Venue Specific

Venue-Specific Formatting Skill

Know the exact rules before you write. This skill provides concrete, actionable formatting specifications for 30+ top journals and conferences across all disciplines.

When to Use

• User specifies a target journal or conference for their paper
• Formatting or checking a manuscript before submission
• Converting a paper from one venue's format to another
• Answering questions about a specific venue's requirements (page limits, figure specs, etc.)

How to Use

1. Identify the target venue from the user's request
2. Load the venue file from references/ — read ONLY the relevant file, not all of them
3. Load the matching writing-style file — see Writing Style Map below
4. Apply rules to the current manuscript
5. If venue is not covered, use references/INDEX.md to find the closest match + tell user to check the official author guidelines

Writing Style Map

Always load writing-style/universal.md (Gopen-Swan principles, precision, flow).

Then load the discipline-specific style guide:

The venue file gives formatting rules (what). The writing-style file gives writing advice (how).

Reference Map

Load on demand. Never preload all files.

Life Sciences (Top Journals)

Physics

Chemistry & Materials

Biomedical

CS Conferences

Publishers (Base Rules)

Cross-Cutting

Venue File Standard Format

Every venue file follows this structure for consistency:

markdownCopy code
# [Venue Name]
> Official author guidelines: [URL]

## Article Types
| Type | Word Limit | Display Items | References | Notes |

## Formatting
### Page/Layout
### Font
### Abstract
### Title

## Figures & Tables
### Dimensions
### Resolution
### Formats
### Captions

## References & Citations
### In-text Style
### Reference List Format

## Required Sections

## Templates

## Common Pitfalls

Templates

Bundled LaTeX templates for CS conferences are in templates/. See templates/README.md for:

• Bundled: NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, ACL, AAAI, COLM, OSDI, NSDI, ASPLOS, SOSP
• Download instructions: REVTeX (APS), Nature, ACS, Elsevier, Springer/LNCS, IEEE, ACM

Using a Template

bashCopy code
# Copy template to paper project
cp -r skills/venue-specific/templates/neurips2025/ project/report/

# Verify compilation before editing
cd project/report/ && latexmk -pdf main.tex

Never modify .sty/.cls files — only edit .tex content files.

Figure Styles

Bundled matplotlib .mplstyle files for publication-quality figures are in figstyles/. See figstyles/README.md for the full style map.

Setting Up Figure Style

When you determine the target venue, copy the matching style to the project:

bashCopy code
cp skills/venue-specific/figstyles/physics-aps.mplstyle project/report/figstyle.mplstyle

All plotting code must start with plt.style.use('report/figstyle.mplstyle'). Save as PDF (vector).

Rules for the Agent

1. Read the venue file before giving any formatting advice — do not rely on memory
2. Quote specific numbers (word limits, DPI, dimensions) — never approximate
3. Flag uncertainty: if a requirement may have changed, say "verify at [official URL]"
4. One venue at a time: if user hasn't specified, ask which venue they're targeting
5. Never modify venue files based on guesses — only update with verified information from official author guidelines
6. Use bundled templates when starting a new paper — copy from templates/, never edit in place