We explain what the elements of a monograph are, what each of them is used for and their main characteristics.
What are the elements of a monograph?
A monograph is a expository or argumentative writing that is prepared at the end of a research work, be it documentary, experimental or of any kind.
From a monograph it is expected accuracy, verifiability, fairness and clarity, since it is the document that is delivered to third parties to account for the matter investigated, the findings found and the conclusions drawn from them.
In fact, the various academies that exist use the monograph as the most common mechanism for checking the knowledge acquired or the execution of a specific experimental program.
Elements of a monograph
The elements that make up any monograph are more or less invariable, although ideally they should be adjusted to the nature and character of the research work.
For example, if it is an experimental matter, surely there will be a section of evidence and graphs that yield the statistical data obtained; while a bibliographic documentation does not require it, but a detailed bibliography.
Broadly speaking, we can structure any monograph in:
- Cover and preliminary pages. It is about the presentation of the research work, where all the primary information required to know what it is about is offered: identification of the researchers, tutors, academia, the subject and the specific title of the work, as well as the date of preparation of the same. On the preliminary pages there may be dedications, acknowledgments or even captions, if they are considered to illustrate the spirit of the content.
- Index. Whether located at the beginning or at the end, the table of contents should appear in every monograph to allow readers to navigate between its parts quickly and easily. It should detail the home pages of each chapter with their respective main sections.
- Introduction. Introducing a monograph is the opportunity to provide the reader with all the contextual information necessary to begin reading the monograph. This ranges from a general approach to the subject, the problems of interest, the research background, the importance of the subject for academia (or the researcher, or humanity), to prior information without which the reader would find it much more difficult. understand the content of the investigation.
- Development. The development is the content as such of the investigation, divided and hierarchized into chapters and sections, according to the structural needs of the information presentation. Ideally, each chapter addresses a specific general theme, responding to a research objective, or clarifying a separate stage of the experimental procedure. You can count on visual, statistical or verbatim support, as required.
- Conclusions. The moment of closing, to summarize the most important of all that has been said and to link it with other major, or later, topics that are not strictly within the scope of the investigation. It is the moment to interpret the results obtained during the development, to relate the findings or establish the deductions that are necessary to obtain something concrete and definitive from the work carried out.
- Notes or annexes. An optional section. In some cases, the textual citations or references that do not fit in the footer (or it is preferred not to place there) may go here, or also the tables, graphs, lists, etc. which would be very cumbersome to include in the development. It will suffice to refer to them at the appropriate moment of development by means of a “(see fig. 4)” or the like.
- Bibliography or textual references. Documentary section in which the books, magazines, brochures or any material that has served us during the preparation of the work are detailed. Any data, reference or citation in the monograph must be referenced here with their respective bibliographic data: author, year of publication, publisher, pages consulted, etc.