Research Paper Setup

Ready to conquer the great academic quest? 📝 This is your starting point for turning that blinking cursor into a polished, citation-packed masterpiece. From formatting tips to reference wrangling, we’ve got you covered—so your only late nights will be from inspiration, not frustration.

Overleaf đź“ť

Overleaf is a collaborative, cloud-based LaTeX editor built for academic writing. Here’s why Overleaf can make your research writing smoother and more efficient:

  • âś… Real-time collaboration with comments and tracked changes.
  • âś… Built-in LaTeX packages
  • âś… Automatic PDF compilation.
  • âś… Version history.
  • âś… Easy sharing with advisors and co-authors.
  • âś… Works anywhere—no local TeX installation required.

Set Up Your Overleaf Project

Follow these steps to get your research paper project ready on Overleaf.

1. Create an Overleaf Account

  • Sign up for a free account at Overleaf to start your projects.

2. Start a New Project

  • Log in to Overleaf and select New Project → Journal Articles. Browse or search for the journal template you want to use to begin your project.

  • When you find the desired journal template, click Open as Template.

Sample Template Springer

Sample Template Capstone

  • Rename the project with a descriptive, appropriate project name.

3. Structure the Research Paper

Use a modular structure so collaborators can work in parallel.

  • Create a sections/ folder and split content:
    • sections/intro.tex
    • sections/methods.tex
    • sections/results.tex
    • sections/discussion.tex
    • sections/conclusion.tex
  • In main.tex, \input{sections/intro} etc. to include each section.

4. Add and Reference Figures/Tables

  • Keep figures in figures/ and reference them with \label and \ref.
Example: Figure 
\begin{figure}[t]
\centering
\includegraphics[width=0.9\linewidth]{figures/model-architecture.pdf}
\caption{Model architecture overview.}
\label{fig:arch}
\end{figure}
Example: Table 
\begin{table}[t]
\centering
\caption{Test accuracy by model.}
\label{tab:acc}
\begin{tabular}{lrr}
  \toprule
  Model & Accuracy & F1 \\
  \midrule
  Baseline & 0.78 & 0.75 \\
  Transformer & 0.86 & 0.84 \\
  \bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\end{table}

5. Add BibTeX Citations

  • Prepare a BibTeX file (e.g., refs.bib) containing all your references.

  • Add citations in-text using \citet{key} (narrative) or \citep{key} (parenthetical).

  • At the end of main.tex, ensure:

\bibliographystyle{plainnat}  
\bibliography{refs}
Example: BibTeX Entry (inside refs.bib) 
@book{gelman2013bayesian,
title        = {Bayesian Data Analysis},
author       = {Gelman, Andrew and Carlin, John B and Stern, Hal S and Dunson, David B and Vehtari, Aki and Rubin, Donald B},
year         = {2013},
edition      = {3rd},
publisher    = {Chapman and Hall/CRC}
}

6. Compile

  • Set Menu → Main document to main.tex.

  • Click Recompile until warnings are resolved.

  • Export PDF via Download PDF when ready.

7. Submit

There are two ways to submit your manuscript:

  • Directly to the journal website: Export your compiled PDF and follow the journal’s submission instructions.

  • Through Overleaf: Some journals allow direct submission from Overleaf—follow the journal’s integration or submission options within your project.

Sample Research Papers

Here are some sample research papers from GW Data Science.

Quick Research Paper Checklist