The University of Edinburgh acquires Overleaf for the production of specialist documentation The University has acquired a three year licence agreement for Overleaf after the successful trial recently completed with the School of Engineering. LaTeX is a high-quality typesetting system; it includes features designed for the production of technical and scientific documentation. LaTeX is the de facto standard for the communication and publication of scientific documents and is used currently by the University as a stand alone tool for users. ShareLaTeX and Overleaf are online LaTeX editors that allow real-time collaboration and online compiling of projects to PDF format. A one year pilot of OverLeaf was started in January 2018. The aim of the pilot was demonstrate that there was enough demand for the product in other schools across the University and to satisfy that the additional functionality offered through a site wide licence was a worthwhile investment. That criteria was fully met and was evidenced in within the business case. The business case itself will also serve as a model to be used for future software acquisitions. A number of funding options were considered and the Colleges IT leads have agreed to jointly fund, in equal proportions, the purchase over the next three years. Publication date 15 Mar, 2019
