Goodbye Word templates! It's LaTeX time for papers!

A noteworthy announcement was recently made in the field of Natural Language Processing. Starting from March 2026, the ACL Rolling Review (ARR) will officially discontinue support for Microsoft Word templates. Any papers submitted in Word format will be automatically desk-rejected. This marks more than just a change in formatting—it signals a significant shift in research writing culture and the tools researchers choose to use.
dkhan's avatar
Nov 02, 2025
Goodbye Word templates! It's LaTeX time for papers!

Why switch from Word to LaTeX?

  • According to ARR, Word template papers often caused additional work and errors for reviewers/editors due to formatting issues after submission.

  • LaTeX ensures consistency in equations, references, and formatting, and is well-suited for open-source and collaborative environments.

  • Additionally, its support for automated format checks and integration with workflows can improve the overall efficiency of the review system.

👉 Source: https://aclrollingreview.org/discontinuation-word-template

Implications of This Decision

  • For researchers in the field of Natural Language Processing (NLP) without LaTeX experience, this change introduces a new "task to prepare for."

  • On the other hand, research teams or services already familiar with LaTeX writing environments may gain a competitive edge.

  • Related ecosystems—such as paper templates, AI-assisted editors, and collaborative writing platforms—are likely to grow more rapidly.

Practical Strategies for Preparation

  • Starting now, secure LaTeX-based templates and check your team's internal collaboration environment.

  • If you’re working with co-authors, consider adopting new LaTeX collaboration tools that can boost overall team productivity.

  • For Korean users, tools that allow writing in Korean and automatically translating into English (via AI-LaTeX solutions) may also be necessary.

Conclusion

The decision that began in the field of natural language processing is expected to soon spread to other areas such as computer vision, speech, graphics, and robotics.

In the AI field, LaTeX-based collaborative solutions for research paper writing are becoming a necessity, not an option.
Now is the time to fully switch to LaTeX.

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