LaTeX checklist for arXiv submissions
Currently, arXiv compiles LaTeX projects using a modified version of TeX Live 2023. For projects that use a different version of TeX Live, this can result in incompatibilities when submitting to arXiv. On Overleaf, you're able to select the version of TeX Live used to compile your project which allows you to choose the most compatible version of TeX Live available for arXiv submissions.
In addition, some projects that compile without errors on Overleaf may encounter unexpected compilation errors when submitted to the arXiv service. This help page outlines some common reasons, and how to solve them.
Are you using the Overleaf submit to arXiv feature?
arXiv expects a zip submission that includes some of the generated files from your project. These files can be obtained directly (see: View Generated Files), but the Submit to arXiv option under the Submit button will provide you with a zip file with these included. This option is provided under the online repositories section of the Submit menu. If your project is using a dedicated journal template, the Submit button may not include options other than the journal for the template. To see all submit options, including arXiv, please make a copy of your project: the Submit button on the copy will include all options, not just the journal for the template.
Are you using an incompatible version of TeX Live?
At the time of writing (September 2023) the arXiv service uses TeX Live 2023 to process LaTeX submissions. New Overleaf projects—either created from scratch or when you copy a project—are also based on a version of TeX Live 2023, but which may be slightly different than the version used by arXiv. Users submitting an Overleaf project to arXiv may be affected by mismatches in TeX Live versions due to unavoidable differences in some LaTeX packages. Currently, we are recommending that any project destined for submission to arXiv should be configured to use TeX Live 2023 using Overleaf’s TeX Live selection feature.
Are you using the hyperref
package?
When processing LaTeX submissions, arXiv loads the hyperref
package with its required set of options. If your project also loads hyperref
with options, you may then get an “Option clash for package hyperref” error on your arXiv submission.
You can try setting your hyperref
options separately from the package loading. For example, the line
\usepackage[colorlinks,allcolors=black,pdftex]{hyperref}
can be changed to
\usepackage{hyperref}
\hypersetup{colorlinks,allcolors=black}
Note that it is not necessary (nor recommended) to specify the pdftex
(nor dvips
, dvipdfm
, ...) option for hyperref
nor for other packages.
If the hyperref
package is loaded by a document class or a package then it may not be feasible to change how hyperref
options are loaded. One example is if you're using \documentclass{mnras}
. In such cases you may have to prevent arXiv from injecting its hyperref
commands. This can be done by adding a file to your project named 00README.XXX
and putting this line in it:
nohypertex
Is your main .tex
file on the project’s top level?
arXiv submissions might not compile where the main .tex
file is inside a folder, so before re-attempting submission to arXiv try moving that .tex
file to the root-level of your Overleaf project. Remember that you may also need to update file paths for your \include
, \input
, \includegraphics
and \bibliography
commands, etc.
Are you using any .eps
image files alongside .png
, .jpg
or .pdf
image files?
arXiv will use pdfLaTeX
to process your submissions and, of course, pdfLaTeX
cannot directly incorporate .eps
graphics files into the typeset PDF: they must first be converted to a format that pdfLaTeX
can use. Overleaf can automatically convert .eps
files to .pdf
format during pdfLaTeX
compilation but arXiv may not have this feature enabled. Consequently, arXiv’s compilation might generate errors with commands that try to include .eps
files, such as \includegraphics{plot.eps}
.
If your Overleaf project uses graphics in .eps
format we recommend that you convert them to .pdf
format, upload them to your project and use the .pdf
versions directly within any \includegraphics
commands in your document.