3-year cumulative number of sequelae and DALYs for each organ system are provided in Figs. 3 and 4 , Supplementary Table 3 and Extended Data Figs. 3 and 4 . Considering DALYs (Fig. 4 ), and in descending order, the top five organ systems were neurologic, cardiovascular, pulmonary, coagulation and hematologic and mental disorders. The 3-year cumulative number of sequelae per 1,000 persons was 79.5 (73.4–85.7) for neurologic, 33.0 (28.0–38.3) for cardiovascular, 66.7 (63.1–70.4) for pulmonary, 24.1 (20.5–27.9) for coagulation and hematologic and 56.9 (49.2–64.7) for mental disorders. The associated DALYs per 1,000 persons were 32.2 (27.5–37.1) for neurologic, 16.9 (13.4–20.5) for cardiovascular, 10.5 (9.8–11.1) for pulmonary, 9.7 (8.3–11.2) for coagulation and hematologic and 7.2 (4.7–9.8) for mental disorders.

Risks in hospitalized patients

Compared to the control group without infection, people with COVID-19 who were hospitalized during the acute phase of the disease were at an increased risk of death during the first year (IRR: 3.17, 95% CI: 3.00–3.33; excess burden per 1,000 persons: 58.85, 95% CI: 54.37–63.33; Fig. 1a ), during the second year (IRR: 1.44, 95% CI: 1.34–1.55; excess burden per 1,000 persons: 14.16, 95% CI: 10.25–18.06) and during the third year (IRR: 1.29, 95% CI: 1.19–1.40; excess burden per 1,000 persons: 8.16, 95% CI: 4.37–11.96) after SARS-CoV-2 infection.

The risks on the relative scale (IRRs) for post-acute sequelae were 2.82 (95% CI: 2.76–2.89), 1.57 (1.49–1.66) and 1.34 (1.24–1.45) in the first, second and third year, respectively (Fig. 1c and Supplementary Table 5 ). The risks of individual outcomes in years 1, 2 and 3 are presented in Fig. 2 , Supplementary Table 4 and Extended Data Fig. 2 .

The cumulative number of post-acute sequelae over the 3 years was 2,391.7 (95% CI: 2,316.0–2,472.3) per 1,000 persons, including 1,696.6 (1,636.6–1,756.6), 443.3 (375.1–511.6) and 252.8 (176.9–328.7) in the first, second and third year, respectively, which corresponded to 70.9% (68.4–73.4%), 18.5% (15.7–21.4%) and 10.6% (7.4–13.7%) of the total 3-year cumulative burden of PASC, respectively (Fig. 3 and Supplementary Table 5 ).

The 3-year cumulative burden of DALYs due to PASC was 766.2 (95% CI: 731.7–803.3) per 1,000 persons, including 527.1 (499.5– 554.7), 149.6 (118.1–181.0) and 90.0 (55.2–124.8) in the first, second and third year, respectively, which corresponded to 68.8% (65.2–72.4%), 19.5% (15.4–23.6%) and 11.7% (7.2–16.3%) of the total 3-year cumulative DALYs, respectively (Fig. 4 and Supplementary Table 5 ).

In the analyses for the numbers of post-acute sequelae by organ system, the risks and burdens for each organ system in years 1, 2 and 3 for the hospitalized group are provided in Figs. 1c and 3 and Supplementary Table 5 . Compared to the control group without infection, there was increased risk of post-acute sequelae in all 10 organ systems in the first and second year, and seven organ systems (except kidney, metabolic and musculoskeletal) exhibited increased risks in the third year—contributing 41.3 (14.1–68.4) sequelae for cardiovascular, 43.1 (6.2–80.1) for mental, 29.9 (19.3–40.6) for neurologic, 21.3 (0.3–42.2) for coagulation and hematologic, 28.7 (10.1–47.3) for pulmonary, 11.7 (0.2–23.2) for fatigue and 46.9 (24.1–69.8) for gastrointestinal disorders per 1,000 persons in the third year, respectively. This corresponded to 25.5 (7.4–43.6) DALYs for cardiovascular, 20.1 (7.3–33.0) for mental, 11.9 (0.1–23.8) for neurologic, 10.0 (1.1–18.8) for coagulation and hematologic, 4.8 (1.2–8.5) for pulmonary, 2.6 (0.1–5.2) for fatigue and 5.5 (2.8–8.2) for gastrointestinal disorders per 1,000 persons in the third year, respectively (Fig. 4 and Supplementary Table 5 ). A Sankey plot showing the relative ranking of number of sequelae and DALYs by organ system in years 1, 2 and 3 is shown in Fig. 5c,d .

The 3-year cumulative number of sequelae and DALYs for each organ system are provided in Figs. 3 and 4 , Supplementary Table 5 and Extended Data Figs. 3 and 4 . Considering DALYs (Fig. 4 ), and in descending order, the top five organ systems were cardiovascular, mental, neurologic, coagulation and hematologic and kidney disorders. The 3-year cumulative number of sequelae per 1,000 persons was 318.8 (299.5–339.7) for cardiovascular, 536.4 (510.1–564.6) for mental, 282.2 (263.6–302.2) for neurologic, 274.5 (259.7–290.5) for coagulation and hematologic and 197.0 (180.9–214.7) for kidney disorders. The associated DALYs per 1,000 persons were 173.5 (160.5–187.5) for cardiovascular, 156.3 (147.1–166.2) for mental, 138.5 (123.7–155.0) for neurologic, 107.5 (101.3–114.2) for coagulation and hematologic and 72.4 (66.7–78.7) for kidney disorders.

Risk in hospitalized versus non-hospitalized participants

Compared to those who were not hospitalized, people who were hospitalized during the acute phase of SARS-CoV-2 infection had significantly higher risk and burden of overall PASC and sequelae in every organ system at each timepoint (Fig. 6 and Supplementary Table 6 ) and longer risk horizons (Fig. 6 and Supplementary Table 6 ). The cumulative DALYs of the hospitalized people at 3 years (766.2 per 1,000 persons; 95% CI: 731.7–803.3) were 8.4 times higher than the non-hospitalized group (91.2 per 1,000 persons; 81.6–101.0) (Fig. 6 and Supplementary Table 6 ).

a , IRRs (95% CIs) of number of sequelae for hospitalized ( n  = 114,864) and non-hospitalized ( n  = 20,297) COVID-19 groups by year. IRRs were estimated in comparison to a control group without infection ( n  = 5,206,835). The dots at the center of error bars represent the adjusted IRRs estimated using the number of post-acute sequelae, and the error bars correspond to the 95% CIs. b , Number of sequelae per 1,000 persons due to SARS-CoV-2 infection in hospitalized and non-hospitalized COVID-19 groups by year. c , DALYs per 1,000 persons due to SARS-CoV-2 infection in hospitalized and non-hospitalized COVID-19 groups by year. d , Cumulative number of sequelae per 1,000 persons due to SARS-CoV-2 infection for hospitalized and non-hospitalized COVID-19 groups at 3 years. e , Cumulative DALYs per 1,000 persons due to SARS-CoV-2 infection for hospitalized and non-hospitalized COVID-19 groups at 3 years. a is ordered by the IRRs among the hospitalized COVID-19 groups in each year. The red and blue dots show the IRRs in hospitalized and non-hospitalized COVID-19 groups significantly larger than 1, and the error bars are the associated CIs. In b , c , d and e , the red dots represent the absolute rates in hospitalized COVID-19 groups significantly higher than those in the control group without infection; the blue dots represent the absolute rates in non-hospitalized COVID-19 groups significantly higher than the control group without infection; and the gray dots represent the absolute rates in hospitalized or non-hospitalized COVID-19 groups that were not significantly higher than those in the control group without infection. The thicker horizontal bars represent the excess rates in the hospitalized COVID-19 group compared to the non-hospitalized COVID-19 group, where the red bars indicate significantly different rates and gray bars indicate no statistical difference. The thinner horizontal bars closer to the y axis represent the absolute rate in the non-hospitalized COVID-19 group compared to the control group without infection. The organ systems in b , c , d and e were sorted based on the statistical significance and magnitude of differences between hospitalized and non-hospitalized COVID-19 groups (the horizontal red/gray bars between two dots).

Sensitivity analyses

We conducted several sensitivity analyses. (1) We built doubly robust adjustment models in which the covariates were used in both exposure and outcome models, instead of the primary approach where the covariates were applied only in the exposure model. (2) We constructed zero-inflated Poisson models instead of Poisson models in the primary approach. (3) We did not censor participants in the COVID-19 groups upon reinfection, whereas, in the primary approach, participants in the COVID-19 groups were censored upon reinfection. (4) We additionally adjusted for 100 algorithmically selected high-dimensional covariates, instead of only using a set of pre-specified covariates in our primary approach. (5) Instead of defining hospitalization during the acute phase as inpatient admission date within 7 d before or within 30 d after the positive test in the main analyses, we used an alternative definition of hospitalization as inpatient admission date on the day of the positive test or within 30 d after the positive test. (6) We truncated propensity score weights at 99.5% percentiles rather than the 99.9% percentiles in the main analyses. (7) We estimated the IRRs among a sample with complete data on all covariates ( n  = 4,432,414, 83.0% of the full sample) to test the consistency of the results with those obtained using multiple imputation for missing data. (8) We estimated the risks based on Fine–Gray models where death and SARS-CoV-2 infection during follow-up were considered as competing risks. (9) We applied inverse probability of censoring weight to account for non-random censoring due to death or SARS-CoV-2 infection during follow-up across the three groups (the control group without infection, the non-hospitalized COVID-19 group and the hospitalized COVID-19 group). (10) We alternatively used a narrower definition of PASC that included 73 outcomes instead of the 80 outcomes included in the primary analyses. The results from these sensitivity analyses are consistent with those from the main analyses (Supplementary Table 7 ).

Negative outcome control analyses

We examined the association between COVID-19 and incident neoplasm as a negative outcome control. The results suggested neutral associations between COVID-19 and the negative outcome control in non-hospitalized participants (IRRs of 1.03 (0.98–1.08) in the first year, 0.94 (0.87–1.01) in the second year and 0.95 (0.88–1.03) in the third year) and hospitalized patients (IRRs of 0.93 (0.82–1.05) in the first year, 0.92 (0.72–1.12) in the second year and 0.93 (0.68–1.08) in the third year).

In this study of 135,161 people with SARS-CoV-2 infection and 5,206,835 controls followed for 3 years, we show that, among non-hospitalized individuals, the increased risk of death was no longer present after the first year of infection, and DALYs and risks for post-acute sequelae declined substantially over the 3 years, with 41.2 sequelae per 1,000 persons and 9.6 DALYs per 1,000 persons emanating from the third year. Among hospitalized patients, the risk of death declined over the 3 years but remained significantly elevated in the third year after infection (29% increased risk and excess burden of death of 8.16 per 1,000 persons). Risks for post-acute sequelae declined over the years, but substantial residual risk remained in the third year, leading to 252.8 sequelae per 1,000 persons and 90.0 DALYs per 1,000 persons. In aggregate, our findings show reduction of risks over 3 years of follow-up but persistent increased risks of major adverse outcomes among hospitalized individuals.

This 3-year follow-up study extends findings from our previous 2-year follow-up analysis 20 . At 2 years, PASC contributed about 81 and 676 DALYs per 1,000 persons in non-hospitalized and hospitalized individuals, respectively. In the third year of follow-up, PASC additionally yielded 9.6 and 90.0 DALYs per 1,000 persons in non-hospitalized and hospitalized individuals, respectively. These results are aligned with the single 3-year study of PASC that has been published to date showing persistent symptomatology in these organ systems 21 and the contributions of Taquet et al. 15 showing variation in risk horizon for neuropsychiatric sequelae at 2 years. The epidemiologic evidence of risk persistence provided here is also aligned with studies by Peluso et al. 22 in which they show that SARS-CoV-2 infection may result in persistent T cell activation in a variety of body tissues that may still be evident 2–3 years after initial mild infection and may associate with PASC, suggesting that even remote and clinically mild SARS-CoV-2 infection could have long-term consequences on tissue-based immune homeostasis.

Lessons from post-acute infection syndromes suggest two key observations: (1) risks for many conditions in the post-acute phase abate with time (that is, risk becomes equal in the infected and control groups a few months to a few years after initial infection) and (2) latent effects may exist, as exemplified by Epstein–Barr virus leading to multiple sclerosis or polio virus leading to post-polio syndrome many years or decades after the initial infection 23 , 24 , 25 . Because SARS-CoV-2 is a novel virus (that was detected only in late 2019), follow-up of infected individuals is only available for a few years. At 3-year follow-up, there was no evidence in our cohort for new adverse outcomes that were not previously manifest. Longer-term studies with careful follow-up of infected individuals to assess the risk trajectories are critical to better understand the risk horizon of health effects and to detect putative latent effects 15 .

Prior epidemiologic characterization of PASC reported the increased risk according to severity of infection 26 ; our analyses further add that not only the risk is higher among hospitalized versus non-hospitalized groups at each timepoint but also that the risk persists longer among hospitalized patients, compounding their cumulative burden of health loss. Whereas the 3-year cumulative burden of DALYs due to PASC was high among the non-hospitalized group (91.2 DALYs), it was nearly 8.4 times higher among the hospitalized group (766.2 DALYs), reflecting the sizable toll of health loss in this group. The mechanisms of the longer risk persistence in people with more severe acute disease are not entirely clear. The explanation may be related, in part, to the vulnerability of people who develop severe COVID-19 with respect to more co-existing medical conditions, immune system dysfunction or genetic predisposition 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 . Studies have reported that, in severe COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 leads to systemic infection with viral replication in extrapulmonary sites and RNA persistence in various tissues, including the organ systems that display persistent risks in our analyses 32 , 33 . Whether and to what extent injury during the acute phase and/or viral persistence plays a mechanistic role in the prolonged risk horizon in these organs is not clear. Both the higher-risk and longer-risk horizon of post-acute sequelae and the persistently increased risk of death at 3 years among those hospitalized for COVID-19 compared to the non-hospitalized COVID-19 group suggest that severity of acute infection is a key driver of the expression of long-term adverse health outcomes. Reducing the risk of hospitalization (by increasing uptake of vaccination and antivirals), prevention of development of sequelae in those who are hospitalized and early recognition and care of PASC in impacted individuals are key strategies to reduce risk of chronic health loss in people with SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Although we emphasize the high toll health loss due to PASC in people who develop severe COVID-19, and although the risk of PASC (on the relative scale) is smaller in people who had mild COVID-19, their absolute number is much larger (than hospitalized individuals) owing to the much higher proportion of people with mild disease 26 . Consequently, much of the burden of PASC in populations is attributed to mild infection. According to an analysis by the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) collaborators, about 90% of people with PASC had mild COVID-19, suggesting that, although preventing severe disease is important, strategies to reduce the risk of post-acute and long-term health loss in people with mild COVID-19 are also needed 1 , 26 .

The present study has several strengths. It leveraged the breadth and depth of a nationwide integrated health system in the United States and built a large cohort of 5,341,996 participants and followed them for 3 years. We used advanced statistical approaches to balance baseline characteristics; we estimated the risk of a broad array of sequelae in 10 organ systems in people who were non-hospitalized and hospitalized during the acute phase of the disease; and we provided estimates of risk on both the relative and absolute scale by estimating the number of sequelae in each year and cumulatively at 3 years. We additionally estimated DALYs, which provide a more comprehensive measure of burden that accounts for the occurrence of sequelae and their influence on overall health. We conducted several sensitivity analyses that yielded consistent results; and testing of negative outcome control yielded results consistent with a priori expectations.

This study also has several limitations. The VA population is mostly older, White and male that may not be generalizable to other non-veteran populations. To ensure that participants had 3 years of follow-up data, we enrolled people who had positive SARS-CoV-2 tests in 2020—an era that predates the introduction of COVID-19 vaccines. Consequently, the results here do not represent the long-term health effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection among vaccinated individuals, which, given the effectiveness of vaccines in reducing risk of PASC, may be lower. The risks presented in these results may also not reflect the risks of people with antivirals or those who had SARS-CoV-2 infection with later variants (for example, Omicron). Although we used a large number of pre-defined covariates from multiple data sources, including diagnoses, medications and laboratory test results, and balanced these covariates between the COVID-19 groups and the control group without infection, we cannot completely rule out misclassification bias and residual confounding. We pre-specified a comprehensive set of outcomes that has been reported as sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection; sequelae that are yet to be characterized are not included in this analysis. We used a comprehensive definition of PASC encompassing 80 sequelae; narrower or broader definitions may yield different estimates. Burden estimates on the absolute scale also reflect the influence of baseline rates. Because the number of participants varies between the non-hospitalized and hospitalized groups, the 95% CIs should be interpreted in the context of the sample size in each group; similarly, estimates of risks and burdens in years 1, 2 and 3 and cumulatively at 3 years should be interpreted along with their uncertainty intervals. We estimated risks and burdens in years 1, 2, and 3 after SARS-CoV-2 infection, and our estimates reflect the average risk during those time periods. Although the VA COVID-19 data resources comprehensively capture COVID-19 test results from a broad array of data sources (including VA and non-VA data), we cannot rule out the possibility of undiagnosed COVID-19 or COVID-19-positive results that were not captured by the VA data systems. If this occurred in the control group, it may have reduced the estimated burden of PASC. We used the data and methodologies of the GBD study to assign a health burden coefficient for each health outcome 26 . This approach assumes that a health condition has the same health burden coefficient regardless of its cause (for example, COVID-19 or other drivers).

In sum, our findings show substantial reduction of risks of PASC over the 3-year follow up. Small residual risk remains among non-hospitalized individuals, and non-trivial burden of death and health loss is evident among hospitalized individuals.

Ethics statement

This study was approved by the institutional review board of the VA St. Louis Health Care System, which granted a waiver of informed consent (protocol number 1606333).

Study design and setting

This study was conducted using the electronic health databases of the US Department of Veterans Affairs. The VA operates the largest nationwide integrated healthcare system in the United States, including 1,321 healthcare facilities (172 medical centers and 1,138 outpatient sites) serving more than 9 million US veterans each year. Veterans enrolled in the VA healthcare system have access to a comprehensive array of medical services, including outpatient care, inpatient care, prescriptions, mental care, home healthcare, primary care, specialty care, geriatric and extended care, rehabilitation services, medical equipment and prosthetics.

Data sources

The electronic medical databases of the VA house comprehensive information on outpatient and inpatient encounters, laboratory test results and medications during routine healthcare encounters and are updated daily 25 . Data sources also included the VA Beneficiary Identification Record Locator System, the Medicare Vital Status File, the Social Security Administration Master File and the National Cemetery Administration. We used the inpatient and outpatient domains of the VA Corporate Data Warehouse databases to obtain information on diagnoses and procedures 34 , 35 , 36 . The outpatient pharmacy and barcode medication administration domains were used to obtain data on pharmacy records. The laboratory results domain was used to obtain data on laboratory measurements. Test results on SARS-CoV-2 infection were obtained from VA COVID-19 Shared Data Resource, which consisted of results from polymerase chain reaction tests, antigen tests conducted in the VA or tests reported to the VA 37 . Medicare inpatient and outpatient data were from the VA Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The area deprivation index (ADI) was used as a summary metric of contextual socioeconomic disadvantage (income, education, employment and housing quality) 38 .

A flowchart showing the cohort construction is presented in Extended Data Fig. 5 . We first identified the exposure group with a first SARS-CoV-2 infection between 1 March and 31 December 2020 ( n  = 149,459). We then selected those individuals who are VA users, defined as having at least two healthcare encounters separated by at least 180 d in the 2 years before the infection ( n  = 143,034). To examine the risk of PASC, we selected individuals who were alive at 30 d after the infection, yielding an analytic cohort of 135,161 individuals in the COVID-19 group. Hospitalization within the acute phase was defined as inpatient admission date within 7 d before or within 30 d after the positive test. The COVID-19 group was then further divided by the care setting during the acute phase of infection into non-hospitalized ( n  = 114,864) and hospitalized ( n  = 20,297) COVID-19 groups. The date of positive SARS-CoV-2 test was defined as T 0 , and the follow-up started from 30 d after T 0 . Participants were followed until death, repeated SARS-CoV-2 infection, 1,080 d after the first infection or 31 December 2023.

To construct a control group without SARS-CoV-2 infection, we first identified 6,231,638 individuals who were alive on 1 March 2020 and did not have a positive SARS-CoV-2 test between 1 March 2020 and 30 March 2021. We then randomly assigned T 0 for the control group based on the distribution of T 0 in the overall COVID-19 group to ensure that the proportion of participants started at a specific date was the same between the COVID-19 group and the control group; 6,194,973 participants were alive at the randomly assigned T 0 . Similar to the COVID-19 group, we also required the control group to have encountered the VA healthcare system on at least two occasions separated by at least 180 d in the 2 years before the assigned T 0 , yielding a final analytical cohort of 5,206,835 participants in the control group without infection. The follow-up started from 30 d after T 0 , and participants were followed until death, a SARS-CoV-2 infection, 1,080 d after T 0 or 31 December 2023.

We pre-specified a list of 80 individual outcomes that are well-characterized sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection based on previous evidence 1 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 8 , 9 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 20 , 25 , 37 . These outcomes were defined using International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision (ICD-10) diagnosis codes, medical prescriptions and laboratory measurements 20 , 25 . Incident outcomes were identified when the outcomes did not occur in the 2 years before T 0 and they were the first occurrences from 30 d after T 0 to the end of follow-up. The individual outcomes were then grouped into 10 organ systems: cardiovascular, coagulation and hematological, fatigue, gastrointestinal, kidney, mental health, metabolic, musculoskeletal, neurological and pulmonary. For overall PASC and outcomes at organ system level, we estimated the number of sequelae as the sum of the occurrence of individual outcomes included in a composite outcome. We additionally used the GBD methodologies to estimate DALYs, which represent a measure of disease burden that accounts for the number of sequelae included and their influence on overall health 20 , 26 , 39 . For each individual outcome, a health burden coefficient was assigned 20 , 25 , 26 . DALYs were then estimated by the weighted sum of all individual outcomes included in a composite outcome, where weight is the health burden coefficient for each individual outcome 20 , 25 .

A set of pre-defined covariates was selected based on prior knowledge of potential confounders that may bias the relationship between SARS-CoV-2 infection and PASC 1 , 4 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 12 , 13 , 20 , 25 . The demographic covariates included age, self-reported sex, self-reported race (White, Black and Other), ADI at residential address and smoking status (never, former and current smokers). Additional covariates included estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), systolic and diastolic blood pressure and body mass index measured before and closest to T 0 . A set of variables defining healthcare utilization included the use of long-term care in the year before the pandemic, receipt of seasonal influenza vaccination each year for up to 5 years before T 0 , the number of inpatient and outpatient Medicare visits in the year before the pandemic, the number of inpatient and outpatient unique medical prescriptions and and the number of inpatient and outpatient laboratory panels in the VA medical system separated by 180-d intervals. Comorbidities included anxiety, cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, chronic lung disease, dementia, depression, diabetes, immunocompromised status (history of organ transplantation, end stage kidney disease, cancer, HIV or prescriptions of corticosteroids or immunosuppressants) and peripheral artery diseases. To account for spatiotemporal variations, we accounted for the calendar week of SARS-CoV-2 infection for the COVID-19 groups or the assigned T 0 for the control group as well as the geographic location of medical service. Missing values included 9.2% for eGFR, 4.9% for systolic and diastolic blood pressure and 10.4% for body mass index. We imputed the missing data using multivariate imputation by chained equations and matching method with predictive mean conditional on all covariates in COVID-19 groups and the control group separately 25 . All the covariates were measured using a look-back period of 2 years before T 0 unless otherwise specified.

Statistical analyses

The COVID-19 group was separated by care setting during the acute phase into two mutually exclusive groups: non-hospitalized and hospitalized COVID-19 groups. Baseline characteristics of the COVID-19 groups and the control group without infection were reported. Continuous variables were reported as means (standard deviations), and categorical variables were reported as frequencies (percentages). Standardized mean differences were computed to evaluate covariate balance between COVID-19 groups and the control group without infection, where a value of less than 0.1 was considered evidence of good covariate balance. An analytic flowchart is presented in Extended Data Fig. 6 .

Inverse probability weighting was used to balance baseline differences between the two COVID-19 groups and the control group without infection 20 . Logistic regression models were constructed to estimate the probability of being assigned to the target group given the pre-specified covariates (propensity score). To provide a representative risk assessment, we selected the overall population (COVID-19 groups and the control group) as the target population. The inverse probability weights for all three groups were then computed as the propensity score divided by (1 − propensity score). We truncated the propensity score weights at 99.9% percentiles in each group (the control, non-hospitalized COVID-19 and hospitalized COVID-19 groups) to reduce the influence of excessively large weights on the analytical results. We estimated the risk of death and the risk of sequelae at the levels of overall PASC, organ systems and individual outcomes in the weighted cohorts during three time periods: 30–360 d (first year), 361–720 d (second year) and 721–1,080 d (third year) after T 0 . To estimate the risk of incident outcome in each period, participants were considered at risk if the examined outcome did not occur in the previous period. We estimated the propensity score weights independently within each period and applied the weights from different periods into one outcome model to estimate the risks and cumulative burden. Participants were censored at the time of death or SARS-CoV-2 infection during follow-up for both COVID-19 groups (non-hospitalized and hospitalized) and the control group.

IRRs, absolute rates, absolute rate differences, cumulative rates, cumulative rate differences for death, the number of sequelae and DALYs were estimated from weighted generalized estimating equations using a log link and a Poisson distribution. The rate differences in death, the number of sequelae and DALYs overall and by organ system between COVID-19 groups and the control group without infection were considered as outcomes due to COVID-19. The percentage contribution of number of sequelae and DALYs in each year during the follow-up were estimated for overall PASC and by organ system. The 95% CIs were generated from the 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles of parametric bootstrapping of 1,000 times based on the point estimates and covariance matrix of the generalized estimating equations 20 . The number of sequelae and DALYs are reported as rates per 1,000 persons.

In all analyses, a 95% CI of IRR that excluded unity or the number of sequelae and DALYs that excluded zero was considered evidence of statistical significance. Analyses were conducted using SAS Enterprise Guide version 8.3 (SAS Institute), and results were visualized using R version 4.3.2.

We performed several sensitivity analyses. (1) We estimated doubly robust adjustment models in which the covariates were used in both exposure and outcome models, instead of the primary approach where the covariates were applied only in the exposure model. (2) Instead of the Poisson models in the primary approach, we constructed zero-inflated Poisson models to evaluate how a large number of zero outcomes influences the model fit. (3) Instead of the primary approach where participants were censored at SARS-CoV-2 infection during follow-up, we did not censor participants in the COVID-19 groups upon reinfection and consider reinfection as a natural outcome of the first infection. (4) Instead of using only the pre-defined set of covariates in our primary approach, we additionally adjusted for 100 algorithmically selected high-dimensional covariates 40 . (5) Instead of defining hospitalization during the acute phase as inpatient admission date within 7 d before or within 30 d after the positive test in the main analyses, we used an alternative definition of hospitalization as inpatient admission date on the day of positive test or within 30 d after the positive test. (6) We truncated propensity score weights at 99.5% percentiles rather than the 99.9% percentiles in the main analyses. (7) We estimated the results among a subsample with complete data on all covariates ( n  = 4,432,414, 83.0% of the full sample) to test the consistency of the results with those obtained using multiple imputation for missing data. (8) We estimated the risks based on Fine–Gray models where death and SARS-CoV-2 infection during follow-up were considered as competing risks 41 . (9) We additionally applied inverse probability of censoring weight to account for non-random censoring due to death or SARS-CoV-2 infection during follow-up across the three groups (the control group without infection and the non-hospitalized COVID-19 and hospitalized COVID-19 groups) 42 . (10) We alternatively used a narrower definition of PASC that included 73 outcomes instead of the 80 outcomes included in the primary analyses.

Negative outcome control

We used the same analytic approach (outlined above) to examine the association between COVID-19 and incident neoplasms as a negative outcome control in each year during the 3 years of follow-up 43 . There is no mechanistic support for or clinical evidence of a causal relationship between SARS-CoV-2 infection and the risk of incident neoplasms. Reproducing the a priori expected null association between COVID-19 and the negative outcome control may reduce concerns about possible spurious biases 43 .

Reporting summary

Further information on research design is available in the Nature Portfolio Reporting Summary linked to this article.

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the US Department of Veterans Affairs. VA data are made freely available to researchers behind the VA firewall with an approved VA study protocol. For more information, visit https://www.virec.research.va.gov or contact the VA Information Resource Center at [email protected].

Code availability

The analytic code is available at https://github.com/caimiao0714/COVID3year .

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Acknowledgements

This study used data from the VA COVID-19 Shared Data Resource. Support for VA/CMS data was provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Office of Research and Development, Health Services Research and Development Service, VA Information Resource Center (project numbers SDR 02-237 and 98-004). This research was funded by the US Department of Veterans Affairs (to Z.A.-A.). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript. The contents do not necessarily represent the views of the US Department of Veterans Affairs or the US government.

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Miao Cai, Yan Xie & Ziyad Al-Aly

Veterans Research and Education Foundation of St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA

Division of Pharmacoepidemiology, Clinical Epidemiology Center, Research and Development Service, VA St. Louis Health Care System, St. Louis, MO, USA

Scripps Research, La Jolla, CA, USA

Eric J. Topol

Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA

Ziyad Al-Aly

Nephrology Section, Medicine Service, VA St. Louis Health Care System, St. Louis, MO, USA

Institute for Public Health, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA

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Contributions

Z.A.-A., M.C. and Y.X. contributed to the development of the study concept and design. Z.A.-A., M.C. and Y.X. contributed to data analysis and interpretation. Z.A.-A. and M.C. drafted the paper. Critical revision of the paper was provided by Z.A.-A., M.C., E.J.T. and Y.X. Z.A.-A. provided administrative, technical and material support. Z.A.-A. provided supervision and mentorship. Z.A.-A. is the guarantor of the work. Each author contributed important intellectual content during paper drafting or revision and accepts accountability for the overall work by ensuring that questions pertaining to the accuracy or integrity of any portion of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. All authors approved the final version of the report. The corresponding author attests that all the listed authors meet the authorship criteria and that no others meeting the criteria have been omitted.

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Correspondence to Ziyad Al-Aly .

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Z.A.-A. reports receiving consultation fees from Gilead Sciences. Y.X. reports consulting for Guidepoint. Z.A.-A. and Y.X. report consulting (uncompensated) for Pfizer. The other authors declare no competing interests.

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Extended data

Extended data fig. 1 standardized mean differences between non-hospitalized, hospitalized, and control groups before and after weighting in analyses of post-acute sequelae (pasc) and sequelae by organ system..

Plots show the standardized mean differences before weighting (left) and after weighting (right). Each row represents a sub-cohort used in analyzing the risks of PASC by organ system that was free of history of the respective outcomes at baseline. All selected variates had a standardized mean difference < 0.1 after weighting.

Extended Data Fig. 2 Summary of risk of post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) by years of follow-up and care setting of the acute phase.

The figure presents the summaries of PASC by organ system for non-hospitalized COVID-19, hospitalized COVID-19 in each year of follow-up after SARS-CoV-2 infection. The number in the leftmost column with white background denotes the total number of sequelae examined in each organ system. Within each cell, the top left percent represent the percentage of number of sequelae at increased risk in non-hospitalized/hospitalized COVID-19 compared to the control, while the bottom right number is the number of sequelae in the organ system in that year.

Extended Data Fig. 3 Cumulative number of post-acute sequelae (PASC) overall and by organ system and by care setting of the acute phase.

The solid lines at the centre of shaded bands were adjusted cumulative excess number of PASC per 1000 persons in non-hospitalized (n = 114,864) and hospitalized COVID-19 (n = 20,297) groups compared to the control group without infection (n = 5,206,835), and the shaded bands present the 95% confidence intervals for cumulative rates.

Extended Data Fig. 4 Cumulative disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) of post-acute sequelae (PASC) overall and by organ system and by care setting of the acute phase.

The solid lines at the centre of shaded bands were adjusted cumulative excess DALYs of PASC per 1000 persons in non-hospitalized (n = 114,864) and hospitalized COVID-19 (n = 20,297) groups compared to the control group without infection (n = 5,206,835), and the shaded bands present the 95% confidence intervals for cumulative rates.

Extended Data Fig. 5

Cohort flowchart .

Extended Data Fig. 6

Analytic flowchart .

Supplementary information

Reporting summary, supplementary tables.

Supplementary Table 1 . Demographic and health characteristics of individuals with COVID-19 separated by care setting of the acute phase and the control group without infection before weighting. Supplementary Table 2 . Demographic and health characteristics of individuals with COVID-19 separated by care setting of the acute phase and the control group without infection after weighting. Supplementary Table 3 . IRR, number of sequelae and DALYs due to COVID-19 in the non-hospitalized COVID-19 group, number of sequelae and DALYs in the non-hospitalized COVID-19 group and the control group without infection in 3 years after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Supplementary Table 4 . IRRs and 95% CIs for 80 individual outcomes in the non-hospitalized and hospitalized COVID-19 groups compared to the control group without infection in 3 years after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Supplementary Table 5 . IRRs, number of sequelae and DALYs due to COVID-19 in the hospitalized COVID-19 group, number of sequelae and DALYs in the hospitalized COVID-19 group and the control group without infection in 3 years after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Supplementary Table 6 . Differences in number of sequelae and DALYs between the hospitalized and non-hospitalized COVID-19 groups in 3 years after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Supplementary Table 7 . Sensitivity analyses and negative outcome control analyses.

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Cai, M., Xie, Y., Topol, E.J. et al. Three-year outcomes of post-acute sequelae of COVID-19. Nat Med (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-024-02987-8

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Research Paper vs. Research Article: What’s the Difference?

Research papers and research articles are two different forms of academic writing, with distinct characteristics. Although they share some similarities in terms of format and purpose, there are important distinctions between the two types that should be understood by students who wish to write either form effectively. This article will explain the differences between a research paper and a research article, outlining their unique features and applications. Furthermore, it will offer guidance on how best to approach each type when crafting an effective piece for scholarly consumption.

I. Introduction to Research Paper vs. Research Article

Ii. defining a research paper and a research article, iii. comparative analysis of structure, content, and writing styles between the two types of scholarly documents, iv. pros & cons of conducting either a formal or an informal study, v. concluding remarks: how to choose between the different approaches when completing academic assignments, vi. limitations in comparing these texts as distinct forms of scholarly outputs, vii. future directions for understanding similarities & differences across all kinds of academic writings.

Research Paper vs. Research Article

The academic world is full of a variety of different writing styles, each with its own unique purpose and goals. Two particularly important forms are the research paper and the research article. Each has their own distinct features that make them uniquely suited to certain tasks within academia – let’s take a closer look at what sets them apart from one another!

A research paper , as you might expect, presents in-depth analysis on an issue or topic using evidence gathered through primary sources such as field work, laboratory experiments, surveys, interviews etc., whereas a research article , typically published in scholarly journals or online publications like websites & blogs addresses specific findings derived from secondary sources like books or other papers related to said subject matter. The former requires more effort & dedication from the author due to it being time consuming & involving careful structuring along with rigorous citation format adherence; while the latter focuses mainly on providing succinct yet comprehensive overviews regarding topics which have already been extensively discussed by experts in depth previously elsewhere – taking into account present day developments/breakthroughs if necessary before finally offering opinionated conclusions pertaining to said subjects.

Exploring the Characteristics of a Research Paper and Article

• Research paper:
• Research article:

A research paper is an extended form of writing that presents and supports an argument on a particular topic. It provides evidence for the opinion or idea in the form of facts, data, analysis, opinions from authorities in specific fields etc. The objective is to make original claims based on careful evaluation of information available on a given subject. It requires significant effort as one needs to be able to distill complex topics into concisely articulated points that are supported by solid evidence.

On the other hand, a research article is usually written for publication either online or printed through journals or magazines. These articles have been peer-reviewed which means they follow certain academic standards established within their discipline while presenting factual conclusions related to ongoing debates and arguments raised by preceding works. They generally provide new insight into existing knowledge rather than build upon it using more primary sources such as surveys and experiments conducted independently by authors themselves.

Comparison of Structure, Content and Writing Styles between Research Papers and Articles For the purpose of scholarly communication, both research papers and articles play a vital role. Though there is no hard-and-fast rule that distinguishes them from each other in terms of structure or content, they usually differ significantly in their style. In comparison to research papers, articles typically have a much smaller length requirement. They can range anywhere from 1 page to as many as 30 pages depending on the journal guidelines – making them more accessible for readers who are seeking concise summaries with quick insights into topics. On the contrary, research papers tend to be longer documents that delve deeper into an issue by providing extensive background information; detailed analysis; arguments bolstered by sources such as peer-reviewed journals or interviews; conclusion sections tying up any loose ends etc.

• Research Papers: Longer documents which provide extensive coverage about an issue.
• Articles: Short pieces covering high level overviews without going too deep.

When it comes down to writing styles used for these two types of documents – Authors generally follow formal academic language while creating research paper whereas article writers tend to use more casual tones in order to appeal wider audience groups. Additionally authors will often adopt conversational elements like anecdotes when crafting articles so that readers can get better understanding about specific points being discussed within context.

Formal vs. Informal Study: A Critical Analysis The choice between conducting a formal or informal study may be difficult for researchers due to the advantages and drawbacks of each approach. Depending on their research topic, scientists must carefully weigh up the pros and cons before deciding which course of action is most suitable for them.

A formal study , as conducted in many research papers and articles, often requires more time-consuming effort from researchers than an informal one because it involves using specific methodologies such as surveys, interviews, experiments etc., gathering quantitative data that needs to be statistically analyzed by employing reliable statistical methods. On the other hand, a formal investigation allows researchers to obtain objective information from well-defined populations about predetermined variables through systematic procedures that can yield precise results with larger external validity – making it possible to make generalizations beyond those studied in this particular case.

Conversely, an informal study , also known as participant observation or field work requires less structured approaches where collecting qualitative data is usually achieved via conversations with informants instead of strict instrumentations; thus allowing greater interaction between researcher and subjects resulting in increased understanding of contextually situated phenomena within its natural setting rather than artificially created ones used in laboratories’ studies – leading to deeper insights into complex social processes . Also noteworthy is its lower financial cost when compared against highly expensive equipment needed for undertaking large scale scientific investigations.. However despite yielding valuable first person accounts which might not have been obtained elsewhere , such observations are sometimes criticized due challenges related accuracy given reliance on subjective interpretations while generating evidence without significant use of control variables .

Selecting the Optimal Approach for Academic Assignments When it comes to completing academic assignments, there are various approaches one can take. In order to ensure success and optimal results, it is important that students consider all of their options carefully before making a choice.

Research papers often require extensive research and careful consideration when selecting an approach. Using primary sources such as books or peer-reviewed articles may be more reliable in comparison to secondary sources such as websites or blogs which are usually less credible due to lack of credibility checks by professionals within the field. Additionally, data analysis can help strengthen arguments while also adding clarity to any work produced during the course of completion; however, understanding how best utilize this analytical tool effectively requires additional practice and experience on behalf of the student undertaking it. For research articles, detailed knowledge about particular topics may lead towards better outcomes but general familiarity with content areas is sufficient enough for success here too. The key lies in being able identify appropriate methods quickly through use critical thinking skills coupled with clear objectives pertaining specifically each assignment itself at hand prior its execution – this way mistakes are avoided thus delivering quality results each time..

Comparative Analyses of Scholarly Outputs

• Scholarly output, such as research papers and articles, are subject to scrutiny when attempting to make comparisons.
• Due to the differences between these two types of outputs, it can be difficult or impossible to achieve a true comparison.

Comparing scholarly outputs is not always possible due to their distinct forms. Research papers typically have more depth than an article on the same topic which may mean that even though both documents might discuss similar topics in some aspects they will differ greatly in others. Furthermore, the format of each type of document contributes further complexities; for example, a research paper is often much longer and requires extensive background information before any conclusions can be drawn while articles tend towards presenting results with little room left for interpretation. The style used by authors also adds difficulty; many times research papers include complex jargon necessary for understanding specific points whereas an article strives for simplicity so its target audience can comprehend all material without excessive effort. These limitations prevent proper analysis from being done since one piece could provide certain details while another provides only bits related thereto leading readers into confusion if attempting to compare them directly despite intentions otherwise. It then becomes clear that academic pieces should instead remain separate entities rather than compared against each other since doing so would lead only too frustration given current constraints therein found.

Exploring the Similarities and Differences Between Academic Writings

As our understanding of academic writings continues to evolve, so too must our appreciation for both their similarities and differences. From research papers to research articles, it is important to consider how each one contributes unique insight into a given topic or issue.

The research paper and research article may look similar on the surface, but upon closer inspection one can see significant differences in their format, purpose, and audience. The key distinctions between these two forms of written work are scope of content covered, type of analysis used to draw conclusions or develop knowledge from data or evidence presented, and intended readership. Ultimately, understanding the essential characteristics that distinguish a research paper from a research article is beneficial for anyone who produces such texts as it will help them craft an effective product that aligns with its desired purposes.

India election results 2024 updates: Modi says he will form next government

A party or coalition needs 272 seats to cross the majority mark in the 543-member lower house of parliament.

This live page is now closed. You can read our full story on the day’s events here .

• Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has claimed he will form the next government even though his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is projected to lose its majority in parliament after a decade.
• As India counts votes , trends so far suggest the BJP will likely need the help of allies as a united opposition led by the Indian National Congress makes gains.
• The mammoth seven-phase election – the world’s largest democratic exercise – began on April 19 and ended on Saturday.
• A party or coalition needs 272 seats to cross the majority mark in the 543-member Lok Sabha, the lower house of India’s parliament. Exit polls said Modi could return to power for a third consecutive term.
• The Election Commission says a record-breaking 642 million voters cast their ballots in the staggered election as it dismissed opposition concerns over how the votes would be counted .

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Thank you for following along with our live updates of the vote count in India’s election.

Learn more about the wins, losses and surprises of the count here .

Read about what the results mean for PM Modi’s BJP party here .

Or see how the day unfolded in pictures, here .

RECAP: Here’s what happened today

This live page will soon be closing. Here’s what happened today:

• The BJP underperformed expectations, particularly in their Uttar Pradesh stronghold, and are projected to win only 240 seats, far short of the 272 needed for a majority in India’s lower house of parliament.
• The weak showing means that Prime Minister Modi will have to rely on BJP-led NDA coalition partners like no other time during the party’s last two terms in the majority, raising the prospect of more checks on Modi’s rule.
• All told, the opposition bloc were on track to win 222 seats, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi saying the results showed a clear rejection of the Indian prime minister.
• Nevertheless, in an address, Modi hailed the NDA’s victory, noting it was the first time since 1962 that a coalition had won three elections in a row.

What does Maharashtra results mean for the upcoming state elections?

The results of the parliamentary elections in Maharashtra state will cast a shadow on the state elections slated to be held in October.

The current coalition government in the state comprising of the BJP and a faction of Shiv Sena came to power in mid 2022 after toppling of the Shiv Sena-Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) coalition government. A year later the NCP founded by the veteran politician Sharad Pawar was split and most of its legislators joined the BJP-Shiv Sena government.

But the toppling of the Shiv Sena-Congress-NCP coalition government and the subsequent split in the NCP was blamed on the BJP.

The party has denied the charges, but it did not go down well, at least with the voters.

Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi, which is part of the INDIA alliance, is set to win most seats in the Lok Sabha. They have either won or leading in 29 out of the state’s 48 seats. The BJP has managed to win 10 seat but its allies have been decimated in this western state, home to the financial hub of Mumbai.

If the trend continues, the BJP-led coalition government in the state will find it hard to retain power.

Punjab separatists score win in two seats

Amritpal Singh has won from the Khadoor Sahib constituency in northern Indian state of Punjab – a victory that will likely raise alarm bells among security agencies.

Singh, 31, made international headline last year after police in Punjab state launched a manhunt to arrest him for reviving calls for an independent Sikh homeland (Khalistan), stirring fears of violence in a state with a history of armed rebellion.

He fought the elections from jail. However, he did not invoke the Khalistani cause in his election campaigning.

In Faridkot Lok Sabha seat, Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa, son of one of the assassins of the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is leading raising concerns about rising support for hardline candidates.

The Congress party and Aam Aadmi Party won most seats in this border state.

Congress-led opposition bloc to meet Wednesday

Officials have said opposition leaders will meet Wednesday in New Delhi to discuss what comes next.

The Congress-led bloc is set to take 222 seats in the parliament.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi declined today to discuss the bloc’s plans out of “respect” for members of the coalition.

Modi to lead ‘a different government altogether’: Analyst

In the days following the election, PM Narendra Modi will likely try to give the impression of “business of usual” on the international stage, particularly as he attends the upcoming G7 summit in Italy.

“But I think he will become obsessed about stabilising this government, he will become more inward looking,” analyst Sanjay Kapoor told Al Jazeera.

“There will be challenges coming in the parliament. There will be bills that will have to be passed, and there is bound to be a great amount of compromise that he will have to make,” he added. “In the past, when he had a brute majority, he would not be compromising. He always projected himself as somebody very strong who will not compromise.”

“I’m sure his allies will be uncomfortable if he continues to speak in the manner he did,” Kapoor added, “particularly trying to provoke Muslims. It’s got to be a different government altogether.”

How are the parties performing?

Follow our live results tracker  here .

Kashmir results show people’s anger against BJP’s policy: Experts

The results from federally administered regions of Indian-administered Kashmir and Ladakh show people’s anger against BJP’s policy in the region, experts say.

The BJP did not field any candidate from the Muslim-majority part of Kashmir while its candidate came in third position from the lone parliamentary seat in Ladakh, which saw protests against the BJP policy.

Independent candidate Abdul Rasheed Sheikh, popularly known as engineer Rasheed, won the elections from Baramulla in northern Kashmir. He defeated former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah while lodged in jail since he was arrested under “anti-terror” law after being accused of money laundering.

Hundreds of Kashmiri activists and leaders were arrested in the wake of the 2019 government decision to strip the Muslim-majority region’s special status. Prime Minister Modi said it was aimed at ending the armed rebellion, which erupted in the late 1980s.

“Incarcerated former legislator Engineer Rashid’s massive win is an indication that Kashmir continues to be a ground for semi-separatist politics.” Zafar Choudhary, a political analyst based in the southern city of Jammu, told Al Jazeera.

Along with Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, also a former chief minister, has lost in their constituencies. However, candidates from Abdullah’s National Conference won in the Srinagar and Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary constituencies.

Political expert Sheikh Showkat Hussain told Al Jazeera that people have expressed their resentment against the BJP and its allies in Kashmir through their vote.

“People have rejected BJP’s stance on Kashmir, it includes the abrogation of Article 370 decision,” he said referring to the constitutional safeguard that Modi government removed in 2019.

In the southern city of Jammu, the BJP has retained its hold on the Udhampur and Jammu constituencies, but its vote share has come down drastically compared with the last elections.

The outcome of the parliamentary elections is likely to have an effect on the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir slated to be held in September as per Supreme Court directions.

The Ladakh result is being seen as a major setback for the BJP as the party received support when it carved out the region from Kashmir.

“This is a defeat for BJP in Ladakh. This is people’s anger against the decision taken on August 5, 2019,” activist Sajad Kargili from Ladakh told Al Jazeera.

Regional party set to carry Tamil Nadu

The left-wing Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) is projected to win 22 seats in the southern state.

Congress was on track to win nine of the state’s 39 total seats in Lok Sabha.

BJP makes inroads in Kerala

The BJP has won a seat in Kerala, making new inroads in the southern Indian state.

The party’s candidate won in the district of Thrissur, which Congress had won in 2019.

Congress was set to win 14 districts in the longtime left-leaning state, one fewer than five years ago.

Who are Modi’s allies in NDA coalition?

Modi’s BJP party has won or are leading in 240 districts, putting them short the 272 seats needed for majority in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the parliament.

Factions of the far-right, Hindu ultranationalist party Shiv Sena – an ally of the BJP – were on track to win seven seats.

That gives outsized influence to two regional parties, the Janata Dal-United JD(U) in the state of Bihar and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.

Both parties recently broke of the opposition alliance, with the JD(U) accusing Congress of hoarding contested seats.

The TDP is set to win 16 seats and the JD(U) is on track to win 12.

So what went wrong for the BJP?

The Bharatiya Janata Party failed to repeat its performance in the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, which sends 80 representatives to the parliament. The BJP won 71 and 62 in the 2014 and 2019 elections respectively.

The party has won 33 seats, bringing down the BJP tally to below the 272 magic figure needed to form a government. The BJP can form the next government with the help of its allies. It is is slated to win 241 seats.

The BJP also lost support in agricultural regions in northern India, which saw protests against the Modi government. It suffered defeats in the state of Punjab, known as the bread basket of India, Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh mainly due to farmers’ unrest over lack of government support to the sector.

The decision to topple the government in the western state of Maharashtra has probably cost the party dearly as it has suffered a major electoral setback in a state it dominated in the past decade.

The overreliance on divisive politics led by Prime Minister Modi was avoidable, analysts say, adding that the governing party could have focused on the government’s achievements in the past 10 years. As a result, the opposition was able to set the agenda during the six weeks of campaigning.

Coalition partners may put check on BJP: Analyst

The BJP is currently projected to only win 240 seats in Lok Sabha, short of the 272 needed for a majority. That means they are set to rely on NDA coalition partners for a majority.

Those partners include Janata Dal-United, led by Nitish Kumar in the state of Bihar and the Telugu Desam Party, led by Chandrababu Naidu in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. The TDP has won 15 seats and is leading on one seat, while the JD(U) has emerged victorious on 12 seats. Both the parties have also previously been in alliance with the Congress party.

Over the past decade, under a majority BJP government, India has slid on several democratic indices amid accusations of a crackdown on dissent, political opposition, and media.

With coalition partners to keep a check on the BJP, there “will be breathing space for the Indian civil society and the government’s critics”, Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, a Modi biographer, told Al Jazeera.

Why has BJP suffered such a setback in its Uttar Pradesh stronghold?

The BJP was hoping to repeat its landslide victory in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, where the party won 71 and 62 seats in the 2014 and 2019 elections, respectively.

But the country’s most populous state has caused the biggest shock of the 2024 elections, stopping the BJP from crossing the 272 mark, the number of seats needed to form a government. The BJP, which has won 33 seats, will now depend on allies to come back to power for a record third term.

So what went wrong? Analysts said rising prices and record unemployment were major issues as Modi’s government struggled to address these challenges. Meanwhile, the ruling party devoted a lot of its energy to divisive issues that did not find traction among voters.

Stray cattles were another issue after the state government’s 2017 decision to ban the slaughter of cattle. Farmers have complained that stray cattle destroy their crops.

The opposition also mounted a major campaign on saving the constitution. It went big with the theme that the BJP would change the constitution if it got a supermajority. The BJP had initially set a target of winning more than 400 seats.

The constitution, which guarantees reservations in jobs and legislatures for Dalits, also became a big talking point of the campaign. It created a fear among Dalits that the constitution was in danger.

The Samajwadi Party, which is a major player in Uttar Pradesh, and the Congress party, which leads the INDIA opposition alliance, made social justice a major promise. This seem to have resonated with the voters, particularly from lower caste Hindus, amid rising income inequality and economic distress.

Congress leader thanks Wayanad, Rae Bareli after double victory

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the scion of one of India’s most politically consequential families, has come roaring back this election after an embarrassing defeat for the seat representing the Uttar Pradesh constituency of Amethi in 2019.

This time around, Gandhi won two seats: Wayanad in the southern state of Kerala and Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh.

“Thank you to the people of Wayanad and Rae Bareli for the huge support that you have given me,” he said in a post on X, adding he wishes he could represent both districts.

He will have to resign from one of the seats. A by-election will be held for whichever seat he turns down.

BJP continues its electoral dominance in Modi’s home state

The BJP has continued its electoral dominance in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat, where it won 25 out of the 26 seats.

The Congress party managed to win a single seat in the Western state after a decade. The BJP had swept the state in 2014 and 2019 elections.

The BJP has been governing the state since 1995. Modi was the state’s chief minister for more than a decade before becoming prime minister in 2014.

Vote count continues

We’ll keep bringing you the latest count as the numbers are released.

White house applauds India’s ‘vibrant democratic process’

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby praised the Indian people for going to the polls and “participating in a very vibrant democratic process”.

He said Washington looks forward to seeing the final results.

Congress gains in Mumbai

India’s financial capital has six Lok Sabha seats — and in 2019, the BJP and its allies swept all six.

As in many other parts of India, 2024 has thrown up a very different outcome: The Congress and its allies are ahead on four seats, with the BJP and its partners leading in only two, with almost all votes counted.

Modi tries to ‘pump up BJP supporters’ in speech: Analyst

Speaking to Al Jazeera from Gurugram, India, analyst and economist Arun Kumar says Modi has made himself the face of the BJP. Because of that, the party’s underperformance is a personal reflection on Modi, he says.

Despite claiming victory, Kumar added, BJP leaders appeared more “chastened” than they had before the vote count.

“What you see [in Modi’s speech] is an effort to try and pump up the crowd, to pump up the BJP supporters and say we will do better,” he said.

“[He said] we achieved this, that and the other – the situation was very difficult in the last five years with a pandemic and yet we’ve done well. But the problem is the average person on the street, he was suffering as a result of the unemployment,” Kumar said.

Scant mention of BJP underperformance as Modi celebrates NDA majority

Speaking to supporters, PM Narendra Modi made little reference to his party’s underperformance in the poll. Instead, he said the election was a ringing endorsement for the BJP-led NDA coalition.

“Since 1962, this is the first time that any government, after serving two terms, returns for a third term,” he said.

He called the results “humbling and joyful”, adding, “to every voter of the country on this moment of victory, I want to bow down and salute them”.

Modi pledged that he would advance India’s defence production, increase jobs for youth, raise exports and help farmers, among other things.

“This country will see a new chapter of big decisions. This is Modi’s guarantee,” he said, speaking in the third person.

Modi hails ‘victory of the people’ in address

Modi has begun his speech at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi after his NDA alliance emerged victorious.

“Our citizens in India have full faith in the party, and today’s victory is a victory of the people,” he said.

He hailed India’s administration of the “world’s largest election”. He praised the “efficiency and strength” of the electoral system.

Modi loses ‘invincible aura’ in election: Analyst

Analysts tell Al Jazeera the electoral results raise questions over the BJP’s strategy heading into the polls.

Modi had increasingly focused on allegations the opposition planned to hand over the nation’s resources to Muslims, a tactic his critics dismissed as fearmongering. The opposition sought to corner Modi on his government’s economic track record.

The BJP pitch carried a “tone of overconfidence”, said Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, a Modi biographer, at a time when many in the Indian public were dealing with soaring prices, joblessness and income inequality so wide that it is now worse than during British colonial rule.

The result was the “sleepwalking of the BJP into a disaster”, said Asim Ali, a political analyst and columnist.

“Today, Modi has lost his face. He is not that ‘undefeated person’, and his invincible aura is not there anymore,” Ali said.

AAP draws nil in its Delhi bastion in major poll setback

The election results are a big morale booster for the opposition INDIA alliance, but one of its constituents, the Aam Aadmi Party, has suffered a major setback.

The AAP party was hoping for sympathy votes after its leader and Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal was jailed on corruption charges.

Kejriwal managed to get a three-week bail to campaign in the elections. He urged the voters to exercise their franchise to end “dictatorship”, referring to the Modi government. Kejriwal, who has denied the corruption charges, has accused Modi of using federal investigating agencies to harass opposition leaders.

But the party’s emotive slogan, ‘jail ke jawab mein hum vote denge’ [we will vote to avenge jail term], did not seem to strike a chord with the voters. The party drew nil in its bastion in the national capital and managed to win only three seats in northern Punjab state, where it runs the regional government.

The Congress, which is leading the INDIA alliance, won seven seats in Punjab, where it was not in alliance with AAP.

Punjab and neighbouring Haryana, which are major agricultural belt, has voted for the Congress party as they have accused Modi of not addressing their issues.

Modi arrives to celebration at BJP headquarters

His party may have underperformed, but Modi is greeted with celebrations at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi.

He waved to cheering supporters under confetti as he entered the building ahead of his expected address.