Because there is no simple tutorial for getting the apa package in LaTeX to work (all of the information is loosely spread out across the internet), I decided to make a tutorial for the absolute beginner having some familiarity with the OSX terminal.
What is LaTeX and why is it useful for my research?
LaTeX is a type of markup (like HTML) that will turn your text into a beautifully typeset document. The advantage of using a markup-based text generator over a word processor (like MS Word) is that I don’t have to think about the formatting. The LaTeX engine will autmatically move my text around and into the proper formatting for APA, Chicago, MLS, etc. This way I can focus on the content instead of the formatting.
I’ve sumed up the last 6 hours of my day figuring out how to implement LaTeX with OSX 10.6 for an APA style paper.
1. Download MacTex at http://www.tug.org/mactex/
2. Create a directory for packages
go to the terminal:
mkdir -p ~/Library/texmf/tex/latex/
mkdir -p ~/Library/texmf/bibtex/bst/
3. Download the LaTeX APA packages:
apa package (zip file) from http://tug.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/apa/
endfloat package (zip file) from http://tug.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/endfloat/
4. Unzip all of the above files and copy each directory to the ~/Library/texmf/tex/latex/ folder created in step 2
5. Download the BibTeX APA packages:
apacite package (zip file) from http://tug.ctan.org/tex-archive/biblio/bibtex/contrib/apacite/
6. Unzip apacite and copy the directory to the~/Library/texmf/bibtex/bst/ folder created in step 2
7. Generates the apacite files necessary for making bibliographies from the apacite.ins file.
Terminal:
cd ~/Library/texmf/bibtex/bst/apacite
tex apacite.ins
8. Go into the ~/Library/texmf/tex/latex/apa folder and copy
apaexample.tex
examplebib.bib
to some folder on your computer (ex. ~/Documents/my_folder/
9. Open the apaexample.tex file with TeXShop by right-clicking the file and selecting “Open With” -> “TexShop”
10. Click on the “Typeset” button (make sure “LaTeX” is visible from the drop-down menu.)
11. A screen should pop up. Ignore it. Go back and select ”BibTeX” from the drop-down menu. Click on the “Typeset” button.
The output pdf should now have 8 pages, but is missing the reference section.
12. Again, close the pop-up and then change the drop-down back to “LaTeX”. Click on the “Typeset” button.The output pdf should now have 9 pages, and includes the reference section.
13. Some sources say to repeat step 12 (re-run LaTeX) 2-3 times for good measure. I don’t know if that makes a difference, but I do it anyway for good measure :)
14. To use the jou feature, you need to download and install the base35 and mdwfonts packages from ctan
mkdir -p ~/Library/texmf/fonts/type1/ #(for base35)
mkdir -p ~/Library/texmf/fonts/tfm/ #(for mdwfonts)
mkdir -p ~/Library/texmf/fonts/vf/ #(for mdwfonts)
Troubleshooting:
If you are ever missing a file and your LaTeX source wont compile, open the log file output and find the missing file. For example, I was missing, “usyr.pfb”. All you need to do is open the terminal and type
kpsewhich —show-path usyr.pfb
Then, find the path that looks like
:/Users/davederiso/Library/texmf/fonts/type1//
Make this missing directory and then search for that missing file on ctan (link), download it and unzip it and copy the file to that directory.
Note: I also use the fantastic TextMate program for generating my LaTeX document, but you can use anything you like to make them (such as textedit). Also, Skim has been recommended by multiple sources as an excellent pdf viewer and can convert some of the LaTeX formats to pdf.
Useful Resource: http://www.let.uu.nl/~Hugo.Quene/personal/tools/latex.hqall.html
