Cross-referencing in Google Docs

Research papers, thesis, or dissertations often require cross-referencing. A cross-reference is a reference to information located somewhere else in the same document. It avoids unnecessary repetition of the information in the document.

Google Docs is a true revelation for users who are used to Microsoft Word. However, if you are trying to use the advanced features of your favorite LaTeX package, you might feel disappointed. Fortunately, there is a way to have great cross-referencing support in Google Docs now - The Docx2LaTeX add-on.

Clicking on the C-REF tab in the add-on will open a page in the add-on sidebar for captioning and cross-referencing figures, tables, and equations.

Cross-referencing Figures

1. Add Figure Caption:

   Select the figure that you want to add a caption to and click on this button. A pop-up asking you to enter a caption for the selected figure will appear. Enter a caption for the selected figure and press OK. The caption to the selected figure will be added successfully and it will be automatically numbered with an appropriate sequence.

   

   Note: To update the figure caption, select the figure and repeat the same procedure as stated above for adding the figure caption. Directly changing caption in Google Docs won’t work when exported to LaTeX.

2. Refer Figure:

   Click this button and a list of captioned figures will appear (if a figure is not captioned, it won’t appear in the list). Place the cursor where you want to add a cross-reference and select the figure from the list. The reference to the selected figure will be added successfully.

   

Whenever the new figure will be added and captioned at any place in the document, all the subsequent figure numbers and their cross-references will be updated accordingly. It helps you avoid all the trouble of numbering figures and updating cross-references manually.

Cross-referencing Tables

1. Add Table Caption:

   Select at least one cell of the table that you want to add a caption to and click on this button. A pop-up asking you to enter a caption for the selected table will appear. Enter a caption for the selected table and press OK. The caption to the selected table will be added successfully and it will be automatically numbered with an appropriate sequence.

   

2. Refer Table:

   Click this button and a list of captioned tables will appear (if a table is not captioned, it won’t appear in the list). Place the cursor where you want to add a cross-reference and select the table from the list. The reference to the selected table will be added successfully.

Whenever the new table will be added and captioned at any place in the document, all the subsequent table numbers, and their cross-references will be updated accordingly. It helps you avoid all the trouble of numbering tables and updating cross-references manually.

Cross-referencing Equations

Read Writing math equations in Google Docs for more on adding the equations

1. Refer Equation:

   Click this button and a list of numbered equations will appear (if an equation is not numbered, it won’t appear in the list). Place the cursor where you want to add a cross-reference and select the equations from the list. The reference to the selected equation will be added successfully.

Whenever the new numbered equation will be added at any place in the document, all the subsequent equation numbers, and their cross-references will be updated accordingly. It helps you avoid all the trouble of numbering equations and updating cross-references manually.

With Docx2LaTeX Google Docs Add-on, captioning and cross-referencing becomes a hassle-free task. Try it now!