Even if LaTeX is the most used document generator for academic papers there are some users who are not satisfied with the program. The next better alternative after pdflatex is the Libreoffice Writer software. It is working completely different from latex and it is used only occasional for academic writing, but never the less it makes sense to give a short tutorial how to do so.
First thing to mention is, that former latex users will miss many useful tools. Libreoffice has no bibtex like reference manager. What can be created instead is a single column table at the end of the document which stores the items in the format [AuthorYear] text. Such a table can be sorted alphabetically. If the user likes to cite on of the papers he types into the normal text the [AuthorYear] string without a dedicated link.
Second important thing to mention is the placement of figures. Libreoffice supports the many graphics formats like SVG, JPG and PNG which can be inserted as a link. Similar to latex, this will reduce the filesize. But if the image was only linked it is not possible to send the file to someone else. So the better idea is to embedded the picture. In the default setting the libreoffice software will placa an image at the here position. But a simple click into the context menu allows to position the image on top of the page. After inserting or deleting the text, the pictures' position get adjusted to the next top position, similar to what latex knows as a float figure.
The mechanism isn't working as accurate as in latex because in many cases, the user has to manuall adjust some settings but with a bit effort it works.
Another important aspect are fonts int he libreoffice Writer program. The best idea is to use the default one which is liberation serif and not embedded additional fonts like Latin modern roman. The reason is, that technically it is possible to embedded fonts but it will increase the file size drastically.
It is pretty easy to recognize which software was used to create a document. Libreoffice has a complety different hyphenation algorithm, doesn't have microtypographic enhancement and it lacks in vertical adjustment of the glue. So the average latex user can identify easily which sort of program was used. Never theless both programs (libreoffice and LaTeX) can be used to create well formulated academic papers. The resulting pdf file will contain all the graphics, and the text can be read on the screen. Main advantage of the .odf file format is, that it can be used to track changes of different users and very important it is not LaTeX which has become a mainstream ecosystem.
