This is a working Quarto template for PLOS journals based on the official PLOS LaTeX template (Version 3.6 Aug 2022).
- Supports N authors (template includes slots for 10 authors, easily expandable)
- Full control over author symbols and affiliations
- Compliant with PLOS formatting requirements
- Works around Quarto's limitations with custom author fields
- Copy all template files to your project directory
- Edit
template.qmdwith your content - Run
quarto render template.qmd
Each author requires four fields in the YAML header:
authorN: Author nameemailN: Email (leave empty except for corresponding author)affiliationN: Comma-separated affiliation numbers (e.g., "1,2,3")symbolsN: LaTeX symbols for special designations
\Yinyang- Equal contribution\dag- Deceased\ddag- Senior author/equal contribution\textcurrency a b c- Current address (use letters a, b, c for multiple)\textpilcrow- Group/consortium*- Corresponding author
author3: "Jane Doe"
email3: ""
affiliation3: "1,2"
symbols3: "\\Yinyang\\textcurrency a"- Add author entries to the YAML (author11, author12, etc.)
- Use the helper script
author_filter.luato generate the needed template code - Add the generated code to
plos-template.tex
Define affiliations as:
affiliation_1: "Department of Example, University Name, City, Country"
affiliation_2: "Research Institute, City, Country"Define notes that correspond to the symbols:
equal_contributor_note: "These authors contributed equally to this work."
deceased_note: "Deceased"
current_address_note: "a Current Address: New Department, New City, Country"template.qmd - Your main document plos-template.tex- LaTeX template that processes the YAML variablesreferences.bib- Bibliography fileauthor_filter.lua- Helper script for handling authorsplos2015.bst- PLOS bibliography style (must be in the same directory)
- Figure citations: Use "Fig" not "Figure" (e.g.,
Fig @fig-example) - Equation citations: Use "Eq" not "Equation"
- Abstract: Keep below 300 words
- Author Summary: Keep between 150-200 words (not for PLOS ONE)
- Title: Must be 250 characters or less, use sentence case
- If symbols don't appear correctly, ensure you're escaping backslashes in YAML (use
\\Yinyangnot\Yinyang) - For complex affiliations or unusual cases, you may need to edit the LaTeX template directly
- Make sure
plos2015.bstis in the same directory as your.qmdfile
This template works around Quarto's limitations by using numbered author fields rather than Quarto's native author processing. This gives you full control over formatting but requires manual entry of each author.