# Phase 5: Paper Drafting (full procedure)

**Goal**: Write a complete, publication-ready paper.

### Context Management for Large Projects

A paper project with 50+ experiment files, multiple result directories, and extensive literature notes can easily exceed the agent's context window. Manage this proactively:

**What to load into context per drafting task:**

| Drafting Task | Load Into Context | Do NOT Load |
|---------------|------------------|-------------|
| Writing Introduction | `experiment_log.md`, contribution statement, 5-10 most relevant paper abstracts | Raw result JSONs, full experiment scripts, all literature notes |
| Writing Methods | Experiment configs, pseudocode, architecture description | Raw logs, results from other experiments |
| Writing Results | `experiment_log.md`, result summary tables, figure list | Full analysis scripts, intermediate data |
| Writing Related Work | Organized citation notes (Step 1.4 output), .bib file | Experiment files, raw PDFs |
| Revision pass | Full paper draft, specific reviewer concerns | Everything else |

**Principles:**
- **`experiment_log.md` is the primary context bridge** — it summarizes everything needed for writing without loading raw data files (see Step 4.6)
- **Load one section's context at a time** when delegating. A sub-agent drafting Methods doesn't need the literature review notes.
- **Summarize, don't include raw files.** For a 200-line result JSON, load a 10-line summary table. For a 50-page related paper, load the 5-sentence abstract + your 2-line note about its relevance.
- **For very large projects**: Create a `context/` directory with pre-compressed summaries:
  ```
  context/
    contribution.md          # 1 sentence
    experiment_summary.md    # Key results table (from experiment_log.md)
    literature_map.md        # Organized citation notes
    figure_inventory.md      # List of figures with descriptions
  ```

### The Narrative Principle

**The single most critical insight**: Your paper is not a collection of experiments — it's a story with one clear contribution supported by evidence.

Every successful ML paper centers on what Neel Nanda calls "the narrative": a short, rigorous, evidence-based technical story with a takeaway readers care about.

**Three Pillars (must be crystal clear by end of introduction):**

| Pillar | Description | Test |
|--------|-------------|------|
| **The What** | 1-3 specific novel claims | Can you state them in one sentence? |
| **The Why** | Rigorous empirical evidence | Do experiments distinguish your hypothesis from alternatives? |
| **The So What** | Why readers should care | Does this connect to a recognized community problem? |

**If you cannot state your contribution in one sentence, you don't yet have a paper.**

### The Sources Behind This Guidance

This skill synthesizes writing philosophy from researchers who have published extensively at top venues. The writing philosophy layer was originally compiled by [Orchestra Research](https://github.com/orchestra-research) as the `ml-paper-writing` skill.

| Source | Key Contribution | Link |
|--------|-----------------|------|
| **Neel Nanda** (Google DeepMind) | The Narrative Principle, What/Why/So What framework | [How to Write ML Papers](https://www.alignmentforum.org/posts/eJGptPbbFPZGLpjsp/highly-opinionated-advice-on-how-to-write-ml-papers) |
| **Sebastian Farquhar** (DeepMind) | 5-sentence abstract formula | [How to Write ML Papers](https://sebastianfarquhar.com/on-research/2024/11/04/how_to_write_ml_papers/) |
| **Gopen & Swan** | 7 principles of reader expectations | [Science of Scientific Writing](https://cseweb.ucsd.edu/~swanson/papers/science-of-writing.pdf) |
| **Zachary Lipton** | Word choice, eliminating hedging | [Heuristics for Scientific Writing](https://www.approximatelycorrect.com/2018/01/29/heuristics-technical-scientific-writing-machine-learning-perspective/) |
| **Jacob Steinhardt** (UC Berkeley) | Precision, consistent terminology | [Writing Tips](https://bounded-regret.ghost.io/) |
| **Ethan Perez** (Anthropic) | Micro-level clarity tips | [Easy Paper Writing Tips](https://ethanperez.net/easy-paper-writing-tips/) |
| **Andrej Karpathy** | Single contribution focus | Various lectures |

**For deeper dives into any of these, see:**
- [references/writing-guide.md](references/writing-guide.md) — Full explanations with examples
- [references/sources.md](references/sources.md) — Complete bibliography

### Time Allocation

Spend approximately **equal time** on each of:
1. The abstract
2. The introduction
3. The figures
4. Everything else combined

**Why?** Most reviewers form judgments before reaching your methods. Readers encounter your paper as: title → abstract → introduction → figures → maybe the rest.

### Writing Workflow

```
Paper Writing Checklist:
- [ ] Step 1: Define the one-sentence contribution
- [ ] Step 2: Draft Figure 1 (core idea or most compelling result)
- [ ] Step 3: Draft abstract (5-sentence formula)
- [ ] Step 4: Draft introduction (1-1.5 pages max)
- [ ] Step 5: Draft methods
- [ ] Step 6: Draft experiments & results
- [ ] Step 7: Draft related work
- [ ] Step 8: Draft conclusion & discussion
- [ ] Step 9: Draft limitations (REQUIRED by all venues)
- [ ] Step 10: Plan appendix (proofs, extra experiments, details)
- [ ] Step 11: Complete paper checklist
- [ ] Step 12: Final review
```

### Two-Pass Refinement Pattern

When drafting with an AI agent, use a **two-pass** approach (proven effective in SakanaAI's AI-Scientist pipeline):

**Pass 1 — Write + immediate refine per section:**
For each section, write a complete draft, then immediately refine it in the same context. This catches local issues (clarity, flow, completeness) while the section is fresh.

**Pass 2 — Global refinement with full-paper context:**
After all sections are drafted, revisit each section with awareness of the complete paper. This catches cross-section issues: redundancy, inconsistent terminology, narrative flow, and gaps where one section promises something another doesn't deliver.

```
Second-pass refinement prompt (per section):
"Review the [SECTION] in the context of the complete paper.
- Does it fit with the rest of the paper? Are there redundancies with other sections?
- Is terminology consistent with Introduction and Methods?
- Can anything be cut without weakening the message?
- Does the narrative flow from the previous section and into the next?
Make minimal, targeted edits. Do not rewrite from scratch."
```

### LaTeX Error Checklist

Append this checklist to every refinement prompt. These are the most common errors when LLMs write LaTeX:

```
LaTeX Quality Checklist (verify after every edit):
- [ ] No unenclosed math symbols ($ signs balanced)
- [ ] Only reference figures/tables that exist (\ref matches \label)
- [ ] No fabricated citations (\cite matches entries in .bib)
- [ ] Every \begin{env} has matching \end{env} (especially figure, table, algorithm)
- [ ] No HTML contamination (</end{figure}> instead of \end{figure})
- [ ] No unescaped underscores outside math mode (use \_ in text)
- [ ] No duplicate \label definitions
- [ ] No duplicate section headers
- [ ] Numbers in text match actual experimental results
- [ ] All figures have captions and labels
- [ ] No overly long lines that cause overfull hbox warnings
```

### Step 5.0: Title

The title is the single most-read element of the paper. It determines whether anyone clicks through to the abstract.

**Good titles**:
- State the contribution or finding: "Autoreason: When Iterative LLM Refinement Works and Why It Fails"
- Highlight a surprising result: "Scaling Data-Constrained Language Models" (implies you can)
- Name the method + what it does: "DPO: Direct Preference Optimization of Language Models"

**Bad titles**:
- Too generic: "An Approach to Improving Language Model Outputs"
- Too long: anything over ~15 words
- Jargon-only: "Asymptotic Convergence of Iterative Stochastic Policy Refinement" (who is this for?)

**Rules**:
- Include your method name if you have one (for citability)
- Include 1-2 keywords reviewers will search for
- Avoid colons unless both halves carry meaning
- Test: would a reviewer know the domain and contribution from the title alone?

### Step 5.1: Abstract (5-Sentence Formula)

From Sebastian Farquhar (DeepMind):

```
1. What you achieved: "We introduce...", "We prove...", "We demonstrate..."
2. Why this is hard and important
3. How you do it (with specialist keywords for discoverability)
4. What evidence you have
5. Your most remarkable number/result
```

**Delete** generic openings like "Large language models have achieved remarkable success..."

### Step 5.2: Figure 1

Figure 1 is the second thing most readers look at (after abstract). Draft it before writing the introduction — it forces you to clarify the core idea.

| Figure 1 Type | When to Use | Example |
|---------------|-------------|---------|
| **Method diagram** | New architecture or pipeline | TikZ flowchart showing your system |
| **Results teaser** | One compelling result tells the whole story | Bar chart: "Ours vs baselines" with clear gap |
| **Problem illustration** | The problem is unintuitive | Before/after showing failure mode you fix |
| **Conceptual diagram** | Abstract contribution needs visual grounding | 2x2 matrix of method properties |

**Rules**: Figure 1 must be understandable without reading any text. The caption alone should communicate the core idea. Use color purposefully — don't just decorate.

### Step 5.3: Introduction (1-1.5 pages max)

Must include:
- Clear problem statement
- Brief approach overview
- 2-4 bullet contribution list (max 1-2 lines each in two-column format)
- Methods should start by page 2-3

### Step 5.4: Methods

Enable reimplementation:
- Conceptual outline or pseudocode
- All hyperparameters listed
- Architectural details sufficient for reproduction
- Present final design decisions; ablations go in experiments

### Step 5.5: Experiments & Results

For each experiment, explicitly state:
- **What claim it supports**
- How it connects to main contribution
- What to observe: "the blue line shows X, which demonstrates Y"

Requirements:
- Error bars with methodology (std dev vs std error)
- Hyperparameter search ranges
- Compute infrastructure (GPU type, total hours)
- Seed-setting methods

### Step 5.6: Related Work

Organize methodologically, not paper-by-paper. Cite generously — reviewers likely authored relevant papers.

### Step 5.7: Limitations (REQUIRED)

All major conferences require this. Honesty helps:
- Reviewers are instructed not to penalize honest limitation acknowledgment
- Pre-empt criticisms by identifying weaknesses first
- Explain why limitations don't undermine core claims

### Step 5.8: Conclusion & Discussion

**Conclusion** (required, 0.5-1 page):
- Restate the contribution in one sentence (different wording from abstract)
- Summarize key findings (2-3 sentences, not a list)
- Implications: what does this mean for the field?
- Future work: 2-3 concrete next steps (not vague "we leave X for future work")

**Discussion** (optional, sometimes combined with conclusion):
- Broader implications beyond immediate results
- Connections to other subfields
- Honest assessment of when the method does and doesn't work
- Practical deployment considerations

**Do NOT** introduce new results or claims in the conclusion.

### Step 5.9: Appendix Strategy

Appendices are unlimited at all major venues and are essential for reproducibility. Structure:

| Appendix Section | What Goes Here |
|-----------------|---------------|
| **Proofs & Derivations** | Full proofs too long for main text. Main text can state theorems with "proof in Appendix A." |
| **Additional Experiments** | Ablations, scaling curves, per-dataset breakdowns, hyperparameter sensitivity |
| **Implementation Details** | Full hyperparameter tables, training details, hardware specs, random seeds |
| **Dataset Documentation** | Data collection process, annotation guidelines, licensing, preprocessing |
| **Prompts & Templates** | Exact prompts used (for LLM-based methods), evaluation templates |
| **Human Evaluation** | Annotation interface screenshots, instructions given to annotators, IRB details |
| **Additional Figures** | Per-task breakdowns, trajectory visualizations, failure case examples |

**Rules**:
- The main paper must be self-contained — reviewers are not required to read appendices
- Never put critical evidence only in the appendix
- Cross-reference: "Full results in Table 5 (Appendix B)" not just "see appendix"
- Use `\appendix` command, then `\section{A: Proofs}` etc.

### Page Budget Management

When over the page limit:

| Cut Strategy | Saves | Risk |
|-------------|-------|------|
| Move proofs to appendix | 0.5-2 pages | Low — standard practice |
| Condense related work | 0.5-1 page | Medium — may miss key citations |
| Combine tables with subfigures | 0.25-0.5 page | Low — often improves readability |
| Use `\vspace{-Xpt}` sparingly | 0.1-0.3 page | Low if subtle, high if obvious |
| Remove qualitative examples | 0.5-1 page | Medium — reviewers like examples |
| Reduce figure sizes | 0.25-0.5 page | High — figures must remain readable |

**Do NOT**: reduce font size, change margins, remove required sections (limitations, broader impact), or use `\small`/`\footnotesize` for main text.

### Step 5.10: Ethics & Broader Impact Statement

Most venues now require or strongly encourage an ethics/broader impact statement. This is not boilerplate — reviewers read it and can flag ethics concerns that trigger desk rejection.

**What to include:**

| Component | Content | Required By |
|-----------|---------|-------------|
| **Positive societal impact** | How your work benefits society | NeurIPS, ICML |
| **Potential negative impact** | Misuse risks, dual-use concerns, failure modes | NeurIPS, ICML |
| **Fairness & bias** | Does your method/data have known biases? | All venues (implicitly) |
| **Environmental impact** | Compute carbon footprint for large-scale training | ICML, increasingly NeurIPS |
| **Privacy** | Does your work use or enable processing of personal data? | ACL, NeurIPS |
| **LLM disclosure** | Was AI used in writing or experiments? | ICLR (mandatory), ACL |

**Writing the statement:**

```latex
\section*{Broader Impact Statement}
% NeurIPS/ICML: after conclusion, does not count toward page limit

% 1. Positive applications (1-2 sentences)
This work enables [specific application] which may benefit [specific group].

% 2. Risks and mitigations (1-3 sentences, be specific)
[Method/model] could potentially be misused for [specific risk]. We mitigate
this by [specific mitigation, e.g., releasing only model weights above size X,
including safety filters, documenting failure modes].

% 3. Limitations of impact claims (1 sentence)
Our evaluation is limited to [specific domain]; broader deployment would
require [specific additional work].
```

**Common mistakes:**
- Writing "we foresee no negative impacts" (almost never true — reviewers distrust this)
- Being vague: "this could be misused" without specifying how
- Ignoring compute costs for large-scale work
- Forgetting to disclose LLM use at venues that require it

**Compute carbon footprint** (for training-heavy papers):
```python
# Estimate using ML CO2 Impact tool methodology
gpu_hours = 1000  # total GPU hours
gpu_tdp_watts = 400  # e.g., A100 = 400W
pue = 1.1  # Power Usage Effectiveness (data center overhead)
carbon_intensity = 0.429  # kg CO2/kWh (US average; varies by region)

energy_kwh = (gpu_hours * gpu_tdp_watts * pue) / 1000
carbon_kg = energy_kwh * carbon_intensity
print(f"Energy: {energy_kwh:.0f} kWh, Carbon: {carbon_kg:.0f} kg CO2eq")
```

### Step 5.11: Datasheets & Model Cards (If Applicable)

If your paper introduces a **new dataset** or **releases a model**, include structured documentation. Reviewers increasingly expect this, and NeurIPS Datasets & Benchmarks track requires it.

**Datasheets for Datasets** (Gebru et al., 2021) — include in appendix:

```
Dataset Documentation (Appendix):
- Motivation: Why was this dataset created? What task does it support?
- Composition: What are the instances? How many? What data types?
- Collection: How was data collected? What was the source?
- Preprocessing: What cleaning/filtering was applied?
- Distribution: How is the dataset distributed? Under what license?
- Maintenance: Who maintains it? How to report issues?
- Ethical considerations: Contains personal data? Consent obtained?
  Potential for harm? Known biases?
```

**Model Cards** (Mitchell et al., 2019) — include in appendix for model releases:

```
Model Card (Appendix):
- Model details: Architecture, training data, training procedure
- Intended use: Primary use cases, out-of-scope uses
- Metrics: Evaluation metrics and results on benchmarks
- Ethical considerations: Known biases, fairness evaluations
- Limitations: Known failure modes, domains where model underperforms
```

### Writing Style

**Sentence-level clarity (Gopen & Swan's 7 Principles):**

| Principle | Rule |
|-----------|------|
| Subject-verb proximity | Keep subject and verb close |
| Stress position | Place emphasis at sentence ends |
| Topic position | Put context first, new info after |
| Old before new | Familiar info → unfamiliar info |
| One unit, one function | Each paragraph makes one point |
| Action in verb | Use verbs, not nominalizations |
| Context before new | Set stage before presenting |

**Word choice (Lipton, Steinhardt):**
- Be specific: "accuracy" not "performance"
- Eliminate hedging: drop "may" unless genuinely uncertain
- Consistent terminology throughout
- Avoid incremental vocabulary: "develop", not "combine"

**Full writing guide with examples**: See [references/writing-guide.md](references/writing-guide.md)

### Using LaTeX Templates

**Always copy the entire template directory first, then write within it.**

```
Template Setup Checklist:
- [ ] Step 1: Copy entire template directory to new project
- [ ] Step 2: Verify template compiles as-is (before any changes)
- [ ] Step 3: Read the template's example content to understand structure
- [ ] Step 4: Replace example content section by section
- [ ] Step 5: Use template macros (check preamble for \newcommand definitions)
- [ ] Step 6: Clean up template artifacts only at the end
```

**Step 1: Copy the Full Template**

```bash
cp -r templates/neurips2025/ ~/papers/my-paper/
cd ~/papers/my-paper/
ls -la  # Should see: main.tex, neurips.sty, Makefile, etc.
```

Copy the ENTIRE directory, not just the .tex file. Templates include style files (.sty), bibliography styles (.bst), example content, and Makefiles.

**Step 2: Verify Template Compiles First**

Before making ANY changes:
```bash
latexmk -pdf main.tex
# Or manual: pdflatex main.tex && bibtex main && pdflatex main.tex && pdflatex main.tex
```

If the unmodified template doesn't compile, fix that first (usually missing TeX packages — install via `tlmgr install <package>`).

**Step 3: Keep Template Content as Reference**

Don't immediately delete example content. Comment it out and use as formatting reference:
```latex
% Template example (keep for reference):
% \begin{figure}[t]
%   \centering
%   \includegraphics[width=0.8\linewidth]{example-image}
%   \caption{Template shows caption style}
% \end{figure}

% Your actual figure:
\begin{figure}[t]
  \centering
  \includegraphics[width=0.8\linewidth]{your-figure.pdf}
  \caption{Your caption following the same style.}
\end{figure}
```

**Step 4: Replace Content Section by Section**

Work through systematically: title/authors → abstract → introduction → methods → experiments → related work → conclusion → references → appendix. Compile after each section.

**Step 5: Use Template Macros**

```latex
\newcommand{\method}{YourMethodName}  % Consistent method naming
\newcommand{\eg}{e.g.,\xspace}        % Proper abbreviations
\newcommand{\ie}{i.e.,\xspace}
```

### Template Pitfalls

| Pitfall | Problem | Solution |
|---------|---------|----------|
| Copying only `.tex` file | Missing `.sty`, won't compile | Copy entire directory |
| Modifying `.sty` files | Breaks conference formatting | Never edit style files |
| Adding random packages | Conflicts, breaks template | Only add if necessary |
| Deleting template content early | Lose formatting reference | Keep as comments until done |
| Not compiling frequently | Errors accumulate | Compile after each section |
| Raster PNGs for figures | Blurry in paper | Always use vector PDF via `savefig('fig.pdf')` |

### Quick Template Reference

| Conference | Main File | Style File | Page Limit |
|------------|-----------|------------|------------|
| NeurIPS 2025 | `main.tex` | `neurips.sty` | 9 pages |
| ICML 2026 | `example_paper.tex` | `icml2026.sty` | 8 pages |
| ICLR 2026 | `iclr2026_conference.tex` | `iclr2026_conference.sty` | 9 pages |
| ACL 2025 | `acl_latex.tex` | `acl.sty` | 8 pages (long) |
| AAAI 2026 | `aaai2026-unified-template.tex` | `aaai2026.sty` | 7 pages |
| COLM 2025 | `colm2025_conference.tex` | `colm2025_conference.sty` | 9 pages |

**Universal**: Double-blind, references don't count, appendices unlimited, LaTeX required.

Templates in `templates/` directory. See [templates/README.md](templates/README.md) for compilation setup (VS Code, CLI, Overleaf, other IDEs).

### Tables and Figures

**Tables** — use `booktabs` for professional formatting:

```latex
\usepackage{booktabs}
\begin{tabular}{lcc}
\toprule
Method & Accuracy $\uparrow$ & Latency $\downarrow$ \\
\midrule
Baseline & 85.2 & 45ms \\
\textbf{Ours} & \textbf{92.1} & 38ms \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
```

Rules:
- Bold best value per metric
- Include direction symbols ($\uparrow$ higher better, $\downarrow$ lower better)
- Right-align numerical columns
- Consistent decimal precision

**Figures**:
- **Vector graphics** (PDF, EPS) for all plots and diagrams — `plt.savefig('fig.pdf')`
- **Raster** (PNG 600 DPI) only for photographs
- **Colorblind-safe palettes** (Okabe-Ito or Paul Tol)
- Verify **grayscale readability** (8% of men have color vision deficiency)
- **No title inside figure** — the caption serves this function
- **Self-contained captions** — reader should understand without main text

### Conference Resubmission

For converting between venues, see Phase 7 (Submission Preparation) — it covers the full conversion workflow, page-change table, and post-rejection guidance.

### Professional LaTeX Preamble

Add these packages to any paper for professional quality. They are compatible with all major conference style files:

```latex
% --- Professional Packages (add after conference style file) ---

% Typography
\usepackage{microtype}              % Microtypographic improvements (protrusion, expansion)
                                     % Makes text noticeably more polished — always include

% Tables
\usepackage{booktabs}               % Professional table rules (\toprule, \midrule, \bottomrule)
\usepackage{siunitx}                % Consistent number formatting, decimal alignment
                                     % Usage: \num{12345} → 12,345; \SI{3.5}{GHz} → 3.5 GHz
                                     % Table alignment: S column type for decimal-aligned numbers

% Figures
\usepackage{graphicx}               % Include graphics (\includegraphics)
\usepackage{subcaption}             % Subfigures with (a), (b), (c) labels
                                     % Usage: \begin{subfigure}{0.48\textwidth} ... \end{subfigure}

% Diagrams and Algorithms
\usepackage{tikz}                   % Programmable vector diagrams
\usetikzlibrary{arrows.meta, positioning, shapes.geometric, calc, fit, backgrounds}
\usepackage[ruled,vlined]{algorithm2e}  % Professional pseudocode
                                     % Alternative: \usepackage{algorithmicx} if template bundles it

% Cross-references
\usepackage{cleveref}               % Smart references: \cref{fig:x} → "Figure 1"
                                     % MUST be loaded AFTER hyperref
                                     % Handles: figures, tables, sections, equations, algorithms

% Math (usually included by conference .sty, but verify)
\usepackage{amsmath,amssymb}        % AMS math environments and symbols
\usepackage{mathtools}              % Extends amsmath (dcases, coloneqq, etc.)

% Colors (for figures and diagrams)
\usepackage{xcolor}                 % Color management
% Okabe-Ito colorblind-safe palette:
\definecolor{okblue}{HTML}{0072B2}
\definecolor{okorange}{HTML}{E69F00}
\definecolor{okgreen}{HTML}{009E73}
\definecolor{okred}{HTML}{D55E00}
\definecolor{okpurple}{HTML}{CC79A7}
\definecolor{okcyan}{HTML}{56B4E9}
\definecolor{okyellow}{HTML}{F0E442}
```

**Notes:**
- `microtype` is the single highest-impact package for visual quality. It adjusts character spacing at a sub-pixel level. Always include it.
- `siunitx` handles decimal alignment in tables via the `S` column type — eliminates manual spacing.
- `cleveref` must be loaded **after** `hyperref`. Most conference .sty files load hyperref, so put cleveref last.
- Check if the conference template already loads any of these (especially `algorithm`, `amsmath`, `graphicx`). Don't double-load.

### siunitx Table Alignment

`siunitx` makes number-heavy tables significantly more readable:

```latex
\begin{tabular}{l S[table-format=2.1] S[table-format=2.1] S[table-format=2.1]}
\toprule
Method & {Accuracy $\uparrow$} & {F1 $\uparrow$} & {Latency (ms) $\downarrow$} \\
\midrule
Baseline         & 85.2  & 83.7  & 45.3 \\
Ablation (no X)  & 87.1  & 85.4  & 42.1 \\
\textbf{Ours}    & \textbf{92.1} & \textbf{90.8} & \textbf{38.7} \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
```

The `S` column type auto-aligns on the decimal point. Headers in `{}` escape the alignment.

### Subfigures

Standard pattern for side-by-side figures:

```latex
\begin{figure}[t]
  \centering
  \begin{subfigure}[b]{0.48\textwidth}
    \centering
    \includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{fig_results_a.pdf}
    \caption{Results on Dataset A.}
    \label{fig:results-a}
  \end{subfigure}
  \hfill
  \begin{subfigure}[b]{0.48\textwidth}
    \centering
    \includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{fig_results_b.pdf}
    \caption{Results on Dataset B.}
    \label{fig:results-b}
  \end{subfigure}
  \caption{Comparison of our method across two datasets. (a) shows the scaling
  behavior and (b) shows the ablation results. Both use 5 random seeds.}
  \label{fig:results}
\end{figure}
```

Use `\cref{fig:results}` → "Figure 1", `\cref{fig:results-a}` → "Figure 1a".

### Pseudocode with algorithm2e

```latex
\begin{algorithm}[t]
\caption{Iterative Refinement with Judge Panel}
\label{alg:method}
\KwIn{Task $T$, model $M$, judges $J_1 \ldots J_n$, convergence threshold $k$}
\KwOut{Final output $A^*$}
$A \gets M(T)$ \tcp*{Initial generation}
$\text{streak} \gets 0$\;
\While{$\text{streak} < k$}{
  $C \gets \text{Critic}(A, T)$ \tcp*{Identify weaknesses}
  $B \gets M(T, C)$ \tcp*{Revised version addressing critique}
  $AB \gets \text{Synthesize}(A, B)$ \tcp*{Merge best elements}
  \ForEach{judge $J_i$}{
    $\text{rank}_i \gets J_i(\text{shuffle}(A, B, AB))$ \tcp*{Blind ranking}
  }
  $\text{winner} \gets \text{BordaCount}(\text{ranks})$\;
  \eIf{$\text{winner} = A$}{
    $\text{streak} \gets \text{streak} + 1$\;
  }{
    $A \gets \text{winner}$; $\text{streak} \gets 0$\;
  }
}
\Return{$A$}\;
\end{algorithm}
```

### TikZ Diagram Patterns

TikZ is the standard for method diagrams in ML papers. Common patterns:

**Pipeline/Flow Diagram** (most common in ML papers):

```latex
\begin{figure}[t]
\centering
\begin{tikzpicture}[
  node distance=1.8cm,
  box/.style={rectangle, draw, rounded corners, minimum height=1cm, 
              minimum width=2cm, align=center, font=\small},
  arrow/.style={-{Stealth[length=3mm]}, thick},
]
  \node[box, fill=okcyan!20] (input) {Input\\$x$};
  \node[box, fill=okblue!20, right of=input] (encoder) {Encoder\\$f_\theta$};
  \node[box, fill=okgreen!20, right of=encoder] (latent) {Latent\\$z$};
  \node[box, fill=okorange!20, right of=latent] (decoder) {Decoder\\$g_\phi$};
  \node[box, fill=okred!20, right of=decoder] (output) {Output\\$\hat{x}$};
  
  \draw[arrow] (input) -- (encoder);
  \draw[arrow] (encoder) -- (latent);
  \draw[arrow] (latent) -- (decoder);
  \draw[arrow] (decoder) -- (output);
\end{tikzpicture}
\caption{Architecture overview. The encoder maps input $x$ to latent 
representation $z$, which the decoder reconstructs.}
\label{fig:architecture}
\end{figure}
```

**Comparison/Matrix Diagram** (for showing method variants):

```latex
\begin{tikzpicture}[
  cell/.style={rectangle, draw, minimum width=2.5cm, minimum height=1cm, 
               align=center, font=\small},
  header/.style={cell, fill=gray!20, font=\small\bfseries},
]
  % Headers
  \node[header] at (0, 0) {Method};
  \node[header] at (3, 0) {Converges?};
  \node[header] at (6, 0) {Quality?};
  % Rows
  \node[cell] at (0, -1) {Single Pass};
  \node[cell, fill=okgreen!15] at (3, -1) {N/A};
  \node[cell, fill=okorange!15] at (6, -1) {Baseline};
  \node[cell] at (0, -2) {Critique+Revise};
  \node[cell, fill=okred!15] at (3, -2) {No};
  \node[cell, fill=okred!15] at (6, -2) {Degrades};
  \node[cell] at (0, -3) {Ours};
  \node[cell, fill=okgreen!15] at (3, -3) {Yes ($k$=2)};
  \node[cell, fill=okgreen!15] at (6, -3) {Improves};
\end{tikzpicture}
```

**Iterative Loop Diagram** (for methods with feedback):

```latex
\begin{tikzpicture}[
  node distance=2cm,
  box/.style={rectangle, draw, rounded corners, minimum height=0.8cm, 
              minimum width=1.8cm, align=center, font=\small},
  arrow/.style={-{Stealth[length=3mm]}, thick},
  label/.style={font=\scriptsize, midway, above},
]
  \node[box, fill=okblue!20] (gen) {Generator};
  \node[box, fill=okred!20, right=2.5cm of gen] (critic) {Critic};
  \node[box, fill=okgreen!20, below=1.5cm of $(gen)!0.5!(critic)$] (judge) {Judge Panel};
  
  \draw[arrow] (gen) -- node[label] {output $A$} (critic);
  \draw[arrow] (critic) -- node[label, right] {critique $C$} (judge);
  \draw[arrow] (judge) -| node[label, left, pos=0.3] {winner} (gen);
\end{tikzpicture}
```

### latexdiff for Revision Tracking

Essential for rebuttals — generates a marked-up PDF showing changes between versions:

```bash
# Install
# macOS: brew install latexdiff (or comes with TeX Live)
# Linux: sudo apt install latexdiff

# Generate diff
latexdiff paper_v1.tex paper_v2.tex > paper_diff.tex
pdflatex paper_diff.tex

# For multi-file projects (with \input{} or \include{})
latexdiff --flatten paper_v1.tex paper_v2.tex > paper_diff.tex
```

This produces a PDF with deletions in red strikethrough and additions in blue — standard format for rebuttal supplements.

### SciencePlots for matplotlib

Install and use for publication-quality plots:

```bash
pip install SciencePlots
```

```python
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import scienceplots  # registers styles

# Use science style (IEEE-like, clean)
with plt.style.context(['science', 'no-latex']):
    fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(3.5, 2.5))  # Single-column width
    ax.plot(x, y, label='Ours', color='#0072B2')
    ax.plot(x, y2, label='Baseline', color='#D55E00', linestyle='--')
    ax.set_xlabel('Training Steps')
    ax.set_ylabel('Accuracy')
    ax.legend()
    fig.savefig('paper/fig_results.pdf', bbox_inches='tight')

# Available styles: 'science', 'ieee', 'nature', 'science+ieee'
# Add 'no-latex' if LaTeX is not installed on the machine generating plots
```

**Standard figure sizes** (two-column format):
- Single column: `figsize=(3.5, 2.5)` — fits in one column
- Double column: `figsize=(7.0, 3.0)` — spans both columns
- Square: `figsize=(3.5, 3.5)` — for heatmaps, confusion matrices

---