README.Rmd

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# <span style="color: rgb(0, 136, 58);">lmustatdown</span>

The `lmustatdown` package provides a handy
template for writing a dissertation or Bachelor's/ Master's Thesis at the
Department of Statistics, LMU Munich, and rendering
those files in a PDF format following the LMU SLDS LaTeX template found
[here](https://de.overleaf.com/latex/templates/lmu-slds-thesis-template/mhnhsykmqpvm).

The original work, package `thesisdown`, can be found [here](https://github.com/ismayc/thesisdown).

This introduction, as well as a large part of the structure of this package, is based on its similar derivation made by the Humboldt University of Berlin, which can be found [here](https://github.com/phinguyen44/huwiwidown).

Students will be writing in `R Markdown`, which is quite familiar to SLDS students at LMU,
and the `bookdown` package (powered by [pandoc](https://pandoc.org) ) 
is used to convert the code into LaTeX code and
finally into a PDF document. (This package solely supports PDF-output according to the requirements of the department.)

In the event that you've never used `bookdown` before, check out this [handy
tutorial](https://bookdown.org/yihui/bookdown/).

An example of the output can be seen [here](thesis-example.pdf).

## <span style="color: rgb(0, 136, 58);">Usage</span>

### <span style="color: rgb(0, 136, 58);">Initial Setup</span>

1. To install the template, be sure you have the following:
    - [pandoc](http://pandoc.org/)
    - [LaTeX](https://www.latex-project.org/get/)
    - [R >= 3.5.1](https://r-project.org)
    - [RStudio](https://rstudio.org) (optional, but it helps)
2. Install the necessary packages:

```r
if (!require("devtools")) {
  install.packages("devtools", repos = "http://cran.rstudio.org")
}
devtools::install_github("rstudio/bookdown")
devtools::install_github("Yc-Han/lmustatdown")
```
3. Create a New R Markdown document in RStudio:

File -> New File -> R Markdown... then choose `From template`, then choose
`Thesis \{lmustatdown\}`, and enter `index` as the **Name**. Note that this will currently
ONLY be able to **Knit** if you name the directory `index` at this step.

<p align="center">
  <img src="usage.png" width="400px">
</p>

If you're not using RStudio, navigate to an empty directory and then run the
following code:

```r
rmarkdown::draft("index.Rmd", template = "thesis", package = "lmustatdown")
```

### <span style="color: rgb(0, 136, 58);">Rendering</span>

To render your thesis, you can open `index.Rmd` in RStudio and then hit the
"knit" button. Alternatively, you can use:

```r
rmarkdown::render("index.Rmd")
```

Your thesis will be deposited in the `thesis-output/` directory.

## <span style="color: rgb(0, 136, 58);">Writing Thesis</span>

The following describes the components in the template. Getting familiar with
these files will guide you in writing your thesis.

### <span style="color: rgb(0, 136, 58);">`index.Rmd`</span>

This file is first created when generating a new template. It contains all the
relevant meta-information (e.g. name, thesis title, advisor names). You will
need to fill out the sections at the top of the page, which will then
auto-populate your "Title Page" and "Declaration of Authorship". If you are also
familiar with the YAML header, you can also add additional LaTeX parameters or
decide whether you want to add optional pages to your thesis such as the
"Acknowledgements" section or the "List of Tables".

### <span style="color: rgb(0, 136, 58);">`_bookdown.yml`</span>

This is the main configuration file for your thesis. It determines what Rmd
files are included in the output, and in what order. Arrange the order of your
chapters in this file and ensure that the names match the names in your folders.
The first file should always be the `index.Rmd` file. The rest will be the files
that you create. Some example files are already included to help you along your
way.

### <span style="color: rgb(0, 136, 58);">`sections/`</span>

These are the sections or chapters that will be bound together in the final
render. Here's where you write the sections that make your thesis. You can name
the files whatever you like, so long as they are indexed in the `_bookdown.yml`
file.

In your day-to-day writing, you will be working with these files. You can write
in markdown, just like you would in R Markdown. You can also write in LaTeX syntax if
you prefer.

### <span style="color: rgb(0, 136, 58);">`bib/`</span>

Store your bibliography (as `bibtex` files) here.
[This website](http://bibdesk.sourceforge.net/) may be helpful in generating the
`bibtex` file in the correct format. You will need to cite the items in your thesis after
adding them to the `references.bib` file in order for them to appear in your bibliography.

### <span style="color: rgb(0, 136, 58);">`figures/` and `data/`</span>

Store your figures and data here and reference them in your R Markdown files.

## <span style="color: rgb(0, 136, 58);">Structure of Thesis (Default)</span>

The structure of the thesis template is as follows:

**Frontmatter:**

- titlepage (mandatory, auto-generated from template)
- acknowledgement (`prelim/00-acknowledge.Rmd`)
- abstract (`prelim/00-abstract.Rmd`)
- table of contents (mandatory, auto-generated from template)
- list of abbreviations (not mandatory, `prelim/00-abbreviations.Rmd`)
- list of figures (not mandatory, auto-generated from template)
- list of tables  (not mandatory, auto-generated from template)

**Body:** the structure of the thesis body is not mandatory, but the references
are:

- introduction (`sections/01-intro.Rmd`)
- methods (`sections/02-method.Rmd`)
- data (`sections/03-data.Rmd`)
- results (`sections/04-results.Rmd`)
- conclusion (`sections/05-conclusion.Rmd`)
- appendix (not mandatory, `sections/99-appendix.Rmd`)
- references (mandatory, auto-generated from template)

**Last page:**

- declaration of authorship (mandatory, auto-generated from template)