Abstract
I explored the use of astronomical monographs used for research. After scanning 135 monographs (excluding conference proceedings and textbooks) listed in 2000–2003 issues of Physics Today and counting citations of them in 2000–2013 in ADS (Astrophysics Data System), I found that 67% of the monographs received fewer than 2 citations per year. The average citation rate for the 135 monographs is statistically the same as for ApJ papers. In contrast, only 41% of the ApJ papers produce fewer than 2 citations per year. ADS also counts the number of times each book or paper is read on-line. The average in 14 years is 181 ± 27 times for the monographs and 633 ± 47 times for ApJ papers. The total numbers of citations in 14 years for the monographs ranged from 0 to 711. I explored reasons for this range and only learned that it did not depend on (1) the numbers of book reviews published or (2) the scientific stature of the authors. I am unable to predict whether a monograph will be successful or not. The decreasing of references to monographs seems to be due to (1) monographs becoming so expensive that individuals and libraries cannot afford many of them, (2) readers seeming to prefer concise reviews, such as online searches and the Annual Reviews, and (3) most of the monographs having not been available free online.
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