College Research papers are generally longer pieces of written work than essays. Writing a college research paper involves all of the steps for writing an essay plus some additional ones.

APA is short for American Psychological Association; an organization, which has elaborated a set of referencing rules for different fields of study, e.g. education, business, various social studies and, naturally, psychology. Hence an APA term paper means that this particular piece of writing is to be formatted and referenced in full accordance to the specifications, set by American Psychological Association.