Get started with Quarto - Markdown with executable code

Length: Half day

Prerequisite Knowledge:

• Suitable to novice to advanced R users, no experience with RStudio required
• Familiarity with text markdown recommended

Tutorial Website: https://annesbe.github.io/quartaki_ieee/

Presenters:

• Athanasia Monika Mowinckel, University of Oslo
• Anne Schad Bergsaker, University of Oslo

The demand for scientific staff to prepare reports for governmental, public, and scientific dissemination has been increasing. However, the process of creating reports is often time-consuming and burdensome due to the need to switch between different programs for writing, analysis, creating tables and figures, and other graphical and textual tasks. To address this challenge, there is a growing importance in learning efficient tools that combine programming and report generation, streamlining the workflow and reducing manual effort. Quarto, a second-generation reporting framework developed by Posit, is built upon the widely used markdown plain text format. It seamlessly combines markdown-based prose with the ability to run code for formatting, analysis, and data visualisation within the same environment, providing researchers with an integrated platform to produce reports. Quarto is designed to be multilingual, meaning it can be utilised with any programming language, eliminating the need to have a specific language installed (other than Quarto) for rendering the final report. This versatility makes Quarto an excellent tool to learn, regardless of one’s preferred programming language. In this tutorial, the primary focus will be on learning how to render basic HTML and PDF formats, which serve as the foundation for many other formats. Additionally, the tutorial will cover the incorporation of cross-references and citations, crucial elements in any scientific workflow.