TUGboat Style Files and Sample Documents

The TUGboat macros are included in all major TeX distributions; also, all CTAN sites, have the latest version. (General info about CTAN.)

• Plain TeX macros and user documentation are located in
  /tex-archive/macros/plain/contrib: browse, zip.
• LaTeX macros and user documentation are located in
  /tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/tugboat: browse, zip.

  You must process tugboat.ins with LaTeX. This will unpack the files ltugboat.cls and ltugproc.cls for your use. Documentation is contained in the same directory as the macros, in the file ltubguid.ltx.

Upcoming deadlines:

• next regular issue (29:2): March 21, 2008 (approx.).
• TUG 2008 (29:3):
  • initial submission of abstract: April 30, 2008.
  • full paper for inclusion in conference program: June 15, 2008.
  • final version for proceedings in TUGboat: August 15, 2008.

Some quick tips:

1. The TUGboat style files have many predefined abbreviations; please use them. See samples below.
2. Use \acro{WORD} for other words in ALL CAPS.
3. Use \cs{foo} to output the control sequence \foo.
4. Use \Dash instead of --- (and surrounding spaces).
5. Footnotes after punctuation.
6. Better to avoid footnotes altogether, when possible. They complicate page breaking on the one hand, and can disturb reading flow on the other. References, especially, are better put in a bibliography. Abbreviations are better as a parenthetical remark. ("Don't use footnotes in your books, Don." --Jill Knuth.)
7. Do not worry about figure placement, page breaks, column breaks, etc., because they will almost certainly change during editing.
8. TUGboat is produced entirely with pdf files now, so do not worry about dvi output, eps format for figures, etc. (Although if dvi output is needed, that's fine.)

And some general advice about actual content:

• Don't worry overmuch about deadlines; there will always be another issue. It's better to take enough time to do the best job than hurry anything along.
• The length of an article should depend on the topic. The article should cover the chosen ground completely, leaving no major questions unanswered, but it should do so concisely.
• If illustrations will aid comprehension, include them.
• Consider the topic from the point of view of an interested reader: if you weren't the author, what would you like to learn from the article?
• If you have questions, please ask. That's what editors are for.

Finally, here are links to two template documents, which also contain a super-summary of some of the facilities in the style files:

• Sample article for regular issues.
• Sample article for proceedings issues.