Writing research in Overleaf
Now that we have our project directory, our next task is to set up a project in Overleaf, the software I use for writing research papers. Overleaf is like the Google Docs equivalent of writing in LaTeX. If you are unfamiliar with LaTeX, it might be worth learning how to use it as it can dramatically improve the writing process of a research paper and help you with pesky challenges like formatting citations, arranging tables, or achieving perfect typesetting for a specific journal template. The output of a LaTeX document is generally a PDF file, sometimes a PostScript file, but not a DOCX file – which is the file format used by Microsoft Word.
Many universities offer university-wide subscriptions to professional Overleaf plans. However, if you do not have access through your university, you can get started with a free plan. If you find the technology helpful, upgrading to a standard plan to meet your needs is worth upgrading. (I have no affiliation with Overleaf and do not receive any payment for this recommendation.) As a heavy user, I have found that Overleaf has dramatically increased my productivity since switching from standard LaTeX (MacTeX) several years ago. While most of what I am describing can be done with standard LaTeX, Overleaf has made it significantly more straightforward.
This section will discuss setting up a project directory for a research paper. Later, we will discuss setting up a LaTeX document for a presentation framework called “Beamer” in LaTeX terms.
To start a new project on Overleaf, look for a green button at the top left corner of your window. The button should be labeled “New Project.”
Click it.
After clicking the button, a menu will appear, offering various project types and templates. You can choose from a blank project, an example project, a public project, and templates for academic journals, books, letters, and more – including options specific to your institution.
To begin, select the option to create a new project with no pre-existing information. A pop-up window will then appear, asking for a project name. For this example, let’s name it “Strategy Research.”
A variety of windows will now appear, but the main window you should notice is the one with the LaTeX code. This may look intimidating for those who have yet to code in LaTeX, but it is much less intimidating than writing in Microsoft Word, where you have no idea what your actions will result in.
You will notice a few pieces of code.
You will notice two things at the top: a definition of a document class (in this case, an article) and a package called UTF-8 for encoding certain types of text. Later, we will discuss setting up a standard document for a research paper. It is worth noting that LaTeX command starts with a forward slash (“/”).
The basic template of the document includes three latex commands: title, author, and date, followed by brackets for the beginning and end of the document. These commands start and end the document in latex code. Within the begin and end commands, you will see two other commands, “maketitle” and “section.” In the basic template, the section title is “Introduction.”
Now, let’s change the title of your article to “This is Strategy Research 101” and click on the “Recompile” button in green at the top. You will notice that the PDF updates to display the new title. Next to the “Recompile” button, you will see two additional small buttons that resemble a document. When you hover over it, it will display “Logs and Output Files.” It is rare that you will need to use this button, as it is mainly used for troubleshooting documents that fail to compile. As you become more proficient with LaTeX, you will be less likely to encounter errors in coding.
The next button, which is a rectangle with an arrow pointing to it, is used for downloading the document. Once clicked, the document is downloaded in PDF format. For example, in the Chrome browser, a file named “strategy_research.pdf” will be downloaded. Upon clicking on it, the produced latex document will be displayed.
Okay, now that we have seen the basic document for a blank project, let’s begin by setting up some additional directories in your Overleaf project. Above the “main.tex” file on the left-hand side of your screen, you will see a few buttons. If you hover over them, you will see what they do. The first one, which looks like a document with a little fold, is a “new file” button. This allows you to create a new file within the project folder and Overleaf. A popup window appears, giving you options to add files. Select “New File” which is the first option. Give it a name like “appendix.tex” and then press “Create.” You should now see a file called “appendix.tex” in your list. The next button looks like a folder. It allows you to create folders in your Overleaf project. Create two new folders, one called “tables” and the other called “figures.” These folders are parallel to the ones you created in your Dropbox folder. When you have created your tables and figures in Stata or R, you can upload them here and then connect them to your Overleaf document.
Finally, create a file called “bibliography.bib”. This file will store all your references, which you can use to add citations to your manuscript. To create this file, click the “new file” button and type “bibliography.bib” in the file name field. You may have noticed that you can connect external files or a bibliography from software such as Mendeley and Zotero. However, I do not use this software because I have yet to figure out how to use them effectively in a collaborative way with my co-authors, as most of my research is co-authored.
Now that we have completed all the set-up, let’s proceed to copy and paste the template I created for writing research papers in strategy.
Here’s a link to the template, which you can open in Sublime and then copy and paste into the main.tex file in your Overleaf project. After pasting the template, click on the “Recompile” button. You will notice that this document has many more packages and options than the blank file. Below, I will describe each of these, as they may come in handy as you write your papers.
[link to template forthcoming]
As you may have noticed, the document class is still set as an article, but I have added two options: one for a 12-point font and another for letter paper size.
The document currently set up will help you write a research paper with the following features:
The document will be set on letter paper, with a 12-point font size and 1-inch margins on all sides, as specified by the geometry option. The date is set to \today and will update automatically each time you compile the document. The first page will consist of the title, which includes an asterisk and a footnote about authorship. You can also add other relevant footnotes, such as funding sources. The authors will follow the title and will be listed alphabetically, which is the norm in my field. Then, you will have the abstract section enclosed within \abstract{} with the text of the abstract placed within curly brackets.
After the abstract, there is a “\newpage” option followed by “\doublespacing,” which instructs LaTeX to start a new page and switch from single to double spacing. The document will include five main sections: introduction, theoretical framework, methods and data, results, and discussion and conclusion. You can adjust these sections to suit your paper’s needs, but these are the five main sections in most academic articles.
After declaring all the sections, you will see another “\newpage” command that separates the main text, references, and tables. In my experience with LaTeX, I prefer to have tables and figures at the end of the manuscript, but this may vary by field. Following the “\newpage” declaration, I return to single spacing and include two new commands related to the bibliography. The first command, “\bibliography{strategy},” directs Overleaf to use the strategy.bib file in the directory as the bibliography file. The second command, “\bibliographystyle{apsr},” instructs Overleaf to format the bibliography in APSR style.
Setting up a project directory and LaTeX document in Overleaf can greatly improve the research paper writing process. Overleaf offers templates and features that simplify formatting citations, tables, and typesetting. Though LaTeX may seem daunting to newcomers, the benefits are worth it. Organizing references in a bibliography file and creating directories for additional files can streamline writing. With the basic template discussed, customization is easy for sections and formatting. Ultimately, Overleaf is a powerful tool that can increase productivity for writing research papers.
Sharique Hasan 