Chapter 9 · Practice 1 of 3
Keep one shared source of truth for the report
Why it matters
Reports emailed back and forth as "report_final_v3_REAL.docx" are how sections get lost. Choose one place where the current report lives, agreed by the whole team:
| Option | Good for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Google Docs or Microsoft 365 | Teams writing in Word format, easy comments | Formatting drift; export carefully at the end |
| Overleaf | LaTeX reports, built-in history and BibTeX | Learning LaTeX takes time if nobody knows it |
| Git repository with LaTeX or Markdown | Teams comfortable with Git, full history and reviews | Merge conflicts in large files; split chapters into files |
All three keep a version history, so you can see who wrote what and when, and restore a deleted section. That history is also evidence of each member's contribution and of your own writing process.
Do
- Agree one location for the live report
- Use a tool with version history
Avoid
- Emailing copies of the report between team members