what program do you guys use to write a paper?

l-1j-cho

Hi

I use word 2007 for my extended essay in mathe but I can't use subscript in any fraction or function. What program do you gus use to write a paper?

Greg Bernhardt

I don't write many papers often anymore, but I am still kicking Office 2003 or sometimes Google Docs.

l-1j-cho

i can somehow type superscripts by typing x^(a) but how do I type subscripts?

turbo

Use whatever software is compatible with that of the journal to which you are submitting. Springer asked for MS Word, so that was an easy condition to satisfy. I believe that they accepted some other formats, as well, but the functionality of shared-access edits in Word, etc, made that one a no-brainer.

cristo

This isn't really the case. Latex is the preferred software, and most journals will provide latex templates for you to use. Word might be accepted in the case where authors do not have access to latex.

Topher925

I mostly use MS Word 10 but people more "professional" than myself use Latex. Latex certainly has its advantages as it gives you a lot more control over formatting and in many cases be a lot easier to use. I'll get around to learning it eventually.

MATLABdude

In Word 2007, you can go in through the format menu, or use keyboard shortcuts to do subscripts / superscripts (and go back to normal mode):
http://office.microsoft.com/en-ca/wo...005189455.aspx

If you have Equation Editor installed (I'm not sure if it's still installed by default), you can use that to make "prettier" equations:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/wo...005190247.aspx

But if you have the time, LaTeX makes things look really nice--it's the standard for typesetting many scientific journals. Since it's a mark-up language (like HTML) you may find LyX more accessible since it's WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) like Word, Pages, etc.:
http://www.lyx.org/

Note that LyX still requires a LaTeX install. There're some getting started guides and tutorials at the LyX website that will help, if you choose to go that route:
http://wiki.lyx.org/LyX/Tutorials

l-1j-cho

wow that's a lot of information. Thank you all!

l-1j-cho

so I checked Latex
http://www.latex-project.org/ftp.html
but it is too complex!
I downloaded protext, including miketex, which seems like the window version for latex
but I cannot find latex in the package

MATLABdude

The whole thing is [itex]\LaTeX[/itex]! You need to use an editor, such as TeXWorks or Texniccenter (both of which should be included in the MikTeX distribution).

I'd suggest reading through the absolute beginner's guide:
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/Absolute_Beginners

As well as the TeXWorks manual:
http://ftp.ctex.org/pub/tex/tools/ed...rks/manual.pdf

Barring that, as I mentioned in my previous post, you can use LyX.

l-1j-cho

cheers!

l-1j-cho

p.s.
Is there a certain format? I have the abstract, introduction and the main body but it does look good as the ones on Arxiv.
(this is not a math paper, but just an extended essay. I will not submit this on Arxiv but I just want my essay to look pretty!)

l-1j-cho

just out of curiosity, what programme do you use? I downloaded all of Texniccenter, lyx, texmaker, and stuff but I wanna go with the most popular one

jhae2.718

You should try them and use what you like best. I use Texmaker a lot since I can have the same interface on both Linux and Windows, but I also use gedit on Linux and TeXniCenter on Win.

MATLABdude

Like jhae2.718 says, it doesn't really matter what you use to write your LaTeX code in, so long as it works, and you can "compile" your LaTeX into a document--there's no harm in trying a few and seeing which you like best (or just using one, figuring out its idiosyncrasies, and sticking with it). I use TeXworks because it came with MikTeX and MacTeX by default, and allows me to use these on the two platforms I work on most.

Chronos

I like OpenOffice, mainly because it is free and works on my printer.

l-1j-cho

hmm I am getting like 36 errors and bad boxes occasionally. Is it normal to have several errors?