The document outlines the use of Overleaf, an online collaborative platform for writing and publishing documents, focusing on features such as templates, version control, and citation management. Key components include the structure of LaTeX documents, typesetting practices, and integration with reference managers. It provides guidance on editing, formatting, and submitting articles, along with troubleshooting common errors in LaTeX.

1. Improving Your Writing Project
Workflow with a Collaborative
Online Platform: Overleaf and
ShareLaTeX
Olga Scrivner, Workshop in Methods, October 26

2. Objectives
- Become familiar with Overleaf platform
- Collaborate and share
- Be able to write an article for journals that provide an
Overleaf template
- Understand the Latex structure (writing format)
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3. Introduction to Overleaf Platform

4. Overleaf
- Templates for papers, presentations, newsletters, syllabi,
books. . .
- Online collaboration platform
- Output: nice PDF files
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5. Overleaf
Overleaf is a website for writing and publishing documents.
ShareLaTex joined Overleaf last year.
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6. Overview I
Collaborating, commenting, and tracking changes
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7. Overview II
Sharing documents with URL - streamline collaboration
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8. Overview III
Searching your bibliography and inserting citation
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9. Overleaf Version 2 - Coming
- Zotero and Mendeley integration
- API integration (for publisher manuscript management
platforms)
- Direct GitHub synchronization
Source:https://www.sharelatex.com/blog/2018/05/01/try-out-overleaf-v2.html
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10. Sign Up with Overleaf
Login, Register or Merge with ShareLaTex -
https://www.overleaf.com/
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11. Overleaf Structure
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12. Overleaf Structure
- Use commands to describe what it is, not how it looks.
- Focus on your content.
- Let LATEX do its job.
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13. How Does It Work?
Credits: John D Lees-Miller (University of Bristol), Charles Batts (University of North Carolina)
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14. More Examples
Credits: John D Lees-Miller (University of Bristol), Charles Batts (University of North Carolina)
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15. Basics

16. Create a New Project
Select New Project > Blank Project > Give it a name > Create
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17. Document Layout I
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18. Document Layout II
Rename, Delete, Upload
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19. Document Layout III
Adjust setting for your current project, back to main projects
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20. Document Layout IV
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21. Document Layout V
Switch between LaTex and Rich text editor
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22. Document Structure
- A minimal LATEX document:
- Commands start with a backslash .
- Every document starts with a documentclass command.
- The argument in curly braces { } tells LATEX what kind of
document we are creating: an article.
- A percent sign % starts a comment — LATEX will ignore the
rest of the line.
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23. Typesetting Text
Credits: John D Lees-Miller (University of Bristol), Charles Batts (University of North Carolina)
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24. Practice - Title and Author
Change Title and Author, then Recompile
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25. Abstract
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26. Practice - Abstract
Create an abstract and add some content. Recompile.
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27. Editing - Undo/Redo
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28. Sections
Add Literature, Methodology, Results sections
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29. Practice - Subsections
Add two subsection to Methodology: Data and Methods
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30. Adding Content to Introduction
Type a sentence in the Introduction section. Recompile.
Some of the greatest discoveries in science were made by
accident.
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31. Formatting - Bold and Italics
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32. Caveats
- Quotation marks are a bit tricky: use a backtick ` on the left and
an apostrophe ´ on the right. Single quotes: ‘text’.
Double quotes: “text”.
- Some common characters have special meanings in LATEX:
% percent sign
# hash (pound / sharp) sign
& ampersand
$ dollar sign
- If you just type these, you’ll get an error. If you want one to
appear in the output, you have to escape it by preceding it with a
backslash. Backslash $%&#
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33. Quotes
Skip one line and type (quotes = left single quote twice and
right single quote twice)
Inertia is “the first law of the motion”
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34. Add Citation with &
Inertia is “the first law of the motion” (Newton
& Newton, n.d.).
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35. Single or Double Space
We need to add a new package setspace.
Packages (libraries) must be added before document.
Recompile.
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36. Indentation
We want to remove indentation in the second paragraph.
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37. Handling Errors
LATEX can get confused when it is trying to compile your
document. If it does, it stops with an error, which you
must fix before it will produce any output.
For example, if you misspell emph as meph, LATEX will stop
with an “undefined control sequence” error, because
“meph” is not one of the commands it knows.
Advice on Errors
1. Don’t panic! Errors happen.
2. Fix them as soon as they arise — if what you just typed
caused an error, you can start your debugging there.
3. If there are multiple errors, start with the first one — the
cause may even be above it.
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38. Typesetting Exercise 1
Typeset this in LATEX: 1
In March 2006, Congress raised that ceiling an additional $0.79
trillion to $8.97 trillion, which is approximately 68% of GDP.
As of October 4, 2008, the “Emergency Economic Stabilization
Act of 2008” raised the current debt ceiling to $11.3 trillion.
1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_United_States
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39. Typesetting Mathematics - Exercice 2: Dollar Signs
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40. Environments - Exercice 3
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41. Environments - Exercice 4
Type three hobbies you like - one per line
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42. Share
- Select Share Menu
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43. PDF and Journals
- Select Download PDF to generate a pdf File
- Select Journal and Services to submit directly to journals
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44. Figures and Tables

45. Graphics
Requires the graphicx package, which provides the
includegraphics command.
Supported graphics formats include JPEG, PNG and PDF
(usually).
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46. Practice
Download any image from internet Upload it to Overleaf Add
package named graphicx
Add this line:
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47. Practice - Explore template
Return to Project
Select New Project
Select Template
Explore
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48. Interlude: Optional Arguments
We use square brackets [ ] for optional arguments,
instead of braces { } .
includegraphics accepts optional arguments that allow
you to transform the image when it is included. For
example, width=0.3textwidth makes the image take up
30% of the width of the surrounding text (textwidth).
documentclass accepts optional arguments, too. Example:
makes the text bigger (12pt) and puts it into two columns.
Where do you find out about these? See the slides at the
end of this presentation for links to more information.
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49. Graphics
Tables in LATEX take some getting used to.
Use the tabular environment from the tabularx package.
The argument specifies column alignment — left, right,
right.
Item Qty Unit $
Widget 1 199.99
Gadget 2 399.99
Cable 3 19.99
It also specifies vertical lines; use hline for horizontal
lines.
Item Qty Unit $
Widget 1 199.99
Gadget 2 399.99
Cable 3 19.99
Use an ampersand & to separate columns and a double
backslash to start a new row (like in the align*
environment that we saw in part 1).
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50. Bib file
Put your references in a .bib file in ‘bibtex’ database
format:
Most reference managers can export to bibtex format.
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51. Bib file
Each entry in the .bib file has a key that you can use to
reference it in the document. For example,
Jacobson1999Towards is the key for this article:
It’s a good idea to use a key based on the name, year and
title.
LATEX can automatically format your in-text citations and
generate a list of references; it knows most standard styles,
and you can design your own.
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52. Natbib
Use the natbib package2 with citet and citep.
Reference bibliography at the end, and specify a
bibliographystyle.
bib-example.pdf
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