latex-journal-submission-package

name	latex-journal-submission-package
description	Convert a working LaTeX manuscript into a journal-style submission package with separate BibTeX, build helper, manifest, and zip archive; useful when TeX is unavailable locally.
version	1.0.0
author	Hermes Agent
license	MIT
metadata	{"hermes":{"tags":["latex","bibtex","journal-submission","manuscript","mnras","packaging"]}}

LaTeX Journal Submission Package

Overview

This skill contains a reusable operational workflow. Follow the existing task-specific steps and examples in the sections below.

Pitfalls

• Do not hardcode credentials, tokens, or personal secrets.
• Verify external service URLs, paths, and permissions before making changes.
• Keep generated outputs reproducible and record input assumptions.

Use this when a user has a working LaTeX manuscript and wants a cleaner, submission-style package (for example MNRAS), especially if the environment cannot compile TeX yet.

When to use

• The manuscript exists as a single .tex file with inline bibliography.
• The user wants a journal-adapted version or a submission-ready directory layout.
• The machine may not have pdflatex, latexmk, or the journal class installed.
• You still want to deliver a useful package: main.tex, references.bib, compile.sh, README, notes, zip.

Goal

Produce:

• a journal-formatted manuscript source (or adapted variant)
• separate references.bib
• helper build script
• README with compile instructions
• notes/manifest for provenance
• zip archive for transfer

Workflow

1) Inspect the live environment first

Always verify, do not assume:

• OS and architecture
• presence of pdflatex, latexmk, kpsewhich, tectonic
• package manager availability

Example checks:

. /etc/os-release && echo "$PRETTY_NAME"
uname -sr
uname -m
command -v apt
command -v pdflatex
command -v latexmk
command -v kpsewhich
command -v tectonic

If TeX tools are missing, say so explicitly and continue packaging anyway.

2) If targeting MNRAS, adapt the preamble and front matter

A practical starting point:

\documentclass[fleqn,usenatbib,useAMS]{mnras}

Typical useful packages:

\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage{ae,aecompl}
\usepackage{newtxtext,newtxmath}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{longtable}
\usepackage{tabularx}
\usepackage{array}
\usepackage{enumitem}
\usepackage{xcolor}
\usepackage{hyperref}

Add MNRAS-style title, author, date, \pubyear, \label{firstpage}, \pagerange, \maketitle, abstract, and keywords environment.

3) Convert inline bibliography into BibTeX

If the source uses thebibliography, extract each \bibitem{key} into BibTeX.

Recommended approach:

• Parse the inline bibliography programmatically.
• For arXiv entries, query the arXiv API by ID to recover accurate author lists, title, year, and primary category.
• Replace the inline bibliography in main.tex with:

\bibliographystyle{mnras}
\bibliography{references}

4) Important arXiv metadata pitfall

The arXiv API returns IDs like 2603.26953v1, not bare 2603.26953. When matching IDs, strip the version suffix with a regex like:

re.sub(r'v\d+$', '', arxiv_id)

If bulk metadata lookup behaves inconsistently, fall back to one-ID-per-request. This worked reliably.

5) Build the submission directory layout

Recommended layout:

submission_package/
  main.tex
  references.bib
  compile.sh
  README.txt
  figures/
    README.txt
  notes/
    package_notes.txt
    manifest.json

6) Include a compile helper

Use:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail
if command -v latexmk >/dev/null 2>&1; then
  latexmk -pdf main.tex
else
  pdflatex main.tex
  bibtex main
  pdflatex main.tex
  pdflatex main.tex
fi

Make it executable.

7) Include explicit README guidance

Document:

• what files are included
• that the package was structurally prepared even if TeX is missing
• what must be updated before submission (authors, affiliations, acknowledgements, figures)
• how to compile locally

8) Zip the package

After generating all files, create a zip archive for easy delivery.

Ubuntu package requirements for actual compilation

If the user asks what is needed to compile MNRAS on Ubuntu, check live first, then recommend:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y \
  latexmk \
  texlive-latex-base \
  texlive-latex-extra \
  texlive-fonts-recommended \
  texlive-publishers

Why:

• pdflatex comes from TeX Live base stack
• latexmk is the easiest build driver
• mnras.cls is typically in texlive-publishers

Nice-to-have but optional:

biber texlive-science

Verification checklist

Before finishing:

• check brace balance and key environment balance in the generated .tex
• verify main.tex references references.bib
• inspect the first part of references.bib
• search for bad placeholders like Unknown
• confirm zip archive exists

What to tell the user

If TeX is missing, clearly state:

• the package is ready structurally
• PDF generation is blocked only by missing TeX tooling
• exact Ubuntu packages required to compile

Reusable lessons learned

• Packaging is still useful even without compilation.
• Separating bibliography and adding a build helper significantly improves handoff quality.
• arXiv metadata recovery is worth doing because naive BibTeX extraction often leaves poor author/title fields.
• For journal adaptation requests, deliver both the adapted .tex and a full package directory/zip, not just one file.