Framing
LaTeX is a typesetting system that can be used to write academic papers and create professional-looking documents. Users type in plain text format, but mark up the text with tagging conventions, and the nicely-formatted result is shown in an output file. LaTeX has many benefits including typesetting complicated facets of research such as mathematical notation, creating reusable bibliographies, and creating figures and diagrams among many others.
Overleaf is an online platform that can be used to create and edit LaTeX documents. You can share and simultaneously edit documents with collaborators, similar to the way you collaborate on a Google Doc.
Recommended Path for Learning
- For a high-level overview of LaTeX, Overleaf, and the resources below, see this video:
- Overleaf’s official documentation provides a helpful 30 minute guide to creating your first LaTeX document:
Further Learning
Videos
- This playlist of videos is a good starting place. They were made by a company called ShareLaTeX, which recently merged with Overleaf. These videos give a good idea of how to get started using LaTeX with an online editing system.
Online tutorials
- For more detail, and/or for a range of written tutorials, the Overleaf documentation page has a wide range of information to help get started, or to answer specific questions you might have as you get used to using LaTeX.
Cheat sheet
- For a quick reference as you’re writing, this cheat sheet includes a bunch of commands for various formatting options, with a focus on writing scientific papers.