LaTeX article template

A LaTeX article template for a short paper or a class write-up that should look like a journal article.

Open in LaTeX.to Download all files (zip)

Engine: pdfLaTeX
Bibliography: BibTeX
License: Public domain, use freely.

Files:

main.tex

\documentclass[11pt]{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}

\title{An Article Template}
\author{Your Name}
\date{\today}

\begin{document}
\maketitle

\begin{abstract}
This short article is a clean starting point for a paper: a title block, an
abstract, a couple of sections, some mathematics, and a bibliography wired up
through BibTeX. Replace the text with your own.
\end{abstract}

\section{Introduction}
Open with the problem and why it matters. Citations such as
Knuth~\cite{knuth1984} and cross-references all work out of the box.

\section{A Result}
For a right triangle with legs $a$ and $b$ and hypotenuse $c$,
\begin{equation}
  a^2 + b^2 = c^2 .
\end{equation}

\section{Conclusion}
Summarise the contribution and point to what comes next.

\bibliographystyle{plain}
\bibliography{references}

\end{document}

references.bib

Download references.bib

@book{knuth1984,
  author    = {Donald E. Knuth},
  title     = {The {\TeX}book},
  publisher = {Addison-Wesley},
  year      = {1984}
}

How to use this template

Everything runs in your browser: nothing to install, no login, no compile timeout.

Click Open in LaTeX.to. The template opens as a project in the Projects pane, with main.tex in the editor and its finished PDF in the preview.
Replace the placeholders, such as Your Name, with your own text. The % comments in the files mark the places to edit.
Click Preview, or press Ctrl+Enter (Cmd+Enter on a Mac), to compile. The preview shows the new PDF; you do not need to save first.
If the compile fails, the Console pane opens with the LaTeX log. The first error in it says what went wrong and on which line.
To add an image, a .bib file or another .tex file, open the project's menu (the three dots next to its name in the Projects pane) and choose Upload file or New file.
The arrow next to Preview has Download PDF. Ctrl+S saves your edits, and the project stays in your browser on this device.

How to add a reference

The reference list is built from references.bib, so you never type a bibliography by hand.

Click references.bib in the Projects pane and add an entry; copy an existing one and change the key, the authors, the title and the year.
Cite it in the text with \cite{key}, using the key from the entry's first line.
Compile: BibTeX runs by itself, and the entry appears in the reference list, numbered in alphabetical order.

How to use two columns

Many journals set the body in two columns, and the class can do that on its own.

Change the first line to \documentclass[11pt,twocolumn]{article}.
A figure or table that needs the full page width goes in a figure* or table* environment instead of figure or table.

More templates: Book, Letter, TikZ figures and all templates.