What is a monograph?

We explain what a monograph is and what types of monographs exist. In addition, what are its objectives and the steps to develop them.

1. What is a monograph?

A monograph is a written document that has the function of informing argumentatively about a particular subject . In general, these are extensive texts , in which much research is offered that will surely bring something new when exposing its conclusion.

A monograph should be:

• Written
• Systematic
• Complete

You must also respond to:

• A specific topic
• Previous comprehensive studies.
• Approach of several aspects and variants of the case.
• Treatment of the subject in depth.
• A specific method of study.
• Author’s contribution, original and personalized.

The objectives  of a monograph are, in addition to an exposition of cases and a compilation of material , an investigation on the subject that can even throw new hypotheses that discard or correct information.

2. Types of monographs

We can classify monographs according to their main intention:

• Monograph compilation.  It is the one that should be done with greater care and experience, since all the available source on a subject will be used to express the idea. With all the bibliography , a presentation should be made that may not have no personal criteria as it would be a simple reproduction. It should cover the entire bibliography so as not to repeat considerations that others have already made.
• Research monograph.  It is closer to experimentation or scientific research , since we will not talk about issues that have already been deepened but about something new. It should be explained how the investigation was carried out, describing with each detail and then being able to be collated.
• Experience analysis monograph.  It is common in situations that can only be demonstrated from practice, but do not have the character of research. Perhaps they will test existing theories, or investigate even experiences not related to the sciences of experimentation, and closer to thesocial life of people.

3. How to make a monograph?

Monographs should be performed following an orderly sequence of steps to obtain good results.

In many cases students have an approach to the elaboration of these texts when they are in elementary or secondary school , with teachers who ask them to do them using this sequence, looking for it to be taken as a custom for the entire academic life.

If done in a disorderly manner, something that has already been said can be repeated, omit important information or choose a topic that there is not enough (or there is too much) to say.

4. Steps to make a monograph

• The delimitation of the subject , made from the appearance of an idea. Not only should it respond to an interest of the author, but it should be considered to choose a topic that the sources to be taken are accessible and manageable. A very comprehensive topic may have much more information, but at the same time it is very likely that when dealing with it, essential data is being overlooked .
• The first approach to the sources with which one will work, will inevitably make the author imagine how the monograph will be ordered.
• Once this order is understood, with a new approach to the sources, the first introduction to the work can be reached . Obviously, this first version of the introduction should be reviewed once the monograph has been prepared, but it is already in a position to inform the project’s first intentions .
• With all the sources consulted, it will be possible to differentiate which will provide the most important information and which will not, making an operational plan. The final project will be more schematized, so you can make a specific operational plan , with a series of steps and tasks.
• The accomplishment of these tasks , obviously with the advances and setbacks that every monograph has. Intermediate evaluations should be made periodically, so as not to fall into a first axis deviation. This is where the first introduction made is very important, it is good that it coincides with the progress of the facts.
• Once finished, the writing and spelling is corrected, bibliographic citations are properly made (the author must know the theoretical framework of the textual quotation, very important academically), the numbering of pages and paragraphs is adjusted and the indexes are elaborated. The monograph will be ready to appear.