What are academic books? How are they different from normal books?

Free guide to academic sources

For information about other academic sources, download my free 5-page PDF, Understanding Different Types of Literature.

Whether you are studying sociology, criminology, social policy, politics or another social science subject, you will come across these three kinds of academic books.

Firstly, Textbooks. They provide a general overview of a topic or discipline. They highlight the principal ideas and authors. They’re useful for when you’re defining the key terms – at the start of an essay for example. They’re also useful for getting a general feel of a topic or area. They’re an introduction, they will give you a framework, a basic foundation upon which to build more knowledge.

Secondly, Edited Collections. They are also known as readers or anthologies. They consist of different chapters written by different authors around a particular topic. Edited collections bring together a range of contributions around a specific theme. They’re useful for helping you when you’re getting in to your topic a bit deeper, you’re going beyond the introductory basics, wanting to explore different angles, theoretical perspectives or research studies that have been conducted around a topic.

Lastly, Monographs. Monographs report on a specific primary research study at length. The whole book is about that one piece of research. Monographs will help you understand the finer details of a research study. This includes the literature in the area, the data collection and analysis methods that were used, how participants were recruited, detailed information about the findings, an in-depth discussion chapter. They are particularly useful for understanding the process of a research study from start to finish – so they’re especially helpful for dissertation or PhD students who are planning their own studies. They help you see what worked, what didn’t work, what techniques are useful in the field. They go into loads of detail about methodology – way more detail than you’d find about this part of the research process than in other types of literature.  

It’s worth noting that all academic books like this are peer reviewed. What does that mean? That they are scrutinized by other academics working in the area before they are accepted for publication. The reviews are critical, challenging, they will likely ask the author to rewrite some things, add some further detail, provide additional evidence for their arguments. They’re really rigorous. These reviewers can be at best – diligent and thorough, at worst, downright mean! Many of the reviews are completely anonymous – so academics like me will never know who that reviewer was who provided really detailed, critical commentary on their draft.

But the fact that academic books are peer reviewed should be reassuring to you as a student. Because you can use these books in your studies, you can reference them in your essays, you can use them to enhance your knowledge, and take comfort in the fact that they’ve been vetted and scrutinized before they made it onto the bookshelves.

They carry a lot of academic clout. They’re authoritative, they are prestigious, they’re safe to cite. Way much more so than random websites. Please, never use stuff like Wikipedia to find like definitions for example. Don’t do it. No! because it hasn’t been peer reviewed, anyone can chuck anything up on there"!

Check out my YouTube video on this very topic below, and let me know your thoughts on academic books!