alterlab-venue-templates

Venue Templates

Overview

Access comprehensive LaTeX templates, formatting requirements, and submission guidelines for major scientific publication venues, academic conferences, research posters, and grant proposals. This skill provides ready-to-use templates and detailed specifications for successful academic submissions across disciplines.

Use this skill when preparing manuscripts for journal submission, conference papers, research posters, or grant proposals and need venue-specific formatting requirements and templates.

When to Use This Skill

This skill should be used when:

• Preparing a manuscript for submission to a specific journal (Nature, Science, PLOS, IEEE, etc.)
• Writing a conference paper with specific formatting requirements (NeurIPS, ICML, CHI, etc.)
• Creating an academic research poster for conferences
• Drafting grant proposals for federal agencies (NSF, NIH, DOE, DARPA) or private foundations
• Checking formatting requirements and page limits for target venues
• Customizing templates with author information and project details
• Verifying document compliance with venue specifications

Core Capabilities

1. Journal Article Templates

Bundled LaTeX templates cover representative high-impact journals (Nature, NeurIPS-style, PLOS ONE); formatting guidelines in references/ cover many more venues across disciplines:

Nature Portfolio:

• Nature, Nature Methods, Nature Biotechnology, Nature Machine Intelligence
• Nature Communications, Nature Protocols
• Scientific Reports

Science Family:

• Science, Science Advances, Science Translational Medicine
• Science Immunology, Science Robotics

PLOS (Public Library of Science):

• PLOS ONE, PLOS Biology, PLOS Computational Biology
• PLOS Medicine, PLOS Genetics

Cell Press:

• Cell, Neuron, Immunity, Cell Reports
• Molecular Cell, Developmental Cell

IEEE Publications:

• IEEE Transactions (various disciplines)
• IEEE Access, IEEE Journal templates

ACM Publications:

• ACM Transactions, Communications of the ACM
• ACM conference proceedings

Other Major Publishers:

• Springer journals (various disciplines)
• Elsevier journals (custom templates)
• Wiley journals
• BMC journals
• Frontiers journals

2. Conference Paper Templates

Conference-specific templates with proper formatting for major academic conferences:

Machine Learning & AI:

• NeurIPS (Neural Information Processing Systems)
• ICML (International Conference on Machine Learning)
• ICLR (International Conference on Learning Representations)
• CVPR (Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition)
• AAAI (Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence)

Computer Science:

• ACM CHI (Human-Computer Interaction)
• SIGKDD (Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining)
• EMNLP (Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing)
• SIGIR (Information Retrieval)
• USENIX conferences

Biology & Bioinformatics:

• ISMB (Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology)
• RECOMB (Research in Computational Molecular Biology)
• PSB (Pacific Symposium on Biocomputing)

Engineering:

• IEEE conference templates (various disciplines)
• ASME, AIAA conferences

3. Research Poster Templates

Academic poster templates for conference presentations:

Standard Formats:

• A0 (841 × 1189 mm / 33.1 × 46.8 in)
• A1 (594 × 841 mm / 23.4 × 33.1 in)
• 36" × 48" (914 × 1219 mm) - Common US size
• 42" × 56" (1067 × 1422 mm)
• 48" × 36" (landscape orientation)

Template Packages:

• beamerposter: Classic academic poster template
• tikzposter: Modern, colorful poster design
• baposter: Structured multi-column layout

Design Features:

• Optimal font sizes for readability at distance
• Color schemes (colorblind-safe palettes)
• Grid layouts and column structures
• QR code integration for supplementary materials

4. Grant Proposal Templates

Templates and formatting requirements for major funding agencies:

NSF (National Science Foundation):

• Full proposal template (15-page project description)
• Project Summary (1 page: Overview, Intellectual Merit, Broader Impacts)
• Budget and budget justification
• Biographical sketch (3-page limit)
• Facilities, Equipment, and Other Resources
• Data Management Plan

NIH (National Institutes of Health):

• R01 Research Grant (multi-year)
• R21 Exploratory/Developmental Grant
• K Awards (Career Development)
• Specific Aims Page (1 page, most critical component)
• Research Strategy (Significance, Innovation, Approach)
• Biographical sketches (5-page limit)

DOE (Department of Energy):

• Office of Science proposals
• ARPA-E templates
• Technology Readiness Level (TRL) descriptions
• Commercialization and impact sections

DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency):

• BAA (Broad Agency Announcement) responses
• Heilmeier Catechism framework
• Technical approach and milestones
• Transition planning

Private Foundations:

• Gates Foundation
• Wellcome Trust
• Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI)
• Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI)

Workflow: Finding and Using Templates

Step 1: Identify Target Venue

Determine the specific publication venue, conference, or funding agency:

Example queries:
- "I need to submit to Nature"
- "What are the requirements for NeurIPS 2025?"
- "Show me NSF proposal formatting"
- "I'm creating a poster for ISMB"

Step 2: Query Template and Requirements

Access venue-specific templates and formatting guidelines:

For Journals:

# Load journal formatting requirements
Reference: references/journals_formatting.md
Search for: "Nature" or specific journal name

# Retrieve template
Template: assets/journals/nature_article.tex

For Conferences:

# Load conference formatting
Reference: references/conferences_formatting.md
Search for: "NeurIPS" or specific conference

# Retrieve template
Template: assets/journals/neurips_article.tex

For Posters:

# Load poster guidelines
Reference: references/posters_guidelines.md

# Retrieve template
Template: assets/posters/beamerposter_academic.tex

For Grants:

# Load grant requirements
Reference: references/grants_requirements.md
Search for: "NSF" or specific agency

# Retrieve template
Template: assets/grants/nsf_proposal_template.tex

Step 3: Review Formatting Requirements

Check critical specifications before customizing:

Key Requirements to Verify:

• Page limits (varies by venue)
• Font size and family
• Margin specifications
• Line spacing
• Citation style (APA, Vancouver, Nature, etc.)
• Figure/table requirements
• File format (PDF, Word, LaTeX source)
• Anonymization (for double-blind review)
• Supplementary material limits

Step 4: Customize Template

Use helper scripts or manual customization:

Option 1: Helper Script (Recommended):

python scripts/customize_template.py \
  --template assets/journals/nature_article.tex \
  --title "Your Paper Title" \
  --authors "First Author, Second Author" \
  --affiliations "University Name" \
  --output my_nature_paper.tex

Option 2: Manual Editing:

• Open template file
• Replace placeholder text (marked with comments)
• Fill in title, authors, affiliations, abstract
• Add your content to each section

Step 5: Validate Format

Check compliance with venue requirements:

python scripts/validate_format.py \
  --file my_paper.pdf \
  --venue "Nature" \
  --check-all

Validation Checks:

• Page count within limits
• Font sizes correct
• Margins meet specifications
• References formatted correctly
• Figures meet resolution requirements

Step 6: Compile and Review

Compile LaTeX and review output:

# Compile LaTeX
pdflatex my_paper.tex
bibtex my_paper
pdflatex my_paper.tex
pdflatex my_paper.tex

# Or use latexmk for automated compilation
latexmk -pdf my_paper.tex

Review checklist:

• All sections present and properly formatted
• Citations render correctly
• Figures appear with proper captions
• Page count within limits
• Author guidelines followed
• Supplementary materials prepared (if needed)

Integration with Other Skills

This skill works seamlessly with other scientific skills:

Scientific Writing

• Use scientific-writing skill for content guidance (IMRaD structure, clarity, precision)
• Apply venue-specific templates from this skill for formatting
• Combine for complete manuscript preparation

Literature Review

• Use literature-review skill for systematic literature search and synthesis
• Apply appropriate citation style from venue requirements
• Format references according to template specifications

Peer Review

• Use peer-review skill to evaluate manuscript quality
• Use this skill to verify formatting compliance
• Ensure adherence to reporting guidelines (CONSORT, STROBE, etc.)

Research Grants

• Cross-reference with research-grants skill for content strategy
• Use this skill for agency-specific templates and formatting
• Combine for comprehensive grant proposal preparation

LaTeX Posters

• This skill provides venue-agnostic poster templates
• Use for conference-specific poster requirements
• Integrate with visualization skills for figure creation

Template Categories

By Document Type

Category	Bundled Templates	Common Venues
Journal Articles	3 (Nature, NeurIPS, PLOS ONE)	Nature, Science, PLOS, IEEE, ACM, Cell Press
Conference Papers	1 (NeurIPS, in assets/journals/)	NeurIPS, ICML, CVPR, CHI, ISMB
Research Posters	1 (beamerposter)	A0, A1, 36×48, various packages
Grant Proposals	2 (NSF, NIH)	NSF, NIH, DOE, DARPA, foundations

Only 6 ready-to-use LaTeX templates are bundled (counts above). The "Common Venues" column lists venues covered by the formatting guidelines in references/, not bundled templates.

By Discipline

Discipline	Supported Venues
Life Sciences	Nature, Cell Press, PLOS, ISMB, RECOMB
Physical Sciences	Science, Physical Review, ACS, APS
Engineering	IEEE, ASME, AIAA, ACM
Computer Science	ACM, IEEE, NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR
Medicine	NEJM, Lancet, JAMA, BMJ
Interdisciplinary	PNAS, Nature Communications, Science Advances

Helper Scripts

query_template.py

Search and retrieve templates by venue name, type, or keywords:

# Find templates for a specific journal
python scripts/query_template.py --venue "Nature" --type "article"

# Search by keyword
python scripts/query_template.py --keyword "machine learning"

# List all available templates
python scripts/query_template.py --list-all

# Get requirements for a venue
python scripts/query_template.py --venue "NeurIPS" --requirements

customize_template.py

Customize templates with author and project information:

# Basic customization
python scripts/customize_template.py \
  --template assets/journals/nature_article.tex \
  --output my_paper.tex

# With author information
python scripts/customize_template.py \
  --template assets/journals/nature_article.tex \
  --title "Novel Approach to Protein Folding" \
  --authors "Jane Doe, John Smith, Alice Johnson" \
  --affiliations "MIT, Stanford, Harvard" \
  --email "[email protected]" \
  --output my_paper.tex

# Interactive mode
python scripts/customize_template.py --interactive

validate_format.py

Check document compliance with venue requirements:

# Validate a compiled PDF
python scripts/validate_format.py \
  --file my_paper.pdf \
  --venue "Nature" \
  --check-all

# Check specific aspects
python scripts/validate_format.py \
  --file my_paper.pdf \
  --venue "NeurIPS" \
  --check page-count,margins,fonts

# Generate validation report
python scripts/validate_format.py \
  --file my_paper.pdf \
  --venue "Science" \
  --report validation_report.txt

Best Practices

Template Selection

1. Verify currency: Check template date and compare with latest author guidelines
2. Check official sources: Many journals provide official LaTeX classes
3. Test compilation: Compile template before adding content
4. Read comments: Templates include helpful inline comments

Customization

1. Preserve structure: Don't remove required sections or packages
2. Follow placeholders: Replace marked placeholder text systematically
3. Maintain formatting: Don't override venue-specific formatting
4. Keep backups: Save original template before customization

Compliance

1. Check page limits: Verify before final submission
2. Validate citations: Use correct citation style for venue
3. Test figures: Ensure figures meet resolution requirements
4. Review anonymization: Remove identifying information if required

Submission

1. Follow instructions: Read complete author guidelines
2. Include all files: LaTeX source, figures, bibliography
3. Generate properly: Use recommended compilation method
4. Check output: Verify PDF matches expectations

Common Formatting Requirements

Page Limits (Typical)

Venue Type	Typical Limit	Notes
Nature Article	5 pages	~3000 words excluding refs
Science Report	5 pages	Figures count toward limit
PLOS ONE	No limit	Unlimited length
NeurIPS	8 pages	+ unlimited refs/appendix
ICML	8 pages	+ unlimited refs/appendix
NSF Proposal	15 pages	Project description only
NIH R01	12 pages	Research strategy

Citation Styles by Venue

Venue	Citation Style	Format
Nature	Numbered (superscript)	Nature style
Science	Numbered (superscript)	Science style
PLOS	Numbered (brackets)	Vancouver
Cell Press	Author-year	Cell style
ACM	Numbered	ACM style
IEEE	Numbered (brackets)	IEEE style
APA journals	Author-year	APA 7th

Figure Requirements

Venue	Resolution	Format	Color
Nature	300+ dpi	TIFF, EPS, PDF	RGB or CMYK
Science	300+ dpi	TIFF, PDF	RGB
PLOS	300-600 dpi	TIFF, EPS	RGB
IEEE	300+ dpi	EPS, PDF	RGB or Grayscale

Writing Style Guides

Beyond formatting, this skill provides comprehensive writing style guides that capture how papers should read at different venues—not just how they should look.

Why Style Matters

The same research written for Nature will read very differently than when written for NeurIPS:

• Nature/Science: Accessible to non-specialists, story-driven, broad significance
• Cell Press: Mechanistic depth, comprehensive data, graphical abstract required
• Medical journals: Patient-centered, evidence-graded, structured abstracts
• ML conferences: Contribution bullets, ablation studies, reproducibility focus
• CS conferences: Field-specific conventions, varying evaluation standards

Available Style Guides

Guide	Covers	Key Topics
venue_writing_styles.md	Master overview	Style spectrum, quick reference
nature_science_style.md	Nature, Science, PNAS	Accessibility, story-telling, broad impact
cell_press_style.md	Cell, Neuron, Immunity	Graphical abstracts, eTOC, Highlights
medical_journal_styles.md	NEJM, Lancet, JAMA, BMJ	Structured abstracts, evidence language
ml_conference_style.md	NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, CVPR	Contribution bullets, ablations
cs_conference_style.md	ACL, EMNLP, CHI, SIGKDD	Field-specific conventions
reviewer_expectations.md	All venues	What reviewers look for, rebuttal tips

Writing Examples

Concrete examples are available in assets/examples/:

• nature_abstract_examples.md: Flowing paragraph abstracts for high-impact journals
• neurips_introduction_example.md: ML conference intro with contribution bullets
• cell_summary_example.md: Cell Press Summary, Highlights, eTOC format
• medical_structured_abstract.md: NEJM, Lancet, JAMA structured format

Workflow: Adapting to a Venue

1. Identify target venue and load the appropriate style guide
2. Review writing conventions: Tone, voice, abstract format, structure
3. Check examples for section-specific guidance
4. Review expectations: What do reviewers at this venue prioritize?
5. Apply formatting: Use LaTeX template from assets/

---

Resources

Bundled Resources

Writing Style Guides (in references/):

• venue_writing_styles.md: Master style overview and comparison
• nature_science_style.md: Nature/Science writing conventions
• cell_press_style.md: Cell Press journal style
• medical_journal_styles.md: Medical journal writing guide
• ml_conference_style.md: ML conference writing conventions
• cs_conference_style.md: CS conference writing guide
• reviewer_expectations.md: What reviewers look for by venue

Formatting Requirements (in references/):

• journals_formatting.md: Comprehensive journal formatting requirements
• conferences_formatting.md: Conference paper specifications
• posters_guidelines.md: Research poster design and sizing
• grants_requirements.md: Grant proposal requirements by agency

Writing Examples (in assets/examples/):

• nature_abstract_examples.md: High-impact journal abstract examples
• neurips_introduction_example.md: ML conference introduction format
• cell_summary_example.md: Cell Press Summary/Highlights/eTOC
• medical_structured_abstract.md: NEJM/Lancet/JAMA abstract format

Templates (in assets/):

• journals/: Journal article LaTeX templates
• posters/: Research poster templates
• grants/: Grant proposal templates

Scripts (in scripts/):

• query_template.py: Search and retrieve templates
• customize_template.py: Customize with author info
• validate_format.py: Check compliance with requirements

External Resources

Journal Author Guidelines:

• Nature: https://www.nature.com/nature/for-authors
• Science: https://www.science.org/content/page/instructions-authors
• PLOS: https://plos.org/resources/
• Cell Press: https://www.cell.com/author-guidelines

Conference Formatting:

• NeurIPS: https://neurips.cc/Conferences/2024/CallForPapers
• ICML: https://icml.cc/Conferences/2024/StyleAuthorInstructions
• CVPR: https://cvpr.thecvf.com/Conferences/2024/AuthorGuidelines

Grant Resources:

• NSF PAPPG: https://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=pappg
• NIH Forms: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/how-to-apply-application-guide.html
• DOE Funding: https://science.osti.gov/grants

Example Usage

Example 1: Nature Article Submission

User: "I need to prepare a manuscript for Nature"

Response:
1. Load Nature formatting requirements (references/journals_formatting.md)
2. Retrieve Nature template (assets/journals/nature_article.tex)
3. Key requirements:
   - Length: ~3000 words, ~5 pages
   - Format: Single column, 12pt font
   - Citations: Numbered superscript (Nature style)
   - Figures: 300+ dpi, RGB color
4. Customize template with your title, authors, affiliations
5. Compile and validate against requirements

Example 2: NeurIPS Conference Paper

User: "What are the formatting requirements for NeurIPS?"

Response:
From references/conferences_formatting.md:
- Page limit: 8 pages main text + unlimited references/appendix
- Format: Two-column, 10pt font
- Template: neurips_2024.sty (official style file)
- Anonymization: Required for initial submission
- Citations: Numbered (brackets)
- Figures: High resolution, colorblind-safe recommended

Example 3: NSF Proposal

User: "Help me format an NSF proposal"

Response:
NSF requirements (from references/grants_requirements.md):
- Project Description: 15 pages maximum
- Project Summary: 1 page (Overview, Intellectual Merit, Broader Impacts)
- Budget Justification: 3-5 pages
- Biographical Sketch: 3 pages per senior personnel
- Font: Minimum 10pt, Times Roman or similar
- Margins: 1 inch all sides
Template: assets/grants/nsf_proposal_template.tex

Example 4: Conference Poster

User: "I need to create a poster for ISMB"

Response:
ISMB poster specifications:
- Size: Typically A0 portrait (33.1 × 46.8 inches)
- Recommended template: beamerposter or tikzposter
- Font sizes: Title 60-85pt, Headers 36-48pt, Body 24-32pt
- Include: QR code for paper/supplementary materials
Available templates:
- assets/posters/beamerposter_academic.tex

Updates and Maintenance

Template Currency:

• Templates updated annually or when venues release new guidelines
• Last updated: 2024
• Check official venue sites for most current requirements

Reporting Issues:

• Template compilation errors
• Outdated formatting requirements
• Missing venue templates
• Incorrect specifications

Summary

The venue-templates skill provides comprehensive access to:

1. 6 ready-to-use LaTeX templates (3 journal, 1 poster, 2 grant) plus formatting and writing-style guidelines for many additional venues
2. Detailed formatting requirements for journals, conferences, posters, grants
3. Helper scripts for template discovery, customization, and validation
4. Integration with other scientific writing skills
5. Best practices for successful academic submissions

Use this skill whenever you need venue-specific formatting guidance or templates for academic publishing.