LaTeX Article Template

A modern, professional LaTeX template for scientific articles with a clean two-column layout optimized for journal submissions.

Features

• Modern Typography: Uses Charter font family for a contemporary, professional look
• Two-Column Layout: Journal-style formatting with optimized spacing
• US Letter Format: Designed to match IEEE, Elsevier, Springer, and MDPI layouts
• Modular Structure: Separate files for each section (introduction, methods, results, etc.)
• Bibliography Management: Pre-configured with natbib (numeric citations)
• VimTeX Compatible: Optimized for VimTeX workflows with latexmk
• Length Prediction: Margins and fonts calibrated to closely match final journal output

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• LaTeX distribution (TeX Live, MiKTeX, or MacTeX)
• latexmk for automated compilation
• XCharter font package (usually included in full TeX distributions)

Building the Document

# Primary build command (recommended)
latexmk -pdf main.tex

# Alternative: manual compilation
pdflatex main.tex
bibtex main
pdflatex main.tex
pdflatex main.tex

# Clean auxiliary files
latexmk -c

Project Structure

.
├── main.tex                    # Main document with preamble
├── sections/                   # Modular section files
│   ├── 01_abstract.tex
│   ├── 02_introduction.tex
│   ├── 03_methods.tex
│   ├── 04_results.tex
│   ├── 05_discussion.tex
│   └── 06_conclusion.tex
├── references/
│   └── references.bib          # BibTeX bibliography
└── figures/                    # Images and figures

Customization

Title and Author

Edit lines 48-51 in main.tex:

\title{\vspace{-0.5cm}\bfseries Your Title Here}
\author[1]{Your Name}
\affil[1]{Your Institution}
\date{\vspace{-0.5cm}\today}

Spacing Options

% For draft review with line numbers
\linenumbers              % Uncomment line 45

% For double-spaced drafts
\doublespacing           % Uncomment line 44

Citation Style

Change from numeric to author-year:

% Line 20: Change citation style
\usepackage{natbib}      % Remove [numbers] option

% Line 71: Change bibliography style
\bibliographystyle{plainnat}

Document Settings

Page Layout

• Paper: US Letter (8.5" × 11")
• Margins: Top 0.75in, Bottom 1in, Left/Right 0.625in
• Column separation: 0.17in
• Font: 10pt Charter (XCharter package)
• Line spacing: 1.05 stretch

Key Packages

• XCharter: Modern Charter font family
• natbib: Bibliography management (numeric style)
• hyperref: Clickable links and cross-references
• graphicx, caption: Figure management
• amsmath, amssymb: Mathematical notation
• siunitx: SI unit formatting
• booktabs: Professional tables
• authblk: Author affiliations
• titlesec: Section spacing customization

Adding Content

Sections

Edit section files directly in sections/. They are automatically included in main.tex.

Figures

Place images in figures/ and reference them:

\begin{figure}[ht]
    \centering
    \includegraphics[width=0.8\linewidth]{figures/yourimage.png}
    \caption{Your caption here}
    \label{fig:yourlabel}
\end{figure}

For full-width figures spanning both columns, use figure* environment.

Citations

Add references to references/references.bib in BibTeX format, then cite:

\cite{key}           % Numeric citation [1]
\citet{key}          % Textual citation: Author [1]
\citep{key}          % Parenthetical: (Author, year)

Journal Compatibility

This template provides accurate length prediction (±10%) for:

• IEEE Transactions
• Elsevier journals
• Springer journals
• MDPI journals

When ready to submit, simply copy your content into the journal's official template.

License

This template is provided as-is for academic and research use.

Author

Daniel Solano - www.daster.org