FAQ for LaTeX Authors

The line numbering commands are included in the ametsocV6.1.cls file. If you are not using ametsocV6.1.cls (and we strongly recommend that you do), you need to add the \usepackage{lineno} and \linenumbers commands to your .tex file before the \begin{document} command and after any \usepackage{amsmath} commands. To correct the line numbering around display equations, you must add the following snippet of code to your .tex file or to the end of the .sty file you are using:

\newcommand*\patchAmsMathEnvironmentForLineno[1]{%
  \expandafter\let\csname old#1\expandafter\endcsname\csname #1\endcsname
  \expandafter\let\csname oldend#1\expandafter\endcsname\csname end#1\endcsname
  \renewenvironment{#1}%
     {\linenomath\csname old#1\endcsname}%
     {\csname oldend#1\endcsname\endlinenomath}}%
\newcommand*\patchBothAmsMathEnvironmentsForLineno[1]{%
  \patchAmsMathEnvironmentForLineno{#1}%
  \patchAmsMathEnvironmentForLineno{#1*}}%
\AtBeginDocument{%
\patchBothAmsMathEnvironmentsForLineno{equation}%
\patchBothAmsMathEnvironmentsForLineno{align}%
\patchBothAmsMathEnvironmentsForLineno{flalign}%
\patchBothAmsMathEnvironmentsForLineno{alignat}%
\patchBothAmsMathEnvironmentsForLineno{gather}%
\patchBothAmsMathEnvironmentsForLineno{multline}%
\patchBothAmsMathEnvironmentsForLineno{eqnarray}%}

If you would prefer a manual solution, then wrap each display equation with the linenomath environment. For example:

\begin{linenomath*}
\begin{equation}\label{eq:4}
{\cal L}_{fw}[{\cal A}]\;=\;\sum_\alpha {\cal S}_\alpha
\end{equation}
\end{linenomath*}

Note that use of the obsolete "$$" command for display math will also cause gaps in the line numbering. See FAQ #3.

  • For bold math for vectors and matrices, use \pmb.
  • For script letters, use \mathcal. [*Note: Because the \usepackage{mathptmx} is built into ametsoc.cls to achieve Times New Roman font, this also changes the mathcal fonts to formal script font. To achieve the standard "calligraphic" font, add \DeclareMathAlphabet{\altmathcal}{OMS}{cmsy}{m}{n} to the preamble and use the command \altmathcal instead of \mathcal for any letters that you want to appear in the standard calligraphic font.]
  • For double-line (blackboard) font, use \mathbb.

No, the “$$” command is obsolete and should never be used. The “$$” command (which is a plain TeX command) in your .tex file must be replaced with “\[“ and “\]”, \begin{displaymath} and \end{displaymath}, \begin{equation*} and \end{equation*}, or some other math display command. Note that use of "$$" will also cause gaps in the line numbering (see FAQ #1).

Do not confuse this with the standard "$" math command, which should be used for inline math (e.g., $10^{-6}$).

The AMS discourages authors from using the hyperref package within their LaTeX documents as we do not want active links in submissions. Use of the hyperref package may prevent your paper from building a PDF in Editorial Manager and may result in your submission being returned to you for editing. Please use the \url{} command instead.

If you need to create separate paragraphs in the abstract, you can use a line break and the \indent command to give the appearance of separate paragraphs, e.g.,

\abstract{First paragraph text.\\
\indent Second paragraph text.}

Please note, however, that AMS style is for abstracts to be one paragraph only, so multiple paragraphs will be combined into one single paragraph during copy editing.

The AMS LaTeX template follows AMS style for section numbering, which means that subsections will be defined only by a letter/number and will not include the higher-level section/subsection number/letter (i.e., a. Subsection title and not 1.a. Subsection title).

If you are referencing sections within running text, you must include reference commands for both the section and the subsection, e.g.:

"as seen in section \ref{section1}\ref{subsection1a}."
which will result in
"as seen in section 1a."

The BibTeX program is responsible for formatting the references. After running the LaTeX or pdfLaTeX command once, make sure you run the BibTeX command, then run the LaTeX or pdfLaTeX command TWO times to clear up any dependencies.

To retain capitalization in article or book titles, use curly braces around the letter/word/phrase you want to retain its capitalization (e.g., title = {Coexistence of equatorial coupled modes of {ENSO}}).

 Note: If you are using the ametsocV6.1.cls file, the “rotating” package is already included.

  • In order to lay out a table in landscape, you need to add the “rotating” package (\usepackage{rotating}) and then create the table using the “sidewaystable” environment instead of the “table” environment (e.g., \begin{sidewaystable} instead of \begin{table}).
  • In order to lay out a figure in landscape, you need to add the “rotating” package (\usepackage{rotating}) and then create the table using the “sidewaysfigure” environment instead of the “figure” environment (e.g., \begin{sidewaysfigure} instead of \begin{figure}).

Beginning with TeX Live 2018, unrecognized Unicode characters, including those that previous versions of TeX Live ignored, are now flagged. These characters are usually inserted when text copied from another source is pasted into a LaTeX file.

The most common errors look like this:

                 ! Package inputenc Error: Unicode character - (U+96)

                   (inputenc)                not set up for use with LaTeX.

The solution is to either manually replace the Unicode characters in your .tex and .bib files (you can use your log file to locate the problematic Unicode characters) or to define the Unicode characters using the \DeclareUnicodeCharacter command in the preamble of the .tex file (again, the log file will tell you which Unicode characters need to be defined).

  • You may apply commands such as \small or \footnotesize to make your caption or table font smaller and thus shrink the size of your caption/table. As long as the text is readable, it is fine to have smaller text.
  • To split your table over multiple pages, please use longtable (see https://ctan.org/pkg/longtable?lang=en for documentation and instructions).

To avoid any complications caused by floats, we recommend hardcoding table footnotes rather than using a footnote command. To do this, simply insert footnote-sized text below the table and insert the corresponding superscript letters as needed throughout the table. For example,

\begin{table}[h]
\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{lccc}
\topline
$N$ & $X$ & $Y$ & $Z$\\
\midline
0000 & 0000 & 0010$^{\rm a}$ & 0000 \\
0005 & 0004 & 0012 & 0000 \\
0010 & 0009 & 0020 & 0000 \\
\botline
\end{tabular}
\end{center}
\footnotesize{$^{\rm a}$ First footnote text.}
\caption{Table caption here.}\label{t1}
\end{table}

Use of the subcaption and subfigure packages is discouraged for submissions to the AMS. Figures with multiple panels should be submitted with all panels included in one figure file. Use of the subcaption/subfigure commands may prevent your paper from building a PDF in Editorial Manager and may result in your submission being returned to you for editing.

To put your figure and caption on separate pages, enclose each in separate figure commands, as shown below:
\begin{figure}[t]
   \noindent\includegraphics[width-39pc,angle=0]{figure01.pdf}
\end{figure}
\begin{figure}
\caption{Enter the caption for your figure here.}\label{f1}
\end{figure}

The \cite and \ref commands are “fragile” commands. They must be protected using the \protect command when used in a caption. For example:
\begin{figure}
. . .
\caption{The graph of the temperature profile given by \protect\ref{some_eqn} developed by \protect\citet{Anderson98}.}
\end{figure} 

To create a bulleted list, you should use the standard LaTeX itemize command, for example:

\begin{itemize}
\item First bullet text.
\item Second bullet text.
\end{itemize}

To create a numbered list, you should use the standard LaTeX enumerate command, for example:

\begin{enumerate}
\item First numbered item.
\item Second numbered item.
\end{enumerate}

To get accented letters such as “ñ” to appear correctly in a reference list, you must put curly braces around the entire command, not just around the letter, e.g., author={Ana Nu{\~n}ez}.

See the Citations section of the amsdocsV6.1.pdf file for instructions on how to add text within a citation.

The parentheses around the citations are a built-in feature of the natbib package. To prevent double parentheses, do not add your own parentheses around the citations.

When citing equations in text, use the \eqref command instead of \ref, which will automatically insert parentheses around the equation number.

To reference an appendix in text, you will need to manually type in the appendix callout (e.g., "see appendix A for more information"). The standard \ref command will not work properly for appendixes in the AMS template.

To reference a numbered/lettered section within an appendix, you will need to manually enter the appendix callout, then you can use the \ref command (e.g., “see appendix A, section \ref{appAb}”, which will appear as “see appendix A, section b”).

To reference a single unnumbered section within an appendix, you will need to manually enter the callout in text, using the subsection title since there is no section letter or number associated with it (e.g., see appendix A, section "Data and methods").

If you receive an error about too many math alphabets, add \newcommand{\hmmax}{0} and \newcommand{\bmmax}{0} to the preamble of your article .tex file to limit unnecessary alphabets.