ACL Template
Use this ACL template guide to prepare a clean submission-ready paper in Word or LaTeX. Includes manuscript structure, workflow tips, FAQs, and formatting guidance for authors targeting ACL.
4.4
How to Use the ACL Template | A Step-by-Step Guide
Authored by Sumalatha Gangadhar | Published on 22 Apr, 2026
The ACL Template is the format ACL expects for conference or workshop paper submissions. The ACL Template is the shared LaTeX style used across ACL, EMNLP, NAACL, and affiliated NLP conferences. The canonical rules live on ACL Style Files (GitHub).
What is the ACL Template?
The ACL Template is a LaTeX (and often Word) structural shell that encodes ACL's paper format: title block, abstract, sections, figures, tables, references, and supplementary material. The GitHub repository is the canonical source; each conference maintains its own release. Year-specific instructions are on ACL Anthology.
A standard ACL template usually includes:
- Title, authors, and affiliations
- Abstract and keywords
- Introduction and related work
- Method / approach with figures and algorithms
- Experiments, results, and analysis
- Conclusion and broader impacts where ACL requires it
- References in the venue's required style
A strong paper prepared with this template should:
- Respect ACL's page limit, margin, and formatting rules
- Anonymize for double-blind review where the venue requires it
- Use the venue's reference format and bibliography file
- Place figures near the first mention; use vector formats where possible
- Separate supplementary material into a clearly labeled supplement
What does this ACL Template include?
ACL also publishes policy documents covering reproducibility, ethics, and author responsibilities. See ACL Author Guidelines for paper structure details, ACL home for submission logistics, and ACL Rolling Review for policies and ethics expectations authors must acknowledge.
Steps to Use the ACL Template with Scispace Agent
- Click Start Writing on this template page. You are redirected to the Scispace Agent prompt page with this ACL Template and a starter prompt already loaded.
- On the prompt page, choose whether to use the existing template shown in the side panel or upload a new template if you already have a program-specific or venue-specific copy.
- Modify the prompt with your custom message: the topic, target audience, document type, scope, and any specific constraints (word limits, required pages, reporting checklists, citation style).
- Run the prompt. Scispace Agent generates the draft directly in the ACL Template structure — front matter, main sections, figures or chapters, references — without hand-editing layout code.
- Use View Outputs to review the draft. Regenerate specific sections if the first pass needs tightening on depth, evidence, or wording.
- When the draft is ready, save it to your library inside Scispace Agent or download it in Word or LaTeX format so it drops straight into your submission workflow.
This keeps ACL format compliance on the Scispace Agent side so you can focus on the contribution and experiments.
ACL Template Structure at a Glance
| Element | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Title + authors + affiliations | Identifies authorship per ACL rules |
| Abstract | Summarizes the contribution for ACL reviewers |
| Introduction + related work | Frames the contribution in context |
| Method / Approach | Reproducible description of the technique |
| Experiments / Results | Evidence and analysis |
| Conclusion + broader impacts | Required for many ACL submissions |
| References | ACL reference style |
| Supplementary material | Appendices and datasets as ACL allows |
| Submission Package | Single PDF or bundle per ACL instructions |
Quick Tips for Using the ACL Template
- Start from ACL's official LaTeX class; do not craft a shell from scratch
- Respect the page limit exactly; overflow is a common desk-reject cause
- Anonymize self-citations for double-blind review; rename figure files to neutral names
- Keep supplementary material in a single clearly-labeled file
Best Practices
- Compile cleanly with zero LaTeX warnings before submission
- Use the venue's BibTeX style and latest bibliography file
- Include a broader impacts section where the venue now requires one
- Prepare code and dataset links as supplementary material, not inline
ACL Template Tips
The ACL Template rewards early planning. Use ACL's official class and sample files, lock length and structure before drafting heavily, and budget time for supplementary material preparation.
