To start working with LaTeX require installation of two core components (or one if you can make use of notepad or any other text editor). First component is Tex/LaTeX distribution and second component is any suitable editor. In this tutorial, we will make use of MiKTex distribution and TeXstudio editor using bundle from proTeXt, however, you are free to try any of the following options:
A very good and up-to-date bundle of MiKTex with TeXstudio can also be found at proTeXt. However, you can also download and install distribution separately from MiKTex distribution site.
Please download the proTeXt bundle and install both MiKTeX and TeXstudio one-by-one.
If you want to learn more about LaTeX, please visit LaTeX Project Site.
The first step for a quick start will be to get the latex template from the publisher. For example, if you want to create a document in IEEE or ACM two column formats, then both provide a sample template for this purpose. Similarly, if you want to create a Springer Verlag single column format, a latex template is also available on their website. In this tutorial, we make use of IEEE two column format, which is available at Manuscript Templates for Conference Proceedings.
IEEE template contains multiple .tex files. In this tutorial, we will confine our focus on bare_conf.tex. This text file is used if you plan to submit a paper in IEEE conference. Open bare_conf.tex file in TeXstudio and press F1 to build and view the output file. The bare_conf.tex will be compiled and the output pdf will be displayed in TeXstudio.
To start working with Latex all you need to do is to start editing this template file. To change the title change the text between \title{}.
You can add your abstract between:
\begin{abstract}
\end{abstract}
Each section is defined using \section{}, such as the one for introduction in the template. Similarly, sub section can be defined using \subsection{}. Furthermore, you can also define a paragraph using \paragraph{}. If you want to comment any text, you can use %.
Adding text in latex document is simple. You don't need to think about any formatting related issues. Just copy the text and the template will do the rest of the formatting for you according to the template standard. There are few tips that will make life easier for you. Below, I am listing few commonly used packages, that you will need time to time during your research paper writing. Just include them at the top of your latex document after \documentclass:
\usepackage{xspace}
\usepackage{graphics}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{stfloats}
\usepackage{enumerate}
\usepackage{alltt}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{amstext}
\usepackage{calc}
\usepackage{multirow}
\usepackage{paralist}
\usepackage{epsfig}
\usepackage{epstopdf}
\usepackage{listings}
\usepackage{multirow}
\usepackage{setspace}
%\usepackage[pagebackref=true]{hyperref}% For cross referencing
\usepackage{url}
\usepackage{fancyhdr} % Fancy Headers and Footers
\usepackage{colortbl}
\usepackage[small]{caption}
\usepackage[position=below]{subfig}
\usepackage{cite} % Nice citations
\usepackage[vcentering,dvips]{geometry} % Help with margins
\usepackage{amssymb}
\setcounter{tocdepth}{3}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{url}
You can use google to get details about each of above-listed packages. The second change that I recommend is to make use of a dedicated .bib file for reference data. For this purpose, just remove every thing between \begin{thebibliography}and \end{thebibliography} and simple put the following LaTeX markup:
\bibliographystyle{abbrv}
\bibliography{bibfile}
The abbrv means the bibliographystyle that will be used in your document, whereas bibfile is the name of your bibliography file. Please make sure that your bibfile has .bib extension. To create sample .bib file, copy the bibtex for any research paper that you want to refer. It is more suitable to make use of bibtex data available on ACM, IEEE, or Springer Verlag publication pages. These pages often contain most of the required information for referencing. A bibtex entry for an article on ACM with title "Data Science overtakes Computer Science?" is given below:
@article{Kumar:2012:DSO:2339055.2339060,
author = {Kumar, Deepak},
title = {Data science overtakes computer science?},
journal = {ACM Inroads},
issue_date = {September 2012},
volume = {3},
number = {3},
month = sep,
year = {2012},
issn = {2153-2184},
pages = {18--19},
numpages = {2},
url = {http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/2339055.2339060},
doi = {10.1145/2339055.2339060},
acmid = {2339060},
publisher = {ACM},
address = {New York, NY, USA},
}
I always recommend to make use of a good BibTex management software, such as JabRef. Now, you have your BibTex file ready and to make use of the reference all you need to do is to put ~\cite{Kumar:2012:DSO:2339055.2339060}. Tilde before \cite ensures that you have only single space between your text and reference.
In above-example, we make use of abbrv bibliography style. There are many other styles as well. Just give them a try to observe, how they are different. Few commonly used bibliography style are acm, plainnat, ieeetr, alpha, plain, unsrt, apalike, abbrvnat, harvard, etc.
If you want to refer to section in the research paper. Mark each such section with a label using \label{labelename}. In your document, you can refer to any label using ~\ref{labelename}.
If you want to add pdf figures in your latex document. You can use following LaTeX markup:
\begin{figure}
\includegraphics[scale=0.15]{testfigure.pdf}
\centering
\caption {Figure caption here}
\label{figure:label}
\end{figure}
Most of the research papers do make use of Tables. To start working with table, best is to copy LaTeX markup for table and start editing it according to your needs. A little complex LaTeX markup for table is as below:
%--- Table Begin ----------------------------------
\begin{table}[t]
\caption{Test table caption.}
\resizebox{0.48\textwidth}{!}
{%
\begin{tabular}{|l|r|l|} \hline
\textbf{Column1 Heading} & \textbf{Column2 Heading} & \textbf{Column 3 Heading}\\
\textbf{Row 11} & \textbf{Row12} & Row13\\ \hline
\textbf{...} & \textbf{...} & \textbf{...}\\ \hline
\textbf{Row n1} & Row n2 & Row n3\\ \hline
\end{tabular}
\label{tab:tablabel}
}
\end{table}
%--- Table End ----------------------------------
\textbf is used to make text bold. Each column values is separated by &, whereas each row is separated by \\.
Another important feature of most scientific documents is bulleted listing. For this purpose, you can make use of following markup:
\begin{itemize}
\item Item bullet A
\item Item bullet X
\item Item bullet Z
\end{itemize}
For numbering use following markup:
\begin{enumerate}
\item Item numbered 1
\item Item numbered 2
\item Item numbered 3
\end{enumerate}
