In the United Kingdom and the United States, what distinguishes a scientific monograph from an academic commercial title varies by publisher, although it is generally assumed that the readership has not only specialized or sophisticated knowledge, but also a professional interest in the subject of the work. [6] Legal treaties dealing with broad areas of law provide a useful introduction to research. A well-referenced book serves as a starting point from which you can move on to periodical articles, cases, and laws. To keep the information up to date, some legal publishers publish texts in loose-leaf format (book-sized files that regularly replace pages containing outdated information with new pages of up-to-date information) or in the form of e-books, which are updated several times a year. There are also books on the review of certain laws. The Act generally contains the full text of the statute(s), as well as commentaries, background and references to judicial review of the statute(s). This is often referred to as a «note.» Sivertsen, G. (2016b). Internationalization models and evaluation criteria for research in the social sciences and humanities.
Scientometrics, 107(2), 357-368. doi.org/10.1007/s11192-016-1845-1. This is well summarized and illustrated in «Development of book publishing business models and finances», Frances Pinter and Laura White`s contribution to Academic and Professional Publishing (2012). Pinter presents us with a typical unit price/cost monograph: a £50 monograph on retail prices that generates a net turnover of £32.5, with a cost of £6 (or 18.5% of actual turnover) [67]. This shows that a publisher has made significant investments in origination before a sale can be made. Other studies show that the total cost of publishing a monograph is substantial, typically $20,000 [68]. E-book subscriptions are a major source of revenue, but the print revenue made possible by print-on-demand is just as important and can be realized before manufacturing and distribution costs are incurred. There is security in sales. For many publishers, especially those with e-book platforms or large e-book collections, creation costs can be split between the subscription value of the e-book collection paid by the library and print revenue, which is typically paid for by individual researchers or students. Print on demand is beneficial for the publisher both in terms of cash flow (i.e.
not having to pay for books waiting to be sold) and in terms of the constant availability of a book over a long period of time, allowing them to sell without locking in money. We use two datasets to; (A) describe the publication patterns of monographs in all OECD fields, gender and seniority and examine whether the authors of monographs also publish journal articles; and (B) compare the productivity of researchers (taking into account all their publications, regardless of the type of publication) who published at least one monograph during the 4-year period with the productivity of researchers who did not publish monographs. Monographs are important in research and teaching: respondents reported reading or referring to monographs as «extremely» or «very» in a number of research and teaching situations. Monographs in particular play an important role in compiling bibliographies and synthesizing literature. This suggests that researchers appreciate the function of monographs in collecting information in one place. Monographs are also a way to keep abreast of a particular author or topic. Figure 4 shows the differences in the number of monographs published between seniority groups (years since doctorate). In all fields except the humanities, the majority of researchers have not published monographs 11 to 20 years after their PhD.
Across all fields, the highest proportion of researchers who have published a monograph is those who have completed their doctorate for 11 to 20 years. It can be observed that the publication models of monographs depend much more on the field of research of the researcher than on seniority.