<p>Hi to all the academically expert pundit. Is there a clear definition by what it means throughout those thread? Some did say write a thesis, perhaps a paper or probably a publication…</p>
<p>I’m no expert, but no one else is responding, so I’ll share my 2c.</p>
<p>A paper usually means a published paper, published in a scholarly/academic or research journal or publication. I believe the gold standard is a refereed journal, peer-reviewed, as opposed to (I’d guess) a monograph, magazine or newsletter article. </p>
<p>Status as first author is (generally) better than second author, 2nd better than 3rd, etc. It is common that UGs not have any 1st author papers (obviously).</p>
<p>A published thesis or dissertation is usually respectable only if it is in a refereed/peer-reviewed j.</p>
<p>I’m guessing that you may be wondering whether a paper should be included in a cv. In my experience, if it can be pulled online via any research database search (depending on your field, from ebscohost to medline, etc.) or if it is a presentation (published or not) at a respectable conference, then put it on. Otherwise, skip it. My Talk at Grandpa’s Retirement Party won’t increase chances (and may decrease them).</p>
<p>i am not an expert either. but i did go through all of them so here is my interpretation:</p>
<p>thesis = if you are doing a certain project, you have to have a thesis. writing up a thesis means that you write up all the progress you made in the project. usually it doesnt require data to be publishable. some schools require students to do a senior thesis in order to graduate while others offer opportunity thru honor programs etc.</p>
<p>paper = when your results start to mean something you can write a paper. the significance of your results can dictate where you send and publish your paper. this can range from a school undergrad journal, a proceeding of a minor conference to prestigious journals like science or nature. its a very broad term and usually should be taken as being about to produce some useful results.</p>
<p>publication: this refers a small group of paper that is interesting enough to be published at a peer-reviewed journal and use as scientific literature. publication record usually determines a researcher’s career (both number and prestige of journals). so goes the saying “publish or perish”.</p>