I used Mellel, then because of font issues, had to move to Pages for the final draft and .pdf versions.
Today I would draft in Scrivener. I would produce the final copy in Pages.
I suggest you look into Zotero, Mandaley and Bookends as reference managers. I hate all three, largely because they don’t eat and spit data in easy to import and export formats, but a reference manager can make the citations and works cited /bib much easier to format.
Nota Bene looks interesting for academic writing though I have not tried it yet.
Any thoughts?
How did you manage citations and bibliography? I have to use the Vancouver style for citations and bibliography. I use bookends as my reference manager. Furthermore, I have wanted to try Scrivener, but from the outside the workflow looks scary, I’m guessing it has the capability to export to Pages.
Would you mind elaborating a little on your workflow?
Thanks
It looks dated, and I consider the price to be expensive, the price also increases if you want mac compatibility. Better alternatives that look somewhat similar are mellel and nisus writer.
+1 Word
Simple, get things done, can be shared very easily, it’s everywhere.
After that, Adobe InDesign to make it look good
Excellent!
Based on my wife’s experience with her dissertation the small “errors” in her references where more impactful on the grade than the content, despite the hours and days sorting out references. Sigh. Her second dissertation (and effort) was helped greatly with Zotero as recommended by son number one. I did my dissertation before PC’s so there were it’s own complications then.
As others say, use the software used by colleagues to enable collaboration.
I had to support faculty using it.
It’s a nightmare. I’d avoid it if at all possible.
Yes, I’d agree - there’s no reason to start a new project in Nota Bene in this day and age…
For my dissertation, I tried using Bookends but back then (2008) it didn’t play well with Pages, which was where I finished the diss, and converted it to .PDF for printing and filing.
I ended up using HyperCard (via Rosetta) and Apple Script to place a citation on the clipboard which I would then paste into Pages. This is, obviously, a non-viable workflow these days.
Now, I use a spreadsheet in Numbers. Citations for a humanist a much more straightforward than in some fields; we can generally use in text citations, and a Works Cited, with the first reference to a work cited in a footnote.
My scholarly workflow involve reading a bunch, taking notes on the reading (often by habd, then transcribing) which then evolve into an ur-draft, which may spend time being worked into an outline (if I have to submit a proposal) or worked on in Scrivener’s Corkboard, then as I augment that it becomes a draft in Scrivener. I use the note tools, I import references .pdfs and images, and add notes as I go, I use Scrivener’s annotation tools as I draft. Citations are at this point a FN with a crude citation IDing the author, work, date and page/sections. I dont worry about formatting much, beyond chapters and headings.
When I have a completed draft, when I don’t think I’ll add or remove substantial text, I compile and move to Pages where I revise, format, print out hard copy and mark it up, then revise. I construct a formal works cited at this point, and make sure citations / footnotes are properly formatted.
For technical writing, I use the corkboard in Scrivener and placeholders for figures/screen shots to completely outline the book/article/section of a book including sidebars, call-outs, and figures. I then usually draft in Pages using a publisher’s template or style sheet. Sometimes I have to use MS Word, because of the publisher’s workflow. and macros etc. in their MS Word file. I’ve bought MS Word subscriptions twice because of a publisher’s work flow; the Pages wouldn’t work for productions. I grit my teeth and remind myself it’s still not as bad as when I had to use Quark Express.
Thanks for sharing your workflow, I learned a lot from it. For the note-taking while reading, I have started to use DevonThink, for every PDF I read I have an annotations file in .md linked to it. Similar to what you do, then I perform a search or explore the group (folder) where my annotations are stored and pull ideas from there to scrivener. Because the annotation has a direct link to the PDF I consulted, it’s easy to just press CMD + Y or tap control twice to add the citation I need.
After I have the draft done on Scrivener, I plan to export it as .rtf and then polish all the details in Mellel, where I would use Bookends format the citations and references.
I suggest my students use Obsidian and scrivener. If they are Mac users (and can afford it) I also suggest Devonthink. Then if mac users Bookends (if they can afford it), if not Zotero.
Nearly 4 months on how are things with using Texpad? Would you still recommend it?
Yes!
n.b. I’ve been using LaTeX off and on since 2012.
I’m working on the final edits before submitting to my Uni. With help from @DrJJWMac with things like subfigures and subcaptions. And of course sites like stackexchange and googling around.
It’s not for everyone, but suits the way my brain works.
People could try out Overleaf , work through some tutorials and see how they like it. From there, I would switch to Texpad, but that’s not a must.
I’ll submit my document for a “format check” by 7/22. I’m not concerned about any changes they want, as it will be a matter of just changing the way the information is presented, and not slogging through a Word document making a hundred edits, or changing styles and having other formatting going off the rails.
I’m about to embark on an MA and am looking for a good solution. Did you use macOS and iOS? If so, did that work?
I’ll chime in with my comments. I presume you are asking about macOS and iOS for LaTeX.
For reference: I have a 16in MBP, have 27in monitors at my work and home locations, touch-type well, and have Kinesis ergonomic keyboards at both locations.
I do not use my iPad to generate long-format (typed) documents. I defer therefore that others here could better comment on the best options for doing LaTeX on the iPad.
One best use for my iPad is to read and mark-up (PDF) journal articles. I use Bookends for this. Zotero + Highlights is an oft-mentioned combination as a competitor, especially depending on your field of study. Another best use for my iPad is to keep meeting minutes and notes on ideas in hand-written format. I use ZoomNotes for this. A slew of note taking apps stand as competitors. Finally, being in the hard, physical sciences, I may occasionally need to graph trends in an analytical equation. I use GeoGebra on my iPad for this. I have Devonthink (macOS) and Devonthink to Go (iPad). I have yet to establish a systematic workflow with these two apps even as I recognize the need to focus time on using them to break past the beginner-intermediate user stage with them.
My macOS is my workhorse. For LaTeX, I recommend a full install from MacTex. My highest used, general-purpose app for dissertation-equivalent work is Curio. I brainstorm ideas, layout figures, and manage projects within it.
Finally, I benefit significantly by seamless cloud integration within my heavily used iPad apps (Bookends, Devonthink to Go) to their equivalent macOS apps. Indeed, if I had but one recommendation to make to someone who wants the best advice before starting to use both macOS and iPadOS to their highest effectiveness in thesis/dissertation work, it would be this: Assure that you have tools that integrate as seamlessly as possible across both platforms. OmniFocus and PDFExpert are two additional apps that stand strongly with Bookends and Devonthink in the category of “apps that integrate their iPadOS and macOS offerings effectively across a cloud”.
If you have specific questions, feel free to ask further.
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JJW
I do have this installed. Texpad seems a simpler way to have Latex on both macos and ios?
I tried Texpad on macOS. I eventually was frustrated with using it compared to TeXShop. I was also constantly worried that updates in TeXLive were not properly carried over to Texpad/macOS. Finally, because I have an extensive set of style/package files under TeXLive with a well-structured way to manage them, I decided that I did not want to have LaTeX/TexLive and LaTeX/Texpad both installed, both to avoid filling my hard drive and to limit my confusion while working.
Since I do not use my iPad for LaTeX, I cannot comment on whether you would have some advantage, e.g. because TeXpad has its own install on both platforms. I know that other apps exist for LaTeX on the iPad. In such cases, the key is to establish an effective cloud sync to transfer documents between TeXShop/TeXLive/macOS and WhateverApp/iPadOS.
Long story short, if you can work effectively in Texpad on macOS and on iPadOS, go for it. If otherwise you find that Texpad is not your preferred editor (but feel it is the only choice to do macOS/iPadOS work), I suggest instead that you might spend some time to set up a reliable document sync method between your LaTeX/TexLive documents on macOS and your LaTeX documents for a different LaTeX editor on iPadOS.
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JJW
From memory, Texpad can make use of MacTex, so you could use it without issues? I know the iOS version of Texpad has a more limited package selection.
When I wrote my thesis, I used the iPad for editing the LaTeX file, but didn’t compile on the iPad - I used Textastic for editing. Mind, at the time it wasn’t able to.
Not an issue. Set TexPad to use “external typesetter” (MacTex) and don’t worry about TexpadTex.
My apologies then for any misrepresentation and thank you for the update.
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JJW