Introduction to Quarto Markdown

Leykun (MSc)¹, Tesfamichael (MSc)² & Yebelay (MSc)³

¹NDMC, EPHI; ²SPH, AAU; ³DMU & C4ED


October 14 - 17, 2025

What is Quarto?

• Next-generation scientific publishing system
• Successor to R Markdown with enhanced features
• Creates dynamic reports, presentations, websites, and books
• Supports multiple languages (R, Python, Julia, Observable)
• Publisher-neutral format with consistent output

Installation

1. Ensure you have R and RStudio installed .
2. Install Quarto:
   • Install Quarto from Quarto’s website.

Creating a Quarto Document

• Create a new file in RStudio: File -> New File -> Quarto Document.
• Use the following YAML header:

---
title: "Document Title"
author: "Your Name"
format: html
---

Writing Content

• Use Markdown syntax for formatting text:
  • Bold: **text**
  • Italic: *text*
  • Lists:
    • - Item 1
    • - Item 2

Code

• Embed R code chunks:

library(tidyverse)
library(ggplot2)
library(labelled)
library(forcats)
library(haven)

# Read data or import data
an_data <- read_dta("data/ESPA_2021/ETAN81FLSP.DTA")
sc_data <- read_dta("data/ESPA_2021/ETSC81FLSP.DTA")
fc_data <- read_dta("data/ESPA_2021/ETFC81FLSP.DTA")

fc_data_fct <- to_factor(fc_data)
ggplot(fc_data_fct, aes(x = fct_rev(fct_infreq(factype)))) +
  geom_bar(fill = "#2E86AB", width = 0.5) +
  coord_flip()+
  geom_text(stat = 'count', aes(label = after_stat(count)),
            hjust = -0.1, size = 4) +
    labs(title = "Healthcare Facility Type Distribution",
       subtitle = "ESPA 2021 Facility Data",
       x = "Facility Type",
       y = "Count") +
  theme_classic() +
  theme(axis.line.x = element_blank() ) 

Code

Common Chunk Options:

• #| echo: true (Show the code in the output)
• #| echo: false (Hide the code, show only the output)
• #| eval: false (Show the code, but don’t run it)
• #| label: fig-plot (A unique label for the chunk)
• #| fig-cap: "A caption for the figure." (Adds a figure caption)

Rendering and Sharing

• Render your document: Click the Render button in RStudio.
• Share as HTML, PDF, or Word document.
• Use quarto render yourfile.qmd in the terminal for command line rendering.