Please check this FAQ for more detailed information.

Yes. EM requires a .sty file to properly compile your submission. Please check the journal’s homepage, as the publication may provide a standard style file that you can include when submitting your manuscript.

EPS files created by authors can be compiled in many different ways.

Different programs use various standards for creating EPS files. We recommend opening EPS files in Adobe Illustrator or a similar image editing program. Opening EPS files in Adobe Photoshop and saving them in a different file format may help, but saving vector files in Photoshop can compromise the image quality. Try submitting your image files again after saving them to a new file format, such as .jpg or .png.

No. EM cannot process embedded fonts in EPS image files. Please remove them before uploading EPS files. Alternatively, you can convert your EPS file locally to a PDF and upload the PDF file to EM.

Click "View Submission" to open the PDF and check whether an error message appears in the TeX compiler log file shown in the PDF. If your submission files did not compile properly, you will see one or more pages containing TeX Live error codes. The header will be similar to this:

pdfTeX, Version 3.141592653-2.6-1.40.24 (TeX Live 2022/W32TeX)

The TeX compiler log file information will appear below this line. This indicates the point at which an error occurred that prevented the file from being compiled. Generally, the error will look something like this:

! LaTeX Error: File 'aries.sty' not found.

Type X to quit or <RETURN> to proceed, or enter new name.

(Default extension: sty)

Enter file name:

! Emergency stop.

In this example, the aries.sty style file is missing. The submission files cannot be compiled without the style file referenced in the primary .tex manuscript file.

Follow these steps to add the missing style file:

1. Click "Edit Submission" and upload the missing style file as a Manuscript item.

(Do not select the Supplemental item for the style file.)

2. Rebuild the submission PDF.
3. View the new version of the PDF to verify that the LaTeX submission has been compiled and is correctly formatted in the PDF. If the submission still cannot be compiled after you have added the missing style file, check the following:

• Are your images referenced correctly in the .tex manuscript file? (Make sure they are not stored in subfolders. LaTeX submissions containing subfolders cannot be processed by EM.)
• Are all other accompanying submission files referenced correctly in your .tex file.

The following file types cannot be uploaded to EM, as they are reserved filenames within the EM environment: CON, PRN, AUX, NUL, COM1, COM2, COM3, COM4, COM5, COM6, COM7, COM8, COM9, LPT1, LPT2, LPT3, LPT4, LPT5, LPT6, LPT7, LPT8, and LPT9.

You should also avoid using these as filenames with a different extension (e.g., NUL.txt). Files of any type with special characters in the filename will also be excluded (e.g.,G+.eps). In addition, filenames should contain only one period to mark the extension (e.g., fig.1.eps is not supported by EM, but fig1.eps is correct).

EM supports zip files and tar.gz archives that contain your complete set of LaTeX submission files. EM does not currently support the RAR archive format.

If you have compiled your bibliography in a separate file and question marks appear in your PDF instead of the content in the associated bibliography file, your .tex manuscript file may contain incorrect formatting. Try using one of the following methods to reference a separate bibliographic file:

Method A: If the bibliography is a .bib file (reference.bib):

\bibliographystyle{spmpsci}

\bibliography{reference}

If the bibliography does not appear when the .bib file is used, try uploading the

author’s .bbl file and follow Method B below.

Method B: If the bibliography is a .bbl file (Blockseminar_opt_trans.bbl):

\input{Blockseminar_opt_trans.bbl}

The PDF builders determine which TeX engine to run based on the content of your LaTeX submission. EM includes:

• LaTeX
• pdfLaTeX
• pdfTeX
• TeX
• XeLaTeX

EM attempts to build the PDF using LaTeX first. If that build does not succeed, the system tries pdfLaTeX. Any compilation failures will be indicated in the EM submission PDF log.

EM cannot process a submission containing two or more files with the same name, even if their extensions are different. This can cause errors when generating the PDF.

Select the Manuscript item type for .tex, .bbl, .bst, .sty, .bib, .nls, .ilg, and .nlo files. Select the Figure item type for images and graphic files.

Depending on the publication, Manuscript, Figure, or other item types may have different names. Contact our Support Team via the contact options at the bottom of here if you need clarification.

Do not upload LaTeX files as Supplemental items.

Yes, you can use Overleaf to create your LaTeX manuscript using TeX Live 2022. When using Overleaf, please check the PDF carefully to ensure that the LaTeX file was compiled without any errors. Unlike EM, Overleaf generates a PDF even if compilation errors occurred – it does not stop at every error. In EM, however, compilation errors will generate an error log PDF only.

For Elsevier Overleaf templates, please visit:

https://www.overleaf.com/latex/templates?q=elsevier+template

For Overleaf tutorial, please visit: https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/Tutorials

No. LaTeX submissions containing subfolders cannot be processed by EM. All submission files – including figures, tables, and style and bibliographic files – must be stored at the same folder level. For example:

Folder <my-latex-submission>

• LaTeX_sample_file.tex
• Other_LaTeX-files.tex (if used)
• Bibliography.bib or Bibliography_file.bbl
• Nomenclature files (.nls, .ilg, and .nlo)
• Sample.sty (if not available on our EM TeX installation)
• Sample.cls (if not available on our EM TeX installation)
• Sample.bbl (if not available on our EM TeX installation)
• Sample.bst (if not available on our EM TeX installation)
• Image_files.eps
• Image_files.png
• Image_files.pdf
• Any additional LaTeX submission files

EM supports many image file formats, including .png, .pdf, .jpg, .mps, .jpeg, .jbig2, .jb2, .eps, .ps, and .tif (note that .tif files cannot be used within the \includegraphics Command.

If question marks appear in your PDF instead of the referenced items in your associated submission files, you may have submitted a compressed file containing one or more subdirectories. EM cannot process LaTeX submissions in compressed files that include subfolders. All related submission files within a compressed file must be stored at the same directory level.

You may have stored your images in subfolders. EM cannot process LaTeX submissions in folders with a directory structure, so it cannot find files referenced in a different directory from the root.

Example of a correctly referenced image:

\epsfig{figure=alld.eps,width=.5\textwidth}.

Example of an incorrectly referenced image

\epsfig{figure=images/alld.eps,width=.5\textwidth

EM makes an automatic determination of the TeX package used. However, if the PDF builder does not succeed in compiling your files correctly, click View

Submission and check to see whether an error message appears in the compiler log file shown in the PDF.

A message similar to the following may appear:

Package: fontenc 2022-06-14 v2.1 Standard LaTeX package and/or !

LaTeX Error: Cannot determine size of graphic in fig5.pdf (no BoundingBox)

To ensure that the PDF builds correctly, insert this directive into line 1 of your .tex manuscript file:

%!TEX TS-program = xelatex

Next, save your .tex file using a different file name from the original and replace the uploaded .tex file with the new file. When you complete the submission and build the PDF again, EM should successfully process your XeLaTeX submission.