Grants:IdeaLab/Conversion tools that handle citations: LaTeX to wiki markup language

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Conversion tools that handle citations: LaTeX to wiki markup language

Create better conversion tools between LaTeX and Wiki markup language, which can handling citations systems.

contact emailkeelerens.fr, Improbable_keeler

idea creator• Improbable keeler

researcher• Improbable keeler

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created on14:00, Thursday, March 17, 2016 (UTC)

Project idea

Many mathematicians, computer scientists, physicists and other scientists and researchers use LaTeX, a markup language designed for writing mathematical equations, to write research articles, books, and lectures notes. These researchers are largely experienced and comfortable with using this type of mark up language, and not Wiki markup, the language the used by Wikimedia. If better translation tools were made available, then more researchers could convert parts of their, for example, lecture notes and upload them to Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects, instead of learning a completely new markup language. There are some language translation or conversion tools already available as websites or programs (for example, Pandoc), but they are of varying quality. In particular, these conversion are not good at handling the LaTeX citation system.

What is the problem you're trying to solve?

Many researchers in sciences, particularly in mathematics, do not contribute to Wikimedia projects. The state of many mathematical articles has stagnated. Researchers are more familiar with LaTeX than wiki markup, which is one possible barrier of entry. Many mathematical and other scientific articles lack sufficient inline citations.

What is your solution?

Instead of encouraging scientific researchers to learn a new technology, the Wiki markup language, create a bridge between LaTeX and wiki markup, which would lower a possible barrier of entry. There are surely many unpublished lecture notes or parts of survey articles, written in LaTeX or other markup languages, where the writers would be willing to put the material on Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects.

Project goals

• Put less emphasis on learning the Wiki markup language, lowering a possible technical barrier of entry.
• Let people convert unpublished material and upload it to Wikimedia projects.
• Encourage more researchers familiar with LaTeX or other markup languages to contribute to Wikimedia projects.
• Increase the number of inline citations in mathematical and other scientific articles.

Get involved

Participants

• Researcher Help answer questions about the project. I can't program very well, but I am familiar with LaTeX and how scientists use it. Improbable keeler (talk) 14:13, 17 March 2016 (UTC)

Endorsements

• I personally hate the markup, but probably only because I am familiar with LaTeX. While it is easy to simply copy equations from Wikipedia as LaTeX code, the other way around is not at all so. Shankarsivarajan (talk) 17:33, 17 March 2016 (UTC)