Infographic: 5 Differences between a research paper and a review paper

There are different types of scholarly literature. Some of these require researchers to conduct an original study, whereas others can be based on previously published research. Understanding each of these types and also how they differ from one another can be rather confusing for researchers, especially early career researchers. One of the most popular questions on our Q&A forum - What is the difference between a research paper and a review paper? - led us to conclude that of all the types of scholarly literature, researchers tend to be most perplexed by the distinction between a research paper and a review paper. This infographic explains the five main differences between these two types of scholarly papers. 

Feel free to download a PDF version of this infographic and print it out as handy reference.

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Related reading:

To learn about the different types of review papers, browse through this SlideShare presentation - What types of articles do journals publish?

References:

• What is the difference between a research paper and a review paper?
• 6 Article types that journals publish: A guide for early career researchers
• Review vs. Research Articles
• Frontiers in Neuroscience - Article types