difference between book chapter and research paper

Difference b/w journal paper, conference paper & Book chapter

This blog post aims to explain the difference between a journal paper, a conference paper, and a book chapter .

In the academic world, there are different ways of publishing research findings and results: journal papers , book chapters, and conference proceedings . Generally, both conference papers and journal papers undergo a peer-review process before being accepted for publication. Book chapters are written by new researchers. It does not include many research findings and results.

Also, read:

How to start a Ph.D. research program in India?
Tips for publishing in high-impact factor journals

Before understanding the difference between a journal paper, a conference paper, and a book chapter, let’s understand all individually.

Page Contents

Journal Paper

Research articles can be published on any subject, in any discipline, covering a wide range of topics. Usually, journals are published quarterly, bi-annually, or annually. The authors have to follow a specific format for submitting to the journal . Different journals, such as Elsevier , Springer , and Wiley , have different formats for presenting their articles. The review process for a journal may take a few weeks to a few months. The journals are ranked based on research metrics like impact factor, h-index , and the number of citations received by the journal in a particular year. Generally, journal papers are long pieces of writing ranging between 20-25 pages. It should include an abstract, an introduction, methodology, results and discussion, and conclusions. The researchers/authors can write either a review paper or an original research article for the journal.

Conference Paper

The research articles published through conference proceedings are short, precise, and contain a smaller number of pages. It is usually between 4-10 pages. Generally, conference proceedings are a collection of research papers presented at various conferences at the national and international levels. Conferences provide a great platform for interaction and exchange of ideas between fellow students, faculty members, scholars, and speakers. The researchers present only a part of their research study.

Book Chapters

They usually cover the details of the research study in brief. Book chapters can be written in 3000–4000 words. It is a summary of published research results on any particular topic. Each book chapter is given a title and a number that is easily citable by the readers. Generally, it improves the writing skills of new researchers.

The next section will be explaining the difference between journal papers, conference papers, and book chapters.

The difference between journal papers, conference papers, and book chapters

difference between book chapter and research paper

The major difference between a journal paper, a conference paper, and a book chapter lies in the length of writing articles. The journal paper is usually 20–25 pages, while the conference paper is usually less than 12 pages. On the other hand, book chapters should be written in a range of 3000-4000 words.

Research articles that are accepted for journal publication undergo a peer-review process. On the other hand, articles for publication in book chapters and conference proceedings undergo a general review process. Generally, the acceptance rate for conference papers and book chapters is comparatively higher than for journal papers. The conference papers have acceptance rates of between 40 and 60%.

Conference proceedings cover a wide range of subjects. They are generally multi-disciplinary in nature. On the other hand, book chapters should be written according to the title of a book given by the editor. It focuses on a particular topic.

The journal papers should be written in a systematic manner following strict guidelines as per the format. Secondly, journal papers are published in either open-access or closed-access categories. The open-access category involves article processing charges for each article. Journal papers are not collected in any conference proceedings books. whereas all the conference papers have online repositories and are collected in conference books. The authors need to pay registration fees for the conference. Only the registered authors will be allowed to submit the full conference paper upon acceptance.

Furthermore, the difference also lies in review speed and the number of revisions needed before acceptance. Generally, book chapters and conference papers ask for one or two changes before publication. The conference papers get fast review responses. But journal papers are asked to be revised multiple times, depending on the scope of the research. Sometimes, it may take anywhere from 6 months to a year to get published in a journal. The authors are asked to submit their research articles within a given deadline for both conference papers and book chapters. Book chapters and conference papers can be easily published. On the other hand, journal papers can be submitted throughout the year.

The journal paper requires more headings, subheadings, and sub-sections. The authors need to mention the abstract, keywords, introduction, literature review, methodology, results, and discussions in detail. The book chapters and conference papers require only an introduction, the purpose of the research, the body of the paper, and conclusions. Apart from that, these book chapters are written without citations in the text, unlike journal papers. The review journal papers require 70-80 citations. On the other hand, conference papers are written with 20–30 citations.

The conference papers, upon selection, are allowed for oral presentations. Any one of the authors gets an opportunity to present his/her research paper at conferences. It is open to group discussions. It provides a platform for correcting or improving the researchers’ papers. The journal papers, upon acceptance, are directly published in high-quality journals.

Once the author has published a research article in a book chapter or conference proceedings, the same cannot be published in a journal. Sometimes the author may be asked for submitting extended versions of conference proceedings after getting selected. It increases the acceptance rate for publication in the journal.

Lastly, book chapters and conference proceedings get less recognition from academicians. Faculty and research scholars prefer to read published research articles rather than book chapters. It has been observed that journal articles get more citations than conference papers. Many universities do not accept conference proceedings for publication. Whereas journals are widely accepted and recognized worldwide. The journal papers have a high impact factor compared to the conference proceedings. However, writing book chapters increases the profile of the authors. Having a good ratio between book chapters and journal papers publications provides good job opportunities.

Thanks for visiting PhDTalks. We hope that the blog post helped you to understand the difference between journal papers, conference papers, and book chapters.

Frequently Asked Questions

Most of the conference papers are published in conference proceedings. However, many conferences publish their good research papers in specific journals.

Research articles that are accepted for journal publication undergo a peer-review process. On the other hand, articles for publication in book chapters and conference proceedings undergo a general review process. Generally, the acceptance rate for conference papers and book chapters is comparatively higher than the journal papers. The conference papers have acceptance rates between 40-60%.

Dr. Sunny is an Assistant Professor in higher education. He has completed his Ph.D. He has a depth of knowledge in the research field and in higher education.

The Differences Between Academic Articles and Book Chapters

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This post is the third in our series on genre in academic writing. To read the introductory post you can click here ; the second post, on the difference between dissertations and monographs, is available here. In this post, we’re going to discuss three different genres: journal articles, chapters in edited volumes, and monograph chapters. We’ll discuss the goal of the genre, the format, the expectations, audience, and concerns for each genre.

EXPECTATIONS

One of the most frequent questions we get from clients is about the difference between articles and book chapters. Often, authors have been told to “write an article version of a chapter” or to “break off part of their book project for an article.” Sometimes, they’ve been advised to do the reverse, to “turn that article into a chapter.” Regardless, the general message is “these things are connected” but no one ever really spells out how. Well, here’s how!

Demystifying the journal article.

A journal article has clear, fairly narrow goals. Usually, an author’s most urgent concern is to get a publication. If you’re concerned with building out a job or tenure portfolio, getting your work out there, under review, and published is of paramount importance. Articles are an important way to get your work out there, receive feedback, and to make a contribution to your field. We like to think of articles as a specialized (or dare we say insider) conversation with other experts in your subject.

To make an effective intervention in your area, it’s essential to understand the format conventions of a journal article. Articles can make one, well-supported, argument. There are different norms in every field, so the details of how the article should be structured will often depend on the guidelines provided by a given journal. Journals are not a venue for formal creativity, they’re where you present your argument and analysis using a formula. For example, many journals in the Social and Natural Sciences use the IMRaD format: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. If the journal doesn’t explicitly share their expectations, you can use previously published articles to deduce a common structure.

The expectations for a journal article are, again, fairly narrow. You’re there to fill a gap, to demonstrate methodological innovation, and to present evidence to readers who share in your interests and work in your subject area. Narrow, however, doesn’t always mean easy! Journal writing requires precision, because strict word limits are a real concern. As Jane teaches in the Art of the Article, you must be judicious in your choice of data to share, literature to cite, analysis to expand upon, and so forth.

Thinking about your expectations means also considering your presumed audience. For a journal article, you should expect your readers to be experts in your field. They understand the context, the methodological and theoretical canon, and are already up to speed on disciplinary debates and terms.

Even once you’ve pinned down your format and readership, writing journal articles can still bring up a lot of questions. The biggest is often “where does this work fit best?” You may also be concerned about how long it takes to get the work reviewed, revised, and published. These questions should be answered with an eye to the requirements in your department as well as your own personal goals around publication and the conversations in which you’d like to engage.

Writing for edited volumes

Before we talk about monograph chapters, a good midway point for thinking about the relationship between articles and book chapters are chapters in edited volumes. Like articles, chapters in edited volumes are a great way to work toward meeting publication goals. The expectation is that you have something unique to offer to a broader conversation that can be read productively in conversation with other work on a subject. Often, the goal might be teachability — could an instructor pull a few chapters from this volume to use in an undergraduate course? That means that your audience is, again, going to be specialists in your field, but it may extend into more general, student readership. The format works very similarly to an article; you’ll want to introduce your subject, orient the reader in your methods, and then present your argument and supporting analysis. Here (depending on the volume), you might also want to explain how your chapter relates to the broader concerns of the book.

One concern we hear about chapters in edited volumes is if they’re “worth the time” and if they “count for enough” when it comes to tenure portfolios. Those are concerns you’ll need to evaluate in terms of your institutional expectations, workflow, and writing pipeline. You might also want to consider the relationships you stand to cultivate when contributing to an invited opportunity such as an edited volume. But generally speaking, the priority should be on your book — articles are good places to get work out and to gain a readership for your work. Editing volumes are slower and may take valuable time away from higher priority work.

Focusing on your book

Which gets us to monographs — to your book! The biggest question you may have at this point is “how am I supposed to have enough material left for my book?!” The goals of shorter publications don’t have to be at odds with your goals for your book.

The goal for a book chapter is that it supports your book’s main argument. The job of a chapter is to add detail, depth, and nuance to an overall narrative and set of claims. Each chapter is it’s own, contained, set of evidence, readings, or case study, but it’s always going to be related both to the book’s overall point, and to the other chapters in the book. Chapters are where you can focus on a particular sub-argument, aspect of your archive, text, or research question.

That means the expectation for a book chapter is that it adds something to the book’s overall objectives, while offering important detail, nuance, and specificity. Some chapters might be focused on necessary background or historical information that the reader needs in order to engage with your more specific focus and data; others might read one text closely or present a set of related questions from your field work. The point is that a chapter is always in relationship with both the book as a whole, and its companion chapters.

Who’s going to read your book chapter? Ideally, someone who is reading your entire book, from start to finish. Of course, though, we’ve all read and taught book chapters on their own. Maybe it’s because you’re teaching a course or doing research on a particular film or novel that the chapter is about? Maybe it’s the introductory chapter, where the author set up all of the major theoretical and methodological critiques and claims, or maybe it’s a chapter focused on a particular place or time period that’s relevant to the course or your research. No matter what, this range of possible readerships means that a chapter needs to balance its place as part of a whole, with being legible on its own. That can mean defining your terms, stating your questions clearly, and offering a clear introduction and conclusion.

Writers have some common concerns about monograph chapters. First, we often hear clients ask about how many future book chapters they’re “allowed” to publish as articles. Relatedly, a lot of people want to know how to write an “article version” of their book. The answer to the first question is, unfortunately, “it depends.” It will depend on whether this is your first book, on whether your field prioritizes articles or books, and on how many total chapters you’re planning to include in your book. Fundamentally, though, the way to think about it is as a publisher: What’s the point in publishing work that’s already been published? There needs to be enough “fresh” material in the book that it’s worth their investment of time and resources. Also, think about it from your perspective as a reader. Do you want to read a book that’s three or four articles you’ve already read put together? Our guess would be no!

To the second question, about “article versions” — there’s a long and a short version of that answer. The short version is “it probably looks a lot like your introduction,” or what Jane refers to as an anchor article . This is where you establish the stakes of your research and why your discipline should care about it. The long version is long because you can only summarize your book once you know what it’s about and what’s going to be in it — the big questions we teach you how to answer in Elevate.

In Elevate , we help authors develop what we call a “book ecosystem.” The book is at the center because it is the longest, most complex undertaking that exists in the ecosystem. Related to it are all of the writing projects that are similar in topic and analysis. These can include articles, grant proposals, syllabi, edited volume chapters, talks, public scholarship, and so forth. We understand these related projects not as slices of your book, but rather as pivots from the substance of your book. How you decide to go about these other projects is informed by the decisions you make about your book. For instance, you may have a complicated theoretical argument you want to share that is informed by the research you’ll analyze in your book. However, in the interest of reaching a broad audience (or whatever your concern may be), you don’t want to include an extended theoretical discussion in your book. You may instead choose to publish it in a journal. Another reason for adding to your book ecosystem (besides checking items off for your CV), is so you can receive expert feedback to inform how you approach the book. It can be a productive way to test an idea. Usually, journal or even conference presentation feedback will come from a scholar whose work is closely aligned with yours, and it can yield useful insights for you as you work on your book.

We think that a better question than “how much of my book can I publish in article form?” is “how can my articles, book, and other related writing projects inform and strengthen one another?” After all, you’re writing across genres because your goal is to establish yourself as an authority on your topic and engage in important intellectual conversations. Once you understand the differences between genres — which we hope we’ve explained in this series — the easier it will be to not only move between them but also see how they work together.