Academic Writing on The Augmented Scholar

Matplotlib Publication Figure Template

Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

What Makes a Publication-Quality Figure

Journal requirements typically demand:

300 DPI minimum (often 600 for line art)
Figure width: 86 mm (single column) or 176 mm (double column) — exact values depend on journal
Font size: 8–10pt for axis labels, consistent with body text
No chart junk: white background, no box spines, minimal grid lines
Colour-blind friendly palettes (avoid red/green alone)

This template sets all of these automatically. A single import figure_styles at the top of a notebook applies the preset.

PhD Thesis LaTeX Template

Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

How to Use It

Option A — Overleaf (recommended)

Download the ZIP
In Overleaf: New Project → Upload Project → select the ZIP
Overleaf compiles automatically. Start editing chapters/01-introduction.tex

Option B — Local Compilation

# Requires: TeX Live with biblatex and biber
pdflatex main
biber main
pdflatex main
pdflatex main

Or use latexmk for one-command compilation:

Academic Conference Poster Template

Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Printing Tips

Recommended Print Settings

Setting	Value
Format	A0 portrait (841 × 1189 mm)
Resolution	150 DPI for mixed graphics; 300 DPI for line art only
Colour profile	CMYK (ask your print shop)
Bleed	Add 3mm bleed in Inkscape export if required

Exporting from Inkscape

File → Export PNG → set 150 DPI for a quick proof
File → Save a Copy → PDF with “Use exported objects size” checked for print

Common Conference Poster Sizes

This template is A0 portrait. Other common sizes:

Overleaf — Collaborative LaTeX in the Browser

Tue, 06 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Overleaf: When to Use It and When Not To

Overleaf is the right choice for:

Collaboration — share a link, co-author sees your changes in real time
Getting started with LaTeX — no local setup, compiles in the browser instantly
Conference and journal submissions — many journals have direct Overleaf submission buttons

Overleaf is the wrong choice for:

Grammarly — AI Writing Check for Academics

Sat, 17 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Grammarly for Academic Writing — Honest Assessment

Grammarly is most useful as a final-pass proofreader, not a writing coach. It catches:

Grammar errors (subject-verb disagreement, tense shifts)
Punctuation mistakes
Commonly confused words (affect/effect, principal/principle)
Overly long sentences
Passive voice overuse

Where it falls short for academics:

Pandoc — Universal Document Converter

Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

What Pandoc Does — in One Line

Pandoc converts between nearly every document format that exists. For researchers, the key workflow is:

Markdown (.md) → PDF (via LaTeX)
Markdown (.md) → Word (.docx)
Markdown (.md) → HTML
LaTeX (.tex) → Word (.docx)

The Researcher’s Markdown Writing Stack

Write your paper in Markdown using any text editor. Use YAML front matter to declare metadata. Cite references with [@smith2023] syntax and a .bib file. Then:

Mermaid Diagrams in Inkscape: Native Extension Setup

Thu, 05 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Generate Mermaid Diagrams Without Leaving Inkscape — For Academic & Technical Illustrators

You’re mid-design in Inkscape, and you need to add a flowchart, sequence diagram, or state machine. Right now, your workflow looks like this: switch to a browser, open Mermaid’s online editor, create the diagram, export it as PNG or SVG, come back to Inkscape, import it, and hope the formatting survived the conversion. By the time you’ve done this three times, you’ve lost 20 minutes and broken your creative flow.

Overleaf Dark Mode & Markdown Paste: Hidden Features

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

You’re staring at a blinding white PDF preview at 11 PM, trying to finish your paper. Your eyes hurt. You’ve got structured notes in Obsidian or ChatGPT output in markdown, but you’re manually retyping section headers into LaTeX syntax. There’s a better way—and it’s already built into Overleaf.

Write Research Papers in Markdown + Pandoc

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

You’re staring at a LaTeX error message for the 47th time today. Your paper deadline is tomorrow, but you’re debugging \begin{figure} placement instead of refining your argument. There’s a better way: write in clean Markdown, get publication-ready PDFs with equations, cross-references, and IEEE/Springer formatting—all without touching LaTeX syntax until the final export.