important document
Examples of technical papers written using Microsoft Word
Over the years, I have written research papers using LaTeX and Microsoft Word, switching back and forth
repeatedly. Each system has benefits and drawbacks. On the whole, I slightly prefer Word but am often swayed
to use LaTeX by coauthors. Here are some notes on using Word, together with some published papers as
examples.
Using math in Microsoft Office
I put together some quick reference notes (cheat sheet) on using math in Microsoft Office (PDF version).
Benefits of Microsoft Word
The what-you-see-is-what-you-get editing is wonderful. (The LyX graphical interface to LaTeX is nice but not
as seamless.)
It is easy to copy/paste built-up math within the document, to/from HTML emails, and to/from PowerPoint.
þÿThere is no build process ; the document is always ready.
All content (figures, images, tables, graphs, and even graph source data) is self-contained in one compact
*.docx file.
This file is easy to exchange with others, for instance as an email attachment.
For simple version history, one can take periodic snapshots of the file.
Several people can insert comments, which can be made visible or invisible, without altering formatting and
layout. (LaTeX comments or macros are not as convenient; often it's easiest to annotate a PDF, but this is then
disjoint from the source text.)
Benefits of LaTeX
It is handy to organize text at the sentence level by starting each sentence on a new line.
The paper can be polished by selectively commenting/uncommenting text.
Macro definitions can factor out repeated content or functionality. In Word, styles enable shared formatting.
Collaborators can work simultaneously on the text using a version control system that supports merging. Word
þÿsupports formal co-authoring using either SharePoint or OneDrive; I have not tried this.
Style files (*.cls and *.sty) and computed dimensions (e.g., 0.33\linewidth) make it easier to adapt a paper
þÿsubmission to a new venue, if it is rejected &9. In Word, it is a bit more cumbersome to change styles and image
sizes.
Text layout optimization is best in LaTeX, although it has improved in Word.
Resources
My quick reference notes on using math in Microsoft Office (PDF version).
In-depth documentation of math equations in Microsoft Office by its architect, Murray Sargent.
The book Creating Research and Scientific Documents Using Microsoft Word by Alexander Mamishev and
Murray Sargent.
Wishes for improving Word
The Draft View is useful to edit a single-column view of a two-column paper. However, unlike the Print Layout
View it does not show embedded images, which is unfortunate for graphics-rich papers.
It is convenient to use PowerPoint to create figure diagrams (so that the presentation slides are also nearly done
þÿ&:). Unfortunately, there does not seem to be a way to copy these diagrams into Word as vector graphics without
bloating the file and/or introducing PDF rendering artifacts. For now I take high-resolution screenshots and
þÿinsert these as raster images &9.
þÿOptimized text layout in Word has improved (see Fonts !’ Advanced !’ Kerning for fonts), but vertical layout is
still not as nice as that produced by LaTeX.