If you don't know the difference between an essay and a research paper, you are not alone. The descriptions of the two types of writing are similar, but there are key differences. Most importantly, the difference is the work involved. If you're preparing to write your first research paper, get comfortable. It's going to take time and a lot of study.
For an essay, the most important viewpoint on the topic being written about is the writer's. After an essay writer does some research on their topic, they will develop a thesis statement and write body paragraphs with topic sentences that relate back to the thesis statement in order to develop their argument. An essay ends with a conclusion that summarizes the writer's point of view on the topic.
For a research paper, the most important viewpoint is that of others who have written on the topic. A research paper presents all the findings and conclusions other researchers have drawn.
The average essay will include approximately five paragraphs: an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion.
A research paper can get quite lengthy. Unless the topic being discussed is very new and there hasn't been a lot of prior research by other scholars, presenting all of the other conclusions reached on the topic may require many pages of writing.
Doing research for an essay is important and finding outside sources to support your argument may take some time, but research for a good research paper should be comprehensive. In other words, you'll need to know what every other scholar has argued about your topic in order to fully complete a research paper.
Essays have four basic types and structures: expository (presenting the information), descriptive (painting a picture for a reader using words), persuasive (arguing your point of view), and narrative (telling a story).
Research papers come in many different forms, but the most common are compare and contrast, argumentative, analytical, cause and effect, and interpretive. While a persuasive essay and an argumentative research paper use similar tones, a research paper must include as many of the existing arguments as possible for the writer's conclusion to be considered soundly formed.
No matter which type of writing you'll do, it's important to pick a topic that interests you. After all, you're going to be doing a lot of reading and writing about it. You'll just do a lot more reading and writing with a research paper than you will with an essay.