Monographs Explained: Meaning, Examples and Tips to Cite Them

What is a monograph?

A monograph is an academic text that deals exclusively with a clearly defined topic. This might mean that the author pursues a single research question, examines a single historical event, or investigates a particular phenomenon.

The term monograph has ancient Greek roots and goes back to the word "monographia". The word part "monos" can be translated as "alone, one", while "graphein" means "to write". This is why it is often referred to as a single-author publication or a single work.

How to recognise a monograph.

You can tell whether an academic text is a monograph or single-author publication based on the following characteristics:

• Is there a clear research question?
• Is a single topic discussed comprehensively?
• Does the text come to a clear conclusion?

Please note:  A single-author publication often has only one author, but this does not have to be the case. Several authors can be involved. The only prerequisite is that they have written the entire text collaboratively. If, on the other hand, each person is responsible for individual chapters or a sub-area, it is called an edited volume.

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How is a monograph structured?

If you take a look at the structure of different monographs, you will notice that they all follow a similar structure.

The following elements are essential for any academic monograph:

• Title page with title of the book, author and publisher
• Table of contents
• List of abbreviations (if relevant)
• Preface (optional)
• Introduction explaining the topic and research question
• Main body with chapters on the individual aspects of the topic
• Conclusion with summary and results
• Bibliography and list of references
• Appendix, e.g. list of figures
• Index or keyword index.

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What is the difference between a monograph and other text types?

The main characteristic of a single-author publication is that it deals with a single research question, while other academic texts cover several topics or points of view.

For example, if you have just finished your doctoral thesis, you can publish the thesis as a monograph. This is because it’s usually long enough to warrant a dedicated book of its own.

However, if you’ve worked on a smaller article or research paper, this might not be enough for a monograph. So, you could explore some of the other academic text options. Here are some examples:

Edited volume/anthology

The name says it all with an edited volume. Here you will find a collection of articles or essays by different authors. They all deal with the same topic, but explore it from different perspectives and angles.

The contributions are written independently of each other, so each author is responsible for their own text – with an editor or editors overseeing the work. An anthology or edited volume often arises from conferences or larger research projects.

Essay

Similar to a monograph, an essay deals with a specific question – but on a much smaller scale. You can find academic essays in edited volumes or journals, for example.

Journal

An academic journal in principle is similar to an edited volume. Journals deal with selected subject areas and publish articles and essays by various experts from this discipline. These include study results, reviews or responses to other specialist articles. In contrast to edited volumes, journals are published at regular intervals.

Bibliography

A bibliography is significantly different to a monograph. In a bibliography, you will find an index of academic texts, some of which may be monographs, essays, research papers, journal articles and other publications. A bibliography is commonly placed at the end of the publication or as supporting material. This is where the author(s) will include all referenced sources that were cited throughout the main body of their work.

Handbook

A handbook can best be compared to a classic textbook. It serves as a reference work or as academic teaching material. Here you will find detailed knowledge about a specific subject area, such as methods, definitions and theories.

Biography

Like a monograph, a biography also deals with a specific topic, namely the life of a person. Biographies describe the life story of a (usually well-known) person, relevant events or personal anecdotes.

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Example: How to cite monographs correctly.

If you want to cite a monograph as a direct quotation with a footnote in the text or in your bibliography, you must always provide the following source information:

• Author's first and last name
• Title (and subtitle if applicable)
• Edition and volume
• Publisher
• Year of publication
• Place of publication

If you’re citing the monograph as part of your academic research, you’ll usually be told which citation guidelines to use. This might include APA, MLA or Harvard.

Here is an example of what this might look like in practice:

Reference in the text:

(Smith, 2024, p. 172)

Bibliography citation:

Smith, M. (2024). How to cite correctly? (13th ed.). London: Publisher.

How do the bibliographic details of monographs and other text types differ?

In principle, you have to provide similar information for all text types in order to identify the sources you have used and to avoid problems with plagiarism checks. However, the structure of the individual entries is different. There is an important reason for this – the different formatting allows you to recognise at a glance which type of text it is.

Here are some examples that illustrate the difference between a monograph and other types of literature:

• Monograph: Smith, M. (2024). How to cite correctly? (13th ed.). London: Publisher.
• Chapter in an anthology: Bloggs, J. (2024). A Chapter on Citation Methods. In: Smith, P (ed.) A Compilation of Citation Methods. London: Parliament Publishing, p. 133)
• Academic journal: Matthews, T. (2021). Analytics of Referencing Methods. Journal of Referencing Methods, 12(3), 302-319.