I just came from an interesting discussion on White Paper Source Forum about the difference between white papers and articles. There are some white papers that may veer towards an article format, and some articles -- particularly those culled from existing white papers -- that may more closely follow a classic white paper structure. But in general, here are some solid differences as I see them:
1. Articles are bylined while white papers generally are not. They're not necessarily written by the "author," in fact they are often ghosted. (Contact me if you need an experienced journalist to ghost your bylined article for you.)
2. The structure is usually quite different. Articles may start with a minor hook, but quickly state their major point. The rest of the article goes on to expand what is essentially a thesis paragraph. (An article is a classic example of "tell 'em what you're going to tell 'em, tell 'em, tell 'em what you told 'em.") An article will occasionally be about a particular vendor in a product round-up, or where a vendor has introduced a truly innovative and/or market-leading product. But even then the article should be straightforward and not appear to try convincing the reader to make any purchases based on the article. A classic and well-structured white paper will emphasize reader's challenges, lead them through an explanation of a technology in terms of solving the challenges, and end with a specific explanation of the vendor and a call to action.
3. The article is primarily meant to inform, the white paper to persuade. Vendors can use their articles as sales tools -- even a vendor-neutral white paper can convince a reader of the usefulness of a technology -- but its approach must be straight and informational. Note that the vast majority of contributed articles must be vendor-neutral. (Then why, you might ask, would I bother to go to the time and expense of writing one? Because it's great PR for your company. Your URL and likely a tagline will be included, and you will also slant the article to an explanation of the technology that your company is, in fact, based on.)
4. Articles can successfully use an ironic sense of humor and clever turns of phrase, which white papers should shy away from. Strong author voices are welcome in this media, although they are by no means necessary to writing an article. The primary consideration must always be clarity and usefulness to the intended reader.
There are other differences and no doubt similarities I haven't mentioned, but these are some of the glaring differences as I see them.
Good points christine. I blogged this:
http://www.whitepaperwriter.com/archives/2005/12/white_papers_vs.html
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