Venue Templates

Prepare publication and funding documents without treating stale formatting details as authoritative. This skill combines:

• a verification-first workflow for current venue rules;
• bundled LaTeX scaffolds for a small, explicit set of document types;
• writing-style and reviewer-expectation guides; and
• local helpers for discovering, copying, and inspecting templates.

Mandatory Currency Rule

Venue requirements are time-sensitive. Before giving exact page limits, deadlines, style-file names, anonymity rules, or required sections:

1. Identify the exact venue, year or funding cycle, track, and article or proposal type.
2. Open the official author instructions, call, solicitation, notice of funding opportunity (NOFO), or policy guide.
3. Record the source URL and the date checked.
4. Distinguish initial submission, revision/rebuttal, and camera-ready rules.
5. Treat bundled files as scaffolds unless this skill explicitly says they are a copy of an official template.

Never infer a current style-file name by changing the year in an old filename. Never present a generic scaffold as an official venue template.

When to Use

Use this skill for:

• locating official journal or conference author instructions;
• checking page limits, required sections, anonymity, supplemental-material rules, or citation style;
• choosing and adapting a bundled LaTeX scaffold;
• preparing NSF, NIH, DOE, DARPA, or foundation proposal documents;
• designing a research poster after checking event-specific dimensions;
• adapting prose to a venue's audience and reviewer expectations; or
• inspecting a PDF's page count and embedded fonts.

Verification-First Workflow

1. Resolve the exact target

Ask for or derive:

• venue or funding agency;
• year/cycle and track;
• document type, such as research article, short paper, main track, R01, or R21;
• submission stage; and
• authoring format, such as LaTeX or Word.

Do not combine rules from similarly named venues or tracks.

2. Consult the right reference

Reference files summarize rules but do not override the current official source.

3. Capture a compliance note

Before editing, write a short note in the working document or task log:

Target: ICML 2026 main track, initial submission
Official source: https://icml.cc/Conferences/2026/AuthorInstructions
Checked: 2026-10-01
Main-text limit: 8 pages
References/appendices: additional pages allowed in the same PDF
Anonymity: required
Official template: ICML 2026 style package linked by the author instructions

This makes later validation reproducible.

4. Start from the official template

For annual conferences and publisher-managed workflows:

1. Download the template from the official source.
2. Keep its class/style files unchanged.
3. Add content without overriding margins, font sizes, spacing, or headers.
4. Use a bundled scaffold only for drafting or when the official source explicitly permits it.

For grants, many components are entered or uploaded separately. Do not submit a combined bundled .tex file as if it were an agency-issued form.

5. Validate manually and mechanically

Verify at least:

• main-text and total-file page rules;
• font, margin, line-spacing, and paper-size rules;
• anonymity and metadata;
• required sections, statements, checklists, and disclosures;
• figure/table placement and accessibility;
• reference and supplemental-material treatment; and
• source-package and PDF requirements.

The helper counts PDF pages and reads Poppler font-embedding flags. It reports nonembedded fonts as failures, but cannot prove margin, font-size, excluded-section, or anonymity compliance. A zero exit status means no automated failure was found; manual and skipped inspections still require attention.

Bundled Assets

The repository intentionally bundles only the following templates. Other venues listed in references require an official external template.

Journal and conference scaffolds

The matching Elsevier .bst files are in assets/journals/.

Grant scaffolds

Use SciENcv and agency-provided common forms where required. Do not recreate biosketch or current-support forms in LaTeX. NSF DMSPs now use the Research.gov tool under Supplement 2; the bundled narrative is only a planning aid.

Poster scaffold

Common Workflows

Annual conference paper

1. Open references/conferences_formatting.md.
2. Follow the official link for the exact year and track.
3. Download the official author kit.
4. Draft in the official template.
5. Keep identifying information out of every submitted file when review is blind. Inspect supplementary archives and linked code/data in addition to the PDF: author names, notebook outputs, local paths, repository ownership, and revision history can disclose identity. Follow the venue's exact link and freeze rules; for example, ICML 2026 requires an anonymous code-repository branch that is not modified after the submission deadline.
6. Check the paper checklist, supplement, rebuttal, and camera-ready rules separately.

For NeurIPS 2026, the bundled wrapper can be copied after downloading the official style file:

python scripts/customize_template.py \
  --template neurips_article.tex \
  --output my_neurips_2026_paper.tex

Journal manuscript

1. Resolve the exact journal and article type.
2. Determine whether initial submission is format-flexible.
3. Use the journal's official template or submission format when required.
4. Apply the appropriate writing-style reference.
5. Recheck final-production instructions only after acceptance or revision.

Do not apply a publisher-wide template when the journal provides its own Guide for Authors.

Grant proposal

1. Read the solicitation or NOFO before general agency guidance.
2. Confirm the effective policy guide and form set.
3. Map every required component to its page limit and upload field.
4. Use agency systems and common forms for biosketches and support disclosures.
5. Use bundled .tex files only as drafting aids.
6. Have the institution's sponsored-research office review the final package.

Research poster

1. Read the event's presenter instructions.
2. Confirm physical dimensions, orientation, file format, and upload deadline.
3. Set the poster dimensions in the scaffold.
4. Use readable type, high contrast, color-independent encodings, and a logical reading order.
5. Export and inspect the PDF at final size.

Helper Scripts

Run scripts from the skill directory. Python helpers use only the standard library. Network access is needed to obtain current official instructions and author kits; the helpers themselves make no network requests. See references/current_sources.md for the 2026-10-01 source audit and executed compilation coverage.

List bundled templates

python scripts/query_template.py --list-all
python scripts/query_template.py --venue NeurIPS --requirements
python scripts/query_template.py --type grants

The query helper reports only assets that exist in this skill and includes source/currency notes.

Copy and customize a scaffold

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

Values are literal LaTeX source: escape text such as & as \& yourself. The helper replaces recognized placeholders only; it does not restructure PLOS per-author affiliation mappings or fill the empty fields in official Elsevier samples. Review every replacement and compile before adding substantial content.

Inspect a PDF

Use a dated initial-submission preset (grant presets apply only to the named narrative attachment). Later-stage allowances require an explicit limit and source:

python scripts/validate_format.py \
  --file paper.pdf \
  --venue icml-2026 \
  --content-pages 8 \
  --check page-count,fonts

Or provide an explicit limit and source:

python scripts/validate_format.py \
  --file proposal.pdf \
  --max-pages 15 \
  --content-pages 15 \
  --source-url "https://www.nsf.gov/policies/pappg" \
  --check page-count,fonts \
  --report validation.txt

--content-pages must be counted according to the official rule. The script does not infer where references or appendices begin. Do not combine --venue and --max-pages; use an explicit limit for a different year, track, stage, or solicitation.

Final Compliance Checklist

• [ ] Exact venue, year/cycle, track, article type, and stage identified
• [ ] Official source URL recorded with date checked
• [ ] Official template or form used where required
• [ ] Page-limit scope understood, including excluded sections
• [ ] Required statements, checklists, and disclosures present
• [ ] Blind-review files and PDF metadata checked for identity leaks
• [ ] Figures and tables are legible and accessible
• [ ] References, appendices, and supplements follow current rules
• [ ] PDF and source package compile cleanly
• [ ] Submission portal preview reviewed before final submission

Maintenance

This skill was reviewed on 2026-10-01. Annual conference snapshots are labeled with their year and are not automatically the next open submission cycle. The source ledger records inaccessible current rules instead of retaining unverified numerical limits. When updating:

1. replace year-specific claims only after checking official sources;
2. avoid adding links to assets that are not bundled;
3. keep generic guidance separate from official requirements;
4. update helper presets and examples together; and
5. increment metadata.version.