What is a monograph, and how to do it step by step?

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The monograph is one of the works that surely will not be missing in the long academic path necessary to obtain a university degree. Now, if you are wondering what a monograph is and, even more, if you have no idea how to start a monograph, this article is what you are looking for. Let’s go over the most important things and get down to work. 

What is a monograph?

Broadly speaking, a monograph is a type of textual work in which a certain amount of relevant information on a specific topic is collected and processed. Thanks to this preparation of the collected data, it is possible to convey the final study or research in a straightforward, orderly, and interesting way for the consumption of third parties.

In a monograph, it is possible to include information from various sources as long as they add value to the study and help to strengthen the topic to be addressed. The length of the monograph may vary according to the complexity of the subject matter or the amount of existing data. However, in general, the rules of the educational institution or the curricular unit may require a certain number of pages.

What is a monograph for?

It will be easier for you to do your monograph if you are clear about what it is for because, beyond its research nature and its contribution to the intellectual heritage, this type of work strengthens and develops in the student valuable tools for the rest of their academic commitments and their future career.

While it is true that they serve to offer new contributions or approaches on a particular topic, the elaboration of monographs allows students to awaken their investigative and analytical faculties, strengthens their reading comprehension, reinforces or builds their capacity for synthesis, as well as the adoption of the correct techniques for the collection and organization of sources and data.

Characteristics of a monograph

Since it is an academic text written systematically and methodically, dealing with a specific topic, the monograph is one of the most demanding and profound works. That is to say, it should not be done lightly or superficially but provide innovative data on the content.

To talk about the characteristics of a monograph, it is necessary to know that it can be:

argumentative: when it provides information to validate an idea, proposal or novel approach;

expository: when the subject is approached in an objective and informative way;

explanatory: when it interprets and explains the information to facilitate its understanding; or

descriptive: when it defines or represents in detail the topic in question.

In this sense, each monograph has different particularities and approaches according to the intentionality of the text and the way the information is processed.

Types of monographs

Before starting the compilation and writing, it is important that you can identify and recognize the existing types of monographs, as well as not lose sight of the fact that these can acquire different nuances or details depending on the objective and the discipline being addressed. Get to know them:

Research monographs

The purpose of these monographs is to deal with topics that have not been dealt with before, those that have been little explored, or those that can be approached from a new perspective, never presented back. It is the definitive monograph to prepare for the preparation of the TFG.