ACM Primary Article Templates AND Publication Workflow
1. ACM Production Workflow Background
Microsoft Word: ACM has been working hard to create a usable and accessible experience for Microsoft Word authors while adding new features to archival formats. We have completely changed our approach to the production process to achieve ACM's goal of a publication portfolio available in flexible formats with accessibility features. More information about the motivation behind this change and how we prepare publications can be found at https://www.acm.org/articles/pubs-newsletter/2019/blue-diamond-mar-2019#3.
Working with volunteers from the SIG and journal communities, ACM has developed a new, easier to use Microsoft Word authoring format and workflow that completely replaces the previous formats that were difficult and unusable. This new approach enables authors to concentrate on their content rather than print output formatting and alleviates the time needed to prepare the text for submission.
LaTeX: ACM continues to revise the Primary Article Templates to improve usability, functionality, and accessibility as needed. Please review the Primary Article Templates documentation in section 2 of this page for the latest version and update history. To ensure 100% compatibility with The ACM Publishing System (TAPS), please restrict the use of packages to the list of approved LaTeX packages when using the Primary Article Template to your document. The approved package webpage also provides information on how to submit additional LaTeX packages for review and adoption.
Should you have any questions or issues going through the below steps, please contact support at [email protected] for both LaTeX and Microsoft Word inquiries.
2. The Workflow and Templates
All authors should submit manuscripts for review in a single column format. Instructions for Word and LaTeX authors are given below.
STEP 1 (Microsoft Word): Write your paper using the Submission Template (Review Submission Format). Follow the embedded instructions to apply the paragraph styles to your various text elements. The text is in single-column format at this stage and no additional formatting is required at this point.
STEP 1 (LaTeX): Please use the latest version of the Primary Article Template - LaTeX (1.80; published October 6, 2021) to create your article submission. Use the “manuscript” call to create a single column format. Please review the LaTeX documentation and ACM’s LaTeX best practices guide should you have any questions.
STEP 2: Submit your paper for review.
STEP 3 (Microsoft Word): Upon acceptance, you will receive an email notification to download the ACM Primary Article Template - Microsoft Word. Please choose the correct template version based on your platform: [MAC 2011, MAC 2016, or Windows] and save the .zip file to your local machine. Open the zip file and save the template file to your machine and then follow these instructions to attach the ACM ArticleTemplate to your accepted submission version and prepare your paper (still in single-column format) for validation.
STEP 3 (LaTeX): Proceed to step four.
STEP 4: There are two (2) paths for authors to submit their source files for production processing
a. For conferences using vendor managed productions services: Authors need to supply your Camera Ready (finalized) source file set to the vendor's content/production management system
b. For conferences who are managing production themselves: Authors will receive an email notification with instructions to upload your Camera Ready (finalized) source file set to The ACM Publishing System (TAPS). Please make sure that you and your authors approve [email protected] in their email setttings to ensure that all messages from TAPS are received. Download these instructions for the information on how to use TAPS. TAPS will process your paper and auto-generate proofs of your article for your review.*
*Final review and approval of your paper rests with the Editor (Production Chair / Program Editor / Production Vendor). Journal papers will be copyedited and an additional set up proofs sent for author review.
The output formats (the traditional PDF proof and a new HTML version) provide enhanced accessibility, responsive formatting, and reusable components (i.e., extractable math) within the HTML output.
Note: While you may need to make corrections to the output in TAPS, you MUST revise the file which was uploaded to TAPS. This means you may not reupload new versions from your locally kept source files.
LaTeX Collaborative Authoring Tool on Overleaf Platform
ACM has partnered with Overleaf, a free cloud-based, collaborative authoring tool, to provide an ACM LaTeX authoring template.
- Overleaf is a collaborative platform: Authors can easily invite colleagues to collaborate on their document.
- Authors can write using 'Rich Text mode' or regular 'Source Mode.' This is useful for cross-disciplinary collaboration in the cases where some authors prefer to write in LaTeX while others might prefer a word processing format.
- The platform automatically compiles the document while an author writes, so the author can see what the finished file will look like in real time.
- The template allows authors to submit manuscripts easily to ACM from within the Overleaf platform.
The ACM LaTeX template on Overleaf platform is available to all ACM authors at https://www.overleaf.com/gallery/tagged/acm-official#.WOuOk2e1taQ
3. Best Practices
Please see our best practices guidelines for Microsoft Word, LaTeX, and The ACM Publishing System (TAPS). These have been compiled and will be updated regularly to serve as a reference to help authors prepare their text for publication by the most efficient means possible.
If you wish to provide us with your feedback on the templates, documentation, or workflow, please contact us at [email protected].
- For Microsoft Word best practices, please see embedded instructions within the formatted 2-column example of the submission template which includes alt-text for floats.
- LaTeX best practices; also available in PDF
- The ACM Publishing System (TAPS) best practices; also available in PDF
4. Accessibility
ACM is committed to publishing in an accessible format (https://www.acm.org/accessibility) that permits all its readers to have the content presented to them in a thorough and useful way. ACM needs the assistance of its authors to help achieve this goal. It is important that ACM authors provide descriptions for figures in their content so that ACM readers with visual impairment can be given equivalent information for these important images. Figure descriptions are complementary to figure captions and should not repeat the same information. Refer to writing figure descriptions for guidance on writing descriptions and inserting them into your manuscript in different versions of Word.
5. Guide for Estimating the Formatted Page Count
To estimate the formatted page count, please use the following as a guide:
Estimated Word Count | Number of Figures | Number of Tables | Estimated Formatted Page Count |
8200 | 5 | 2 | 11 |
7980 | 7 | 4 | 14 |
6750 | 3 | 2 | 9 |
6310 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
5030 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
4350 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
New Word Template for ACM Authors
Working with volunteers from both the SIG and journal communities, ACM has developed a new, easy-to-use Word authoring template and workflow which will allow authors to concentrate on their content rather than focus on print output formatting, as well as reduce the time needed to prepare the text for submission.
TAPS Author Workflow
In the final step in the new ACM production workflow, authors will submit their validated paper to ACM's publishing system (TAPS). The publishing system produces and distributes the traditional PDF output as well as ACM's new responsive HTML5 design.