This is a list of common TeX/LaTeX errors that I see when reviewing manuscripts. Also some shortcuts are given to make math equations more readable (and easier to edit).

Note the \def (or \newcommand) should appear at the beginning of your tex file (before \begin{document} in LaTeX).

• If you look carefully at math writing, variables are printed in the italics or slanted font. However something like the exp or log function is not a variable, so it is in standard font, even within math mode. That is, \exp, \log, \sin etc are used for math and trigonometric functions. For statistics, \Pr is a definition for probability of an event, but \E for expectation and \Var for variance, etc, are not defined.

  However, you can define these yourself with something like

       \def\Var{\mathop{\rm Var}} 
  

  or

       \def\Var{{\rm Var}\,}
       \def\E{{\rm E}\,}
  
  

  The first version does not work well for E.

• Math expressions with subscripts and superscripts should also be put in math mode, e.g., $a$, $x=1$, $-1$. In non-math mode, - is a hyphen (shorter than minus sign, -- is an en dash (e.g. for pp. 34--43), and --- is an em dash — for use in a middle of a sentence.
• Unless you are in displayed math mode, fractions should usually be expressed with a solidus, for example $x_i/n$ and not $\frac{x_i}{n}$ or ${x_i\over n}$.
• Use a definition for any math symbol with a 'hat', 'bar', 'tilde' etc. This will make equations easier to read in TeX. Same thing for symbols for equal in distribution, convergence in probability, etc. Examples are:
  

      \def\phat{{\hat p}} 
      \def\Fbar{{\overline F}}
      \def\atil{{\tildealpha}}
      \def\inprob{\rightarrow_p}
      \def\eqd{\,{\buildrel d \over =}\,} 
      \def\law{\rightarrow_d}
  

• boldface Greek in scriptsize: LaTeX may not automatically resize a symbol when it is a subscript of superscript. Hence def are needed for scriptsize characters, e.g.
  

    \def\thbf{\mbox{\boldmath $\theta$}
    \def\thbfs{\mbox{\scriptsize \boldmath $\theta$}}
    $$f(\thbf) =2^{\thbfs}$$
  

  Alternatively, use the ams packages amsmath and amssymb

    \def\dbfams{\boldsymbol{\delta}}
    \def\mubfams{\boldsymbol{\mu}}
  

• labelling of equations, and theorems, lemmas, corollary: 
  To get the section number to appear in an equation, add (to the beginning):

      \renewcommand{\theequation}{\thesection\.\arabic{\equation}}
  

  and add

      \setcounter{\equation}{0}
  

  at the beginning of each section.

  To get Theorems, Lemmas, Corollaries to be on the same numbering scheme, by section, add:

      \newtheorem{\theorem}{Theorem}[section]
      \newtheorem{\lemma}[theorem]{Lemma}
      \newtheorem{\corollary}[theorem]{Corollary}
  

• larger brackets[], braces{}, parentheses(): these should be used around summations, fractions etc. It is simplest to use \left[, \right] etc, but left and right only work if your equation is not split into more than one line. In the latter case, use one of \bigl, \Bigl, \bbigl, \Biggl (and corresponding \bigr on the right).

  Sometimes one needs a larger '/' or '|'. For '/', use \bigm, \Bigm etc. For '|', use \bigl, \bigm, \bigr etc depending on whether it is left, middle or right.

There is a class file for LaTeX2e that helps you produce a properly formatted UBC thesis. It's not officially supported by UBC but has been endorsed by FoGS as mentioned on their webpage. The download link can be found in the LaTeX section there.

Just in case the FoGS website is down here is a direct download link provided by Michael McNeil Forbes, the author of the class file and a former UBC graduate student.
 

If you have a properly formatted file (i.e. it's text or a Postscript file that has been formatted for Letter (8.5"x11") size paper) but the output has been shifted right and/or down, it's likely that the printer is mistaken about the size of the paper in the print hopper.

The print hoppers has a slider that signals the printer on the type of paper loaded within (such as Letter, Legal, etc). It does this by moving fingers or knobs located on the side of the hopper that press against contacts within the printer. Sometimes either the fingers or the contacts are stuck and the printer is misinformed about the size of the paper. When a Letter size printout is being printed, the printer tries it best to print on the wrong size paper, thus the off-centered output.

The fix is two unstick the fingers or contacts so that the printer has the correct paper sizing information. If you don't know how to do this, contact the IT staff.