---
title: Technicalities of Scientific Writing
date: 2025-10-19
description: A practical guide to the software and formatting workflow behind writing your first scientific paper.
lang: en
slug: technicalities-of-scientific-writing
translationSlug: wissenschaftliches-schreiben-mit-software
featuredImage: /images/neuigkeiten/technicalities-of-scientific-writing/featured.avif
imageCaption: © William Fortunato / Pexels
tags: [Open Source, Science]
---

Many students struggle with the technicalities of writing a scientific paper for the first time. This guide was made to make the process a bit more straightforward and pain-free.

## I. What software do you need?

### 1. Writing

Any word processor capable of styling a document, generating a table of contents, numbering pages, and adjusting typeface and margins will work. However, **LibreOffice** or **Microsoft Office** are highly recommended for their advanced features.

Even if your institution provides you with free Microsoft licenses, I would still urge you to use LibreOffice instead, because it...

* ...is free and open-source — no license required.
* ...does not analyze your writing for commercial purposes.
* ...is ethically preferable: scientific work should not depend on companies with questionable data practices.
* ...has legal advantages in the EU: avoids privacy issues when storing participant data.

### 2. Citations

Technically speaking, a word-processor is all you need to get started. However, if you don't want your life to be *eternal suffering*, then you're going to use *citation software*. They enable you to speed up the insertion and styling of citations and, more importantly, that of the bibliography. It's all fun and games to do it manually, until you realise that you have more than just 10 pieces of literature and that they're all a different type, with different citation rules.

**Zotero** is a free and open-source citation manager that can integrate with LibreOffice and Microsoft Office alike.

## II. Setting Up

After installation, ensure Zotero integrates with your office software. It usually detects the program automatically. However, in some rare cases (especially on Linux, if you installed Zotero from Snap or Flatpak) it might not integrate straight away, so you'll need to quickly reinstall it from the preferences menu. For more details see the [official documentation](https://www.zotero.org/support/word_processor_integration).

If Zotero is installed correctly, you should be able to see the following icons in Writer.

![Zotero Icons](/images/blog/technicalities-of-scientific-writing/zotero_toolbar.avif)

### Importing Literature

When you're collecting literature, be on the lookout for easy importing possibilities. Zotero can import references in **BibTeX** or **RIS** format, commonly found under *Cite* or *Citation* buttons on publishers' websites.

After downloading, go to **File → Import** in Zotero. Review and correct any errors. **Beware** that these files aren't correct 100% of the time, so make sure to double-check and correct mistakes by hand. You can also add entries manually using the green plus icon.

Use Zotero's *Collections* to group references. Items can appear in multiple collections. Back up your library occasionally with **File → Export Library**.

## III. Citing

To insert a citation, click Zotero's **Insert Citation** button in your word processor. If it prompts you to choose a citation style, choose whichever you prefer (I personally really like Chicago Style). Also choose the right language for your document. Search for the relevant source and press Enter.

![Zotero Pop-up](/images/blog/technicalities-of-scientific-writing/zotero_setup.avif)

*The pop-up you get when inserting the first citation.*

After you have inserted at least 1 citation, it will become possible to insert a bibliography. For this, simply press the right button (*Add/Edit Bibliography*). Note that the bibliography will be inserted at the current writing position.

## IV. Structuring the Document

After mastering citation, focus on formatting and coherence — not in argumentation, but in layout and style.

### 1. General Setup in LibreOffice

Enable **Tabbed Interface** under *View → User Interface…*, then activate the **Menubar**. Re-enable Zotero afterward if needed.

**General rules:**

* Typeface: Sans Serif (Noto Sans, Arial, Liberation Sans, etc.)
* Alignment: Left (don't use justified as it makes the text difficult to read for people with disabilities)
* Font sizes: 10–12 pt for body text (this can greatly vary based on the font you use)
* Line spacing: 1.5
* Margins: 1.5–2.5 cm
* Paper format: A4
* Page numbers: Start on page 2 (or page 3/4, if you don't want to count the table of contents)

To configure the page margins and the page format, simply right-click anywhere on the document and choose "Page Style…" from the list. In the new window choose the "Page" tab where you can adjust the margins and choose the format.

![Page Style Pop-up](/images/blog/technicalities-of-scientific-writing/writer_page_style.avif)

*Page Style Pop-up*

### 2. Document structure

Your scientific article is going to need a specific structure:

* Cover Page
* Table of Contents
* Introduction
* Your Chapters
* Conclusion
* Bibliography
* Attachments

To create a **Cover Page**, first position your cursor before the first letter in your document and hit Ctrl+Enter. This inserts a Page Break. On the new page write down the title of your paper, your name, your matriculation number, your lecturer's/mentor's name, the name of the course, the semester and the field of study. *(Note: you may not need all of these)*

To format your document, use **Styles** instead of manual formatting. Styles are presets that you can configure yourself. Create custom styles via **Styles → New Style from Selection**. Assign spacing and font settings for titles, subtitles, and main text. This is also important to be able to generate a Table of Contents.

**Header & Footer**

Some elements need to be inserted on all pages, like the Page Numbering. You can edit the Header and Footer settings in the Page Style menu mentioned above. Make sure to untick "Same content on first page" for both.

![Footer Settings](/images/blog/technicalities-of-scientific-writing/writer_footer_setup.avif)

*Footer Settings*

**Page Numbering**

After enabling the footer, insert the page numbering via *Insert → Page Number...*. Now you should have page numbers starting with 2 from your second page.

![Page Number Insertion Menu](/images/blog/technicalities-of-scientific-writing/writer_page_number_wizard.avif)

*Page Number Insertion Menu*

**Table of Contents**

Insert a Page Break then *Insert → Table of Contents and Index → Table of Contents, Index or Bibliography…*. Under the **Type** tab, enable *Additional Styles* and assign your custom styles to heading levels. Once your ToC is generated, you can right click on it and choose update to refresh it.

## V. Conclusion

The first time you navigate these tools will be tedious, but it gets easier. To help you get started, you can [download the example **.odt** document](/images/blog/technicalities-of-scientific-writing/Example.odt).