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Elsevier — elsarticle class

Template name: elsarticle Alias: elsevier Class file: elsarticle.cls (CTAN, Jan 2026 build) Citation style: natbib numbered (default elsarticle-num.bst) Example PDF: build/example-elsarticle.pdf

Covers

The elsarticle class is the single Elsevier LaTeX class used by every Elsevier journal. A non-exhaustive list:

  • Quaternary Science Reviews (QSR)
  • Earth and Planetary Science Letters (EPSL)
  • Global and Planetary Change (GPC)
  • Earth-Science Reviews (ESR)
  • Chemical Geology
  • Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
  • Cell, Cell Reports, Current Biology, Neuron, …
  • The Lancet (and its specialty journals)
  • NeuroImage, Tetrahedron, Journal of Hydrology, Journal of Geophysical Research… (the AGU half), …

YAML setup

journal:
    template: elsarticle
    options: [final, 5p, times]              # default — full journal-typeset 2-col
    # options: [preprint, 12pt]              # double-blind submission style
    # options: [final, 3p, twocolumn, times] # alternative production layout
    # options: [review, preprint, 12pt]      # double-spaced for peer review
    name: "Quaternary Science Reviews"        # optional, sets \journal{...}

Option groups

group meaning
preprint 1.5-spaced preprint (Elsevier double-blind submission default)
review Double-spaced review style — combine with preprint
1p Single-column journal layout
3p Double-column 3-part journal layout
5p Double-column 5-part journal layout (looks closest to a typeset article)
twocolumn Two-column variant — combine with 1p / 3p / 5p
final Final-production style (vs. preprint)
authoryear Switch to author-year citations (pair with elsarticle-harv.bst)
times Use Times font

Recognised section headings

  • # Abstract
  • # Highlights — rendered into \begin{highlights} itemize
  • # Keywords — rendered into \begin{keyword} with \sep separators
  • # Acknowledgements
  • # Data Availability
  • # CRediT / # Author Contributions — rendered as \section*{CRediT authorship contribution statement}
  • # Competing Interests — rendered as \section*{Declaration of competing interest}
  • # Appendix

Gotchas

  • elsarticle does not load amsmath or hyperref from its class. The template loads both, so \begin{align} and \href{} work out of the box.
  • The default elsarticle-num.bst produces numbered references. If you need author-year, use options: [authoryear, ...] and set biblio_style: elsarticle-harv (or the named variant).