Course Project LaTeX Template

A minimal, opinionated template for course-project writeups. Works on Overleaf and locally.

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Quick Start

1. Copy the template (clone or download).
2. Edit metadata in main.tex (title, authors, date).
3. Write content by adding .tex files under sections/ and \input{...} them from main.tex.
4. Add figures to the figure/ folder and include them with \includegraphics.
5. Manage references in refs.bib and cite with \cite{...}.
6. Compile on Overleaf or locally (see below).

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Compile Options

• Online: Overleaf — upload the repo and set main.tex as the root document.
• Local: VS Code with LaTeX or any editor.

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Project Structure

.
├── main.tex                 # Entry point: metadata, packages, inputs, bibliography
├── preamble_packages.tex    # Package imports (comment out what you don't need)
├── preamble_symbols.tex     # Common symbols and math operators
├── shortcuts.tex            # Project-specific commands/macros
├── refs.bib                 # BibTeX database
├── sections/                # Source for individual sections
│   ├── intro.tex
│   ├── related_work.tex
│   └── ...
├── figure/                  # Images and plots
│   ├── system_diagram.pdf
│   └── ...
└── .gitignore               # Files to exclude from version control

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How to Use Each File

• main.tex

  • Sets the document class, title, authors, packages, and bibliography.
  • Includes content, e.g.:

    \input{preamble_packages}
    \input{preamble_symbols}
    \input{shortcuts}
    
    \title{Project Title}
    \author{Alice Smith \and Bob Jones}
    \date{\today}
    
    \begin{document}
    \maketitle
    
    \input{sections/intro}
    \input{sections/related_work}
    \input{sections/method}
    \input{sections/experiments}
    \input{sections/conclusion}
    
    \bibliographystyle{abbrvnat}
    \bibliography{refs}
    \end{document}

• preamble_packages.tex

  • Curated package list. Comment out lines you don’t need to keep the build lean.

• preamble_symbols.tex

  • Common math symbols/operators (e.g., \R, \E, \argmin). Extend as needed.

• shortcuts.tex

  • Project-specific macros:

    \newcommand{\method}{\textsc{OurMethod}\xspace}

• refs.bib

  • Add BibTeX entries and cite them:

    As shown by \cite{mnih2015dqn}, ...

• sections/

  • Split the paper into maintainable pieces:
    • intro.tex, related_work.tex, method.tex, experiments.tex, conclusion.tex, etc.
  • Include with \input{sections/<name>} (no .tex extension required).

• figure/

  • Store figures/plots and include them:

    \begin{figure}[t]
      \centering
      \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{figure/system_diagram}
      \caption{System overview.}
      \label{fig:system}
    \end{figure}

• .gitignore

  • Keeps build artifacts and OS/editor files out of Git (e.g., *.aux, *.log, *.out, *.synctex.gz).

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Best Practices

• Labels & refs: \label{sec:method} then \S\ref{sec:method}; figures with \ref{fig:system}; equations with \eqref{eq:loss}.
• Tables/Figures: Prefer vector formats (.pdf, .eps) for diagrams; use high-resolution .png for raster images.
• Keep it lean: Only load packages you need; define macros once in shortcuts.tex.

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Troubleshooting

• Missing references/citations: Run LaTeX → BibTeX → LaTeX → LaTeX, or just use latexmk -pdf.
• Undefined control sequence: A macro may live in shortcuts.tex or a package is missing—ensure it’s included.

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Happy writing!