Monograph.html



Look up monograph in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

A monograph (Classical Greek, "One Writer" or "Single Writing") is a work of writing upon a single subject, usually also by a single author. It is often a scholarly essay or learned treatise, and may be released in the manner of a book, journal article, editorial or written rant. It is by definition a single document that forms a complete text in itself. An author may therefore declare their own work to be a monograph by intent, or a reader or critic might define a given text as a monograph for the purpose of analysis. Normally it is used for a work intended to be a complete and detailed exposition of a substantial subject at a level more advanced than that of a textbook. Monographs form a component of the review literature in science and engineering.

Librarians consider a monograph to be a nonserial publication complete in one volume or a finite number of volumes. Thus it differs from a serial publication such as a magazine, journal or newspaper.¹

In popular culture

In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories, Dr. Watson often shows Sherlock Holmes making reference to one of the monographs which he has written. Though never presented themselves, they are often named by their primary subjects, including such varied topics as the distinction between varieties of tobacco ash, the tracing of footsteps, and the influence of a trade or profession upon the physical characteristics of a human hand.

In FDA regulation

In the context of FDA regulation, monographs represent published standards by which the use of one or more substances is automatically authorized. For example, the following is an excerpt from the Federal Register: "The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is issuing a final rule in the form of a final monograph establishing conditions under which over-the-counter (OTC) sunscreen drug products are generally recognized as safe and effective and not misbranded as part of FDA's ongoing review of OTC drug products." ² Such usage has given rise to the use of the word monograph as a verb, as in "this substance has been monongraphed by the FDA."

References

1. ^ Prytherch, Raymond John, Harrod's librarians' glossary and reference book : a directory of over 10,200 terms, organizations, projects and acronyms in the areas of information management, library science, publishing and archive management, 10th edn (Aldershot, Hants, England ; Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2005), p. 462.
2. ^ [Federal Register: May 21, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 98)][Rules and Regulations] [Page 27666-27693]From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov][DOCID:fr21my99-6]

• Library Jargon Defined (Boise State University, Albertsons Library)
• What is a Monograph? NRC Research Press, CISTI, Ottawa, Canada

Samples

• Japanese monograph 152
  POLITICAL STRATEGY PRIOR TO OUTBREAK OF WAR, PART V
  Prepared by Military History Section Headquarters, Army Forces Far East
  Distributed by:Department of the Army Office of the Chief of Military History Washington 25 D.C. courtesy of ibiblio.org.
• [1] Sample of a monograph, the 9/11 Commission on Terrorist Financing.