Preparing your paper in LaTeX

Every paper in the Natural Philosophy Journal, in every section, is typeset with the journal's LaTeX template. Please prepare your paper with the template and submit the PDF it produces. You do not need to install anything or pay for software. The free plan of Overleaf, an online LaTeX editor, is enough to write and typeset a paper for this journal.

If you do not want to use LaTeX, the journal can typeset your paper for you for a fee of $10 per page. You pay only if your paper is accepted. See If you do not use LaTeX below.

Download the template

npj-latex-template.zip (7 KB) contains:

  • npj.cls: the journal's document class
  • main.tex: a sample article that also explains what referees will look for
  • references.bib: a sample bibliography in BibTeX format
  • README.md: brief instructions

See an example paper

A complete four-page paper typeset with the template shows what your submission should look like. It includes equations, a table, figures, citations and an appendix.

The example illustrates the layout; it is not a research result.

Writing your paper on Overleaf, free

  1. Create a free account at overleaf.com.
  2. Download npj-latex-template.zip from the link above. Do not unzip it.
  3. In Overleaf, choose New Project → Upload Project and select the zip file. Overleaf opens main.tex and shows the typeset PDF beside it.
  4. Replace the sample text with your own. Click Recompile to update the PDF.
  5. Upload figures with the upload button in the file list. Include each figure by file name, as the sample shows.
  6. When the paper is ready, download the PDF with the download button above the preview. Also use Menu → Download → Source to keep a copy of your source files.

The free plan is enough. It allows any number of projects and one collaborator per project. Its compile time is limited. The template uses only standard packages, so a typical paper compiles well within that limit. If a long paper times out, save figures as PDF or PNG at a sensible resolution instead of very large images. Overleaf can change the terms of its free plan; see its plans page for the current limits.

If you prefer to work offline, the same files compile with any TeX Live or MiKTeX installation (pdflatex, bibtex, then pdflatex twice).

Review and final versions

Peer review in this journal is double-anonymous. The \documentclass line near the top of main.tex selects the version:

  • \documentclass[review]{npj} is the version you submit. It hides your name, affiliation and acknowledgements, and adds line numbers so that referees can point to specific passages.
  • \documentclass[final]{npj} shows your author details. Switch to it only when the editor asks for camera-ready files.

The template cannot anonymise the body of your paper. Remove self-identifying remarks, refer to your own earlier work in the third person, and check that the PDF's document properties do not contain your name.

Submitting

  1. Register or log in.
  2. Read the Author Guidelines and choose the section that best fits your work. Put its name in \npjsection{...}.
  3. Upload the PDF compiled in review mode.
  4. Keep your LaTeX source files. The editors will ask for them at the production stage.

If you do not use LaTeX

You can ask the journal to typeset your paper with the template. The fee is $10 per page of the typeset PDF.

  1. Submit your paper as a DOCX or ODT file through the normal submission form.
  2. In Comments for the Editor, write “LaTeX conversion requested.”
  3. Your paper is reviewed as submitted. Remove your name from the text and from the file's document properties, as for any submission.
  4. If your paper is accepted, the journal typesets it with the template. The editors will then tell you the number of typeset pages and send you an invoice. Payment is due before publication.

Nothing is charged for papers that are not accepted.

Questions about the template can be sent to the editors through the Contact page.