docrev

Write papers in plain text. Generate Word when needed.

Why

Word documents corrupt. Versions multiply. Track changes become unreadable. Equations break. Figures embed at wrong resolutions.

docrev solves this: write in Markdown, generate Word/PDF for collaborators. They use Word normally. You get version control, clean diffs, and automated formatting.

Markdown files  -->  docrev  -->  Word/PDF
      ^                              |
      |                              v
      +---- docrev <---- reviewer feedback

Install

npm install -g docrev
brew install pandoc

Start a Project

From scratch:

rev new my-paper
cd my-paper

From existing Word document:

rev import manuscript.docx

Project structure:

my-paper/
├── introduction.md
├── methods.md
├── results.md
├── discussion.md
├── references.bib
└── rev.yaml

Markdown Basics

# Heading

Paragraph text. **Bold** and *italic*.

- Bullet point
- Another point

1. Numbered item
2. Second item

Citations

references.bib:

@article{Smith2020,
  author = {Smith, Jane},
  title = {Paper Title},
  journal = {Nature},
  year = {2020}
}

In text:

Previous studies [@Smith2020] demonstrated this.

Output: "Previous studies (Smith 2020) demonstrated this."

Equations

Inline: $E = mc^2$

Display:

$$
\hat{p} = \frac{\sum_d w_d p_d}{\sum_d w_d}
$$

Figures

![Study site locations](figures/map.png){#fig:map}

Results shown in @fig:map indicate regional variation.

Output: "Results shown in Figure 1 indicate regional variation."

Figure numbers update automatically when reordered.

Build

rev build docx          # Word document
rev build pdf           # PDF
rev build --dual        # Clean + comments versions
rev watch docx          # Auto-rebuild on save

Handle Reviewer Feedback

Import reviewed document:

rev sections reviewed.docx

View comments:

rev comments methods.md

Reply to comment:

rev config user "Your Name"
rev reply methods.md -n 1 -m "Clarified sampling methodology"

Rebuild with threaded comments:

rev build --dual

Output:

• paper.docx (clean)
• paper_comments.docx (with comment threads)

Commands

Full reference: docs/commands.md

Requirements

• Node.js 18+
• Pandoc

# macOS
brew install pandoc

# Windows
winget install JohnMacFarlane.Pandoc

# Linux
sudo apt install pandoc

License

MIT