One template to rule them all…
PaperShell is a LaTeX workflow for writing research papers that must be submitted to different publishers (IEEE, ACM, Springer, Elsevier, AAAI, LIPIcs, etc.) while keeping a single source document independent of the journal or conference template.
It allows you to switch between LaTeX document classes (IEEEtran, acmart, llncs, elsarticle, lipics, …) without rewriting the paper, and to export clean sources suitable for journal or conference submission.
PaperShell works locally and in Overleaf, uses LuaLaTeX to generate the correct preamble automatically, and produces final sources that compile with pdfLaTeX, so editors do not need any special tools.
The project provides:
- Up-to-date class and bibliography files for many publishers
- A Lua-based template system that generates the proper preamble automatically
- Direct compatibility with Overleaf
- A build process based on
latexmk - Scripts to export editor-ready sources
- Helper scripts for bibliography cleanup, diffs, and packaging
If you write research papers in Computer Science, you have probably had to use several different LaTeX document classes:
aaaifor AAAI conferencesacmartfor ACM conferences and journalselsarticlefor Elsevier journalsIEEEtranfor IEEE conferences and journalslipicsfor LIPIcs proceedingsllncsfor Springer's Lecture Notes in Computer Sciencesvjourfor Springer journalsusenixfor USENIX publications- …and many others
Unfortunately, these classes are not compatible with each other.
Switching from one publisher to another often means rewriting parts of the document that have nothing to do with the content: title, authors, affiliations, bibliography settings, package options, and sometimes even the way sections or figures are defined.
For example, declaring authors looks different in every class.
In llncs:
\author{Emmett Brown\inst{1} \and Marty McFly\inst{1} \and Biff Tannen\inst{2}}
\institute{%
Temporal Industries \\
Hill Valley, CA 90193 \\
\and
BiffCo inc. \\
Hill Valley, CA 90193 \\
}
In IEEEtran:
\author{%
\IEEEauthorblockN{Emmett Brown, Marty McFly}
\IEEEauthorblockA{%
Temporal Industries\\
Hill Valley, CA 90193\\
}
\IEEEauthorblockN{Biff Tannen}
\IEEEauthorblockA{%
BiffCo inc.\\
Hill Valley, CA 90193\\
}
}
In acmart:
\author{Emmett Brown}
\affiliation{
\institution{Temporal Industries}
\streetaddress{Hill Valley}
\state{CA}
\postcode{90193}
}
In elsarticle:
\author{Emmett Brown\fnref{label1}}
\author{Marty McFly\fnref{label1}}
\author{Biff Tannen\fnref{label2}}
\fntext{Temporal Industries, Hill Valley, CA 90193}
\fntext{BiffCo inc., Hill Valley, CA 90193}
Switching templates usually means editing a lot of boilerplate that should not have to change.
PaperShell avoids this by separating:
- the content of the paper
- the publisher style
- the generated preamble
so the same source file can be compiled with different document classes.
- Ready-to-use class files for many publishers
- Automatic preamble generation using LuaLaTeX
- Direct compatibility with Overleaf
- Build based on
latexmk - Export of editor-ready sources
- Helper tools for bibliography and packaging
Supported publishers include:
- AAAI
- ACM
- Elsevier
- IEEE
- Springer
- LIPIcs
- EPTCS
- EasyChair / EPiC
- Wiley
- USENIX
- and others
Previous versions of PaperShell used PHP scripts to generate the preamble. Version 3 uses LuaLaTeX instead.
Advantages:
- Styles can be switched directly from Overleaf
- No external script is required to compile
- Generated files are plain LaTeX
- Final sources compile with pdfLaTeX
- Simpler build process (
latexmk)
LuaLaTeX is only required to generate the preamble. Once generated, the document is ordinary LaTeX.
- Download the empty project:
https://github.com/sylvainhalle/PaperShell/releases/latest
-
Edit
settings.texand choose the publisher. -
Compile once with LuaLaTeX: latexmk -lualatex paper.tex
-
After that, normal compilation works:
latexmk -pdf paper.tex
- Write your paper in
Source/paper.tex
- To switch publisher, change the setting and compile again with LuaLaTeX.
PaperShell works directly in Overleaf.
To switch style:
- change the publisher in
settings.tex - compile once with LuaLaTeX
- compile again normally
After generation, the project can be compiled with pdfLaTeX, which is useful for final submission to editors.
PaperShell can export a clean bundle suitable for editors.
The export step:
- merges all
\inputfiles - includes the bibliography
- resolves generated files
- produces sources that compile with pdfLaTeX
See MANUAL.md for details.
Required:
- LaTeX distribution (TeX Live / MikTeX)
- latexmk
- LuaLaTeX
Optional:
- PHP (for export / maintenance scripts)
- latexdiff
- aspell / textidote
See MANUAL.md for complete usage instructions, helper scripts, export options, and design notes.
Maintained by Sylvain Hallé
Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, Canada