1. Essay Essays are more than 1,000 words in length and are mostly used for undergraduate coursework or examinations, focusing on a single topic and not requiring independent data analysis. During study abroad, essays are often used to write essays on a topic or to introduce a literature review and critical analysis, and if data support is needed, it is only briefly handled. At the same time, the entire essay does not need to contain a full list of citations, especially in the American English environment, where essay usually refers to an undergraduate thesis.
2. The coverage of a paper is much broader. The modern concept of such a paper covers not only articles published in various academic journals, but also does not apply to bachelor’s theses. It is not only prevalent in the United Kingdom and the United States, but also very suitable for undergraduate research. Compared to Essay, the word count of Paper may not be capped, but it is usually less than 20,000 words. Obviously, this is also to highlight the wide application of the paper and the wide range of topics it covers.
3. The length of Dissertation is generally longer, often over 10,000 words, and requires specific research methods and in-depth data analysis. As a master’s level academic paper, Dissertation is more difficult to write, requiring the author to master more comprehensive and in-depth professional knowledge and practical skills. In a sense, the Dissertation is similar to a doctoral thesis, and it is a document that is highly valued in the academic world.
All in all, “paper” is not a British English term, but is derived from American English. Both paper and essay are closely associated with undergraduate conference papers, while “thesis” and “dissertation” refer exclusively to doctoral and master’s level theses. However, there are still nuances and room for discussion about the actual usage of these terms.
Although Essay is one of the most commonly used terms in the study abroad community, it is in fact only one of the varieties of scientific papers. There are many different types of scientific papers, depending on the nature and goals of the research. For example, Paper and Dissertation are similar to Essay, but they are different from it due to their specificity and field of application.
