What Counts as Original Research When You're in High School?
Updated: 16th October, 2026
TL;DR
Original research means you ask a question no one has fully answered, then gather your own evidence to answer it. A survey, a public dataset, or a small experiment can all work. A literature review only summarizes what others found, so it doesn't count on its own. The quick test: did you create a finding from evidence you gathered or analyzed yourself? If you want a PhD mentor to guide your project, look at the Lumiere Research Scholar Program. It pairs you 1:1 with a PhD mentor for a 12-week independent research project.
What is original research?
Original research is work that produces a new finding instead of repeating one. You start with a question and collect or study evidence. Then you reach a conclusion that was not already written down.
Researchers call this primary research. A university library describes an original research article as a report written by the researchers who conducted the work, one that shares new data or ideas not published before. Someone reporting on it later is writing a secondary source. The paper itself has clear parts: a question, a method, results, and a discussion.
The test is not how advanced your topic is. It is whether you added evidence or an idea that was not there before you started. A ninth grader with a clean survey can pass that test. A student who rewrites an encyclopedia entry can't.
What counts as original research in high school?
In high school, your work counts as original when you answer a real question with evidence you gathered or studied yourself. The scale is smaller than a university lab, and that is fine. Here are projects that count:
A survey you design: write the questions, send them to 200 classmates, and analyze the answers.
A public dataset: pull it apart to test a pattern no one has checked.
A small experiment: run it at home with a clear control and written notes.
A close reading: study three novels and make an argument no one made before.
Small and finished beats big and vague, so pick a question you can finish answering in a few months.
Original research vs a literature review: what is the difference?
A literature review summarizes what other researchers already found, while original research adds something new. Original research uses that reading as a starting point. Then it adds a new question, a new dataset, or a new analysis on top.
The confusing part is that a literature review is also a section inside an original paper. You read the field first to see what is known. Then you do the part that is yours. If you stop after the summary, you have a review. If you add your own evidence, you have original research. A good guide to write a research paper in high school walks through both parts in order.
Project type | Your own evidence? | Counts as original research? |
Literature review | No, you summarize other people's work | No, not on its own |
Replication study | Yes, you collect new data | Yes, if you report what you find |
Survey, experiment, or dataset analysis | Yes | Yes |
Rewritten paper | No | No |
The line sits at one question: did you add something, or did you only report what was already there?
Does a replication study count as original research?
A careful replication can count as original research. You gather new data and test whether a past result still holds. Copying someone's paper and changing the words does not count.
Replication matters because many published findings do not repeat when someone tries them again. A Nature survey of 1,500 scientists looked at this "crisis" in research. Say you rerun a study with a new group of people. If you report what you find, that is a real contribution. The difference is the data: a replication produces fresh evidence, while a copy produces none.
What does original research by high school students look like?
It usually looks like a focused project in one subject. The question is clear, and the dataset is small enough to finish in a few months. The topic can be in science, social science, or the humanities.
Examples run across many fields. Think of a biology project on a public health dataset, or an economics paper on local housing prices. Others survey classmates on study habits, or build a history argument from primary documents. You can see examples of finished student research on Lumiere's student research profiles page. What these projects share is not the subject but the shape: one question, your own evidence, and an honest answer.
How do you find an original research question?
You find an original question by reading recent work in a field, then looking for the gap the authors admit they did not cover. Most papers end with a "future work" section that hands you ideas.
Start narrow. Pick one topic, read five recent papers, and write down every question they leave open. Then ask which of those you could answer with data you can reach. A strong first step is to get research experience in high school by emailing a professor or joining a project. The best questions are small enough to answer and specific enough that no one has answered them yet.
Can high school students publish original research?
Yes. High school students can publish original research in journals that review student work, though no program can promise your paper will be accepted. The Journal of Emerging Investigators, for example, is a science journal for middle and high school students that invites original research.
Some journals are built for student research and use real review. Others charge a fee to publish anything, and those can hurt an application more than help it. Learn the difference before you submit, starting with this guide to publishing your research in high school. Publication is a bonus, not the goal, and a finished paper still counts even if no journal takes it.
Does original research help college applications?
Original research can help a college application because it shows you can ask a question and follow it through, which grades alone do not prove. Admissions readers notice a student who made something real.
It is not a magic ticket. A thin project on a famous topic helps less than a small, honest one you clearly ran yourself. The value is the proof of skill: you found a question, gathered evidence, and wrote up what you learned. A mentor who has done research before can help you shape the question and keep the project on track. Pair that with a finished paper, and you have a clear story to tell in an essay or interview.
Frequently asked questions: original research
What is an original research article?
An original research article reports a study written by the people who did the research. It is not written by someone summarizing it later. It normally includes a question, the method used, the results, and a discussion. Libraries also call this a primary research article because it is the first place the findings appear.
How do you make sure your research is original?
Read recent work in your field and confirm no one has answered your exact question with your exact approach. Keep the data or the analysis your own, so the finding comes from you. Maybe a search turns up your idea already done. Then narrow the question, or change the group you study, until it is new again.
Do you need a lab to do original research?
No. Plenty of strong projects use public datasets, surveys you design, historical texts, or code you write. A lab helps for wet-lab science, but a laptop and a good question are enough for many fields. The method matters more than the equipment.
Can you do original research in the humanities?
Yes. In the humanities, original research means making a new argument from texts, archives, art, or records. You back it with close evidence. A fresh reading of a poem or a new take on a historical event counts, as long as you support it. History, literature, and philosophy projects all follow the same rule: your own question, your own evidence.
Not sure how to turn a question into a finished paper without a lab or a mentor who has done research before? Look at the Lumiere Research Scholar Program. It pairs you 1:1 with a PhD mentor for a 12-week independent research project, done entirely online, in a subject you choose. Apply here.
Stephen Turban is the co-founder of Lumiere Education and a graduate of Harvard College, where he earned an A.B. in Statistics before beginning a PhD at Harvard Business School. A former McKinsey & Company consultant and former researcher, his research has been covered by the Harvard Business Review, The Economist, BBC News, Freakonomics Radio, and the Washington Post. In his articles for Forbes, he writes on what students and professionals can learn from high school research, high school passion projects, critical thinking, and mentorship. At Lumiere, he leads a selective research program where students work one-on-one with a research mentor to develop an independent research paper. Connect with him on LinkedIn.