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Writing a paper/document

Writing scientific papers is a central part of life as a scientist. Like most things, investing a bit of time/money can make the process a little easier and allow you to focus on writing rather than the boring admin that inevitably goes with it. Here are a few ad-hoc things I've picked up which may help:

Note: for advice on latex, see this page

  1. Choose your medium. There are many ways to write a paper. You can use latex directly on your computer (i.e. write a .tex file and compile it with pdflatex); you can use cloud-based latex solutions like Overleaf (see below); or you could use Word/Google Docs. All of these are great and have their place. Personally, I use latex directly when I'm working on a paper with more than 10 contributors and we need to use git to track changes and merges. I use Overleaf for most papers I write, and I use Word/Google Docs for pretty much anything which does not required images or equations.

  2. Use the tools. There are a number of tools which can simplify your life. Taking the pain out of compiling latex, to automatically identifying and fixing spelling, gramatical, and typographic errors. As someone who has some mild dyslexia (and did not pay enough attention at school), I've found these invaluable. Given the availability of the checkers (most are free), it demonstrates real laziness to submit journal articles with typos (something I have definitely done). Here are my favourits:

    • Overleaf: this is a cloud-based latex editor/compiler. For projects where you have a handful of collaborators, the free version works great! Make sure to use the built-in spelling correction. Overlead has an incredible ability to ignore Latex errors and still produce output. This is really useful during the the writing stage. But please, for the love of all that is good in this world, fix those errors eventually. They will result in broken arXiv compilations and usually many some aspect of your document is missing.
    • Grammarly: there is a paid version which provides more in-depth analysis. In my mind this is worth every penny if you are submitting grants/fellowships where a single typo could upset a reviewer (they are fickle beasts). But, the free version is also great. You can use this for Email, Word documents, and Overleaf (see this S/O page).i
    • LanguageTool: this is a free alternative to Grammarly. It is not as detailed, but if you don't have the paid Grammarly then the pop-up sales technique can be quite annoying. Therefore this is better than the free version of Grammarly.
    • codespell: this is great for when you are forced to work on a latex document without overleaf.

  3. Learn some grammar: Honestly, I could not of cared less about grammar while at school. Only during my final year as an undergraduate, when we had to write a 10-page report, I realised that actually, communicating what I had learned was maybe a little bit important. While Grammarly and other tools can help, it is good to learn why they are making changes. Equally, if you have a collaborator who edits the text, ask them why and don't be ashamed. Better to learn later than never.

  4. Be consistent in your style: English is a flexible language, but when reading a scientific article, a consistent style of writing avoids distracting the reader. For me, I found "The Elements of Style" by Strunk and White to be hugely useful. I don't agree with all of it, but I find it useful to have a single point of reference to consult when I'm unsure. I don't always follow the advice (often you need the passive voice), but I try to maintain it on the whole. There is also an automated checker in perl which you can use to identify problem areas.