Scientific WorkPlace
| Scientific WorkPlace | |
|---|---|
 SWP running on Windows 11 | |
| Developer(s) | MacKichan Software |
| Operating system | Windows and macOS |
| Available in | English |
| Type | Document processor |
| Website | Official website |
Scientific WorkPlace (often abbreviated to SWP) is a software package for scientific word processing on Microsoft Windows and macOS.
Although advertised as a WYSIWYG LaTeX-based word processor, it is actually a graphical user interface for editing LaTeX source files with the same ease-of-use of a word processor, while maintaining a screen view that resembles but is not identical to the eventual output that LaTeX produces.[1] For instance, its display shows text wrapped to the width of the screen rather than to the eventual page width, and colored equations rather than the black-and-white rendering that LaTeX would normally produce.[2] It also includes an integrated computer algebra system.[1]
Because Scientific WorkPlace is based on LaTeX, it can be used to produce files in the house style of any scientific journal that also uses LaTeX,[1] and the software makes it easy to change the overall style of a document in a single operation.[2] It comes with many predefined styles, but installing a new style can be somewhat complicated.[1]
The developer of Scientific WorkPlace, MacKichan Software, Inc., announced on June 30, 2021 that it had ceased business and would no longer sell licenses to its software.[3] Existing licenses would remain valid, but new installs would need to be verified by its licensing server, which it expected to maintain for at least two years. It also announced that Scientific WorkPlace could not be made open source as the software relied on the computer algebra system MuPAD, a closed-source product. Scientific Word 6.1 (the version without MuPAD) was made freely available for Windows and its source code will be posted to GitHub.[3]
In September 2025, Barry MacKichan announced that versions 4.1 to 6.1 of Scientific Word were now available for free.[4]
See also
- Comparison of TeX editors
- LyX — An open-source cross-platform alternative with similar functionality
- wxMaxima — An open-source cross-platform CAS that can be used with LyX
- TeXmacs — An open-source cross-platform scientific word processor and typesetting system
References
- ^ a b c d Karlsson, Andreas (October 2006). "Scientific Workplace 5.5 and LyX 1.4.2". Journal of Statistical Software. Software Reviews. 17 (1): 1–11.
- ^ a b Shone, Ronald (November 1995). "Scientific Word and Scientific Workplace". The Economic Journal. 105 (433): 1688–1693. doi:10.2307/2235147. JSTOR 2235147..
- ^ a b "MacKichan Software – The Home of Scientific WorkPlace, Scientific Word, and Scientific Notebook". www.mackichan.com. Retrieved 2021-11-05.
- ^ barry_mackichan (5 September 2025). "Scientific Word is now free". Reddit. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
All recent versions of Scientific Word, from 4.1 through 6.1, are now available for free! Scientific Word is a popular front end to LaTeX with support for scientific publishing. All the printed manuals are available as PDF files. The code is identical to the late commercial version, but the licensing server has been modified so that any recent version of Scientific Word can be activated without an activation or serial number, and so without any cost. Details and download links are at [linked: www.mackichan.com] -- Barry MacKichan
