LaTeX Template Repository

This repository provides a modern LaTeX template for academic paper writing with an automated build system and comprehensive writing guidelines.

Quick Start

# Build the main PDF (this is the only command needed unless you are fiddling with figures)
make pdf

# Convert SVG figures to PDF (when needed)
make pdf-figures

# Continuous compilation (watches for changes)
make cont

# Generate diff against previous version
make diff

# Clean auxiliary files
make clean

Writing Guidelines

This repository follows comprehensive writing guidelines documented in misc/writing_with_erick.md. Key principles include:

• One sentence per line in TeX files for easy reorganization and clean diffs
• Write complete introduction first to ensure proper motivation
• Use understatement over overstatement - substantial advances speak for themselves
• Make direct statements with parenthetical figure references
• Follow hierarchical revision: section → paragraph → sentence → word level

Responses to reviewers

When writing a response to reviewers, continue to edit the main.tex. We will have a separate response file: either Markdown or TeX.

See Bill Noble's Ten simple rules for writing a response to reviewers for excellent advice.

File Organization

• main.tex - Main document (always the most up-to-date file)
• main.bib - Bibliography
• prep-figures/ - Source SVG figures
• figures/ - Generated PDF figures (commit these)
• versions/v1.tex - Previous version for diff generation

Build System

The repository uses latexmk with a Makefile wrapper for common tasks:

• make pdf - Build main PDF document
• make pdf-figures - Convert SVG figures to PDF using Inkscape
• make cont - Continuous compilation mode (watches for file changes)
• make diff - Generate comparison PDF against versions/v1.tex
• make clean - Remove auxiliary files (keep PDFs)
• make cleanall - Remove all generated files including PDFs

GitHub Actions

The repository automatically builds PDFs on every push and pull request. You can:

1. View compiled PDFs: Go to the Actions tab in GitHub
2. Download artifacts: Click on any workflow run and download the paper-pdf artifact
3. No local LaTeX needed: Collaborators can review PDFs without installing LaTeX

PDFs are timestamped with format {repo-name}_{YYYY-MM-DD@HH-MM}.pdf in Pacific timezone (e.g., [email protected]).

The CI uses a pre-built Docker container for fast, reliable builds.

Development Workflow

1. Edit main.tex and other source files
2. Run make pdf-figures if you've added/modified SVG figures
3. Run make pdf to build locally
4. Commit changes (including any new PDF figures)
5. Push to GitHub - PDF will be automatically built and available in Actions tab

Requirements

Local development:

• LaTeX distribution (TeX Live, MikTeX, etc.)
• latexmk command
• latexdiff for document comparison
• inkscape (only if you are mucking with SVG figures)

File Management

• All compiled files are ignored via .gitignore
• Commit PDF figures to the repository
• Use %EM or similar initials to mark reviewer comments in TeX files