GerbilDocs 1.4.0

GerbilDocs is a free desktop app for writing scientific papers, reports and grant applications. You define samples, figures, tables, equations and references once. The text refers to them by reference, so every number, code and citation stays right as the document changes.

New since 1.2

Stack plots. A plot is now built from datasets, and one dataset can hold several columns, such as a spectrum with its envelope and fitted components. Datasets can be overlaid or stacked, with the offset set as a percentage. Normalising is per dataset, so fitted components stay in proportion to the data. Any dataset can be scaled, with the factor shown on the plot as "×5".

Plot extras. Plots can also have:

• dataset labels on the traces, linked to your samples;
• error bars;
• combined bar and line charts, with a second y axis;
• shapes and annotations drawn with the mouse;
• one style per column across every dataset;
• eight palettes and a full colour picker.

Grant applications, the way funders ask for them. A grant is now the parts the funder asks for. Each part has its own word or page limit, headings and guidance, and a status table shows how close each part is to its limit. Ready-made formats cover the EPSRC standard research grant and the EPSRC New Investigator Award on the UKRI Funding Service, or you can build your own.

The title, authors and abstract stay out of the parts, because the funder's form asks for them separately. References are either one list in their own part or one list per part, and a compact reference style keeps them inside tight word limits. Text-box parts copy out as plain text, ready to paste into the form.

Style files. A layout, or a grant's whole structure, can be saved as a .gerbilstyle file. A colleague can import it into their library in one step.

Journal styles, exactly. Import a journal's own CSL style (from zotero.org/styles) or a BibTeX .bst file. Citations, the order of the reference list and its numbering then follow that style, in the page, in Word and in word counts.

Plots straight from your samples. Plot against a sample property — Fe at.%, say — or by sample code, with values that stay live: rename a sample or change a property and the plot follows. Sample properties can carry an uncertainty (± SD), which tables print and plots draw as error bars.

References in captions. Every caption takes @ references and has a Reference… button, the same as paragraphs.

Figures print complete. A plot placed in a figure now carries its axis titles, legend and labels, drawn at the width it will print at, so the plot type size you set is the size on the page.

Gantt charts now label months at a readable spacing, even for five-year projects.

Files

• GerbilDocs-1.4.0-win32.zip: the portable Windows application. Unzip it anywhere and run GerbilDocs.exe. It starts empty. Your documents are kept in Documents\GerbilDocs and your library in your user profile, never in the application folder.
• GerbilDocs-1.4.0-standalone.html: a single-file browser version with nothing to install. It opens on an invented example document.
• gerbildocs-1.4.0-src.zip: the source code, MIT licensed.

Known limitations

• Funders change their limits, so check the call document before relying on a preset.
• Page counts come from the app's own pagination, and Word may break pages slightly differently.
• The Windows build isn't code-signed, so SmartScreen warns on the first run. Choose "More info", then "Run anyway".
• Only Windows is built and tested.