A bioRxiv manuscript template is a formatting scaffold — in LaTeX or Word — that arranges title page, abstract, figures, and references to match bioRxiv’s posting system, but bioRxiv itself mandates no single template. Authors may submit a plain PDF, a Word file with separate figures, or a LaTeX-derived PDF built from one of several community templates. This guide walks through each formatting field so a manuscript is ready for upload on the first attempt, rather than repeating the general submission-guidelines overview already covered elsewhere on this site.
bioRxiv is the preprint server for biology, operated by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, that posts unpublished research manuscripts after a basic screening step rather than peer review.
- Does bioRxiv require a specific manuscript template?
- Which LaTeX template should you use?
- Formatting a bioRxiv manuscript in Word
- File formats and figure rules bioRxiv accepts
- How bioRxiv assigns a DOI and how to cite a preprint
- Frequently asked questions
- What this means for authors and institutions
Does bioRxiv Require a Specific Manuscript Template?
No. bioRxiv’s own guidance states that it “does not require a particular article format/style,” and submission formats can therefore vary considerably between manuscripts. The bioRxiv Submission Guide describes the simplest route as uploading a single PDF containing the full text, figures, and tables.
This absence of a mandatory template is precisely why community-built templates exist: authors want the discipline of a fixed structure — title page order, figure placement, reference formatting — even though bioRxiv will accept a manuscript without one. The trade-off is that a template also signals to co-authors and affiliates conducting screening that the manuscript is complete and properly ordered.
Which LaTeX Template Should You Use for bioRxiv?
For LaTeX users, Overleaf hosts several bioRxiv-tagged templates that compile directly to a submission-ready PDF. Two are widely used within the biology preprint community, and both descend from the same lineage: the HenriquesLab bioRxiv template, itself a modification of the PNAS journal template.
The quantixed/manuscript-templates repository extends this further: a single manuscript source can generate either a typeset preprint layout (\documentclass[twocolumn]{bioRxiv}) or a line-numbered journal-submission layout (\documentclass[submit]{bioRxiv}) by commenting one line in a merge file, avoiding two parallel documents. It also adds native \orcidlink support so ORCID iDs render correctly on the title page.
| Template | Format | Platform | Notable field-level feature |
|---|---|---|---|
| arXiv/bioRxiv template | LaTeX | Overleaf | General-purpose preprint layout with figure embedding |
| HenriquesLab bioRxiv template | LaTeX | Overleaf | PNAS-derived styling built specifically for bioRxiv |
| quantixed/manuscript-templates | LaTeX | GitHub / Overleaf | Switchable preprint vs. journal-submission layout; ORCID support |
| chrelli/bioRxiv-word-template | Word (.docx) | GitHub | Styled headings and figure captions for non-LaTeX authors |
| finkelsteinlab/BioRxiv-Template | Word (.docx) | GitHub | Reader-friendly layout aimed at readability over journal mimicry |
Whichever LaTeX template is used, the .tex source must still be compiled and converted to PDF before upload — bioRxiv’s submission system does not accept raw .tex files.
Formatting a bioRxiv Manuscript in Word
Authors who do not use LaTeX can format directly in Microsoft Word using a template such as the chrelli or finkelsteinlab bioRxiv templates on GitHub, both designed to visually approximate a typeset preprint while remaining fully editable. The practical field order to follow is:
- Title page: full title, author list, institutional affiliations, ORCID iDs, and the corresponding author’s contact details.
- Abstract: a single unstructured paragraph summarising rationale, method, and findings.
- Main text: Introduction, Results, Discussion, and Methods — bioRxiv does not enforce a fixed section order, so discipline-specific conventions (e.g. Methods-first for some biology sub-fields) are acceptable.
- Figures and tables: either embedded in-line at first citation or supplied as separate files.
- Author Contributions: a statement of who did what, increasingly expressed using the CRediT contributor role taxonomy.
- Competing interests and funding: brief declarations, matching journal norms.
- References and, where applicable, a separate Supplementary Information reference list.
On the Author Contributions field: CASRAI originated the CRediT contributor role taxonomy in 2014. The standard is now stewarded by NISO as ANSI/NISO Z39.104-2022, and mapping each author to a defined CRediT role gives the statement a machine-readable structure that a free-text sentence lacks.
What File Formats and Figure Rules Does bioRxiv Require?
bioRxiv’s accepted formats are narrower than they first appear, and mismatched file types are a common cause of upload failure.
- Main text: PDF, Microsoft Word, or WordPerfect.
- Figures and tables submitted separately: GIF, TIFF, EPS, or JPEG.
- Supplemental files: posted largely as-is, so a wider range of file types is tolerated.
- LaTeX source: must be compiled to PDF before submission; the system does not ingest
.texdirectly.
bioRxiv also offers a print-friendly, in-line-figure PDF generated automatically from the full-text HTML of a posted preprint — a feature introduced in February 2022 specifically so readers are not limited to the author’s originally submitted figure placement.
Article type matters as much as file type. bioRxiv categorises submissions as New Results, Confirmatory Results, or Contradictory Results; narrative reviews, commentaries, opinion pieces, and step-by-step protocols are not considered appropriate for the server. New manuscripts reporting clinical trial results must go to medRxiv instead of bioRxiv.
How Does bioRxiv Assign a DOI, and How Should a Preprint Be Cited?
Every bioRxiv preprint receives a Crossref DOI under the 10.1101/ prefix as soon as it clears screening and posts — no separate application step is required from the author. This DOI remains stable through subsequent revised versions of the same preprint.
For citation, most style guides treat a bioRxiv preprint as a standard journal-style reference carrying a DOI instead of (or alongside) volume and page numbers; Wikipedia maintains a dedicated {{Biorxiv}} citation template for exactly this purpose. Once a preprint is later published in a peer-reviewed journal, citing conventions typically shift to the journal DOI, with the preprint DOI retained as a historical record of priority.
Frequently Asked Questions About bioRxiv Submission
Can anyone submit to bioRxiv?
Yes. Any author may deposit a manuscript on bioRxiv provided it covers a relevant scientific field, is unpublished at the time of submission, and all co-authors have consented to its deposition. Authors must first register on the submission site before uploading a manuscript.
How much does it cost to submit to bioRxiv?
There is no fee to submit an article to bioRxiv. This distinguishes it from many journals’ article-processing charges and from some other preprint servers that levy optional support fees, making template correctness — not payment — the main barrier to a smooth first submission.
Can you put a paper on bioRxiv after submitting it to a journal?
Yes. A manuscript can be posted to bioRxiv at any point before a journal formally publishes it, and new revised versions can be posted at any time up to journal publication or assignment of a journal DOI, provided the target journal’s own preprint policy permits it.
When should you submit to bioRxiv?
There is no fixed submission window: a manuscript can go to bioRxiv at any stage before journal publication, including alongside or ahead of journal submission. Once a paper has already been formally published by a journal, it can no longer be submitted to bioRxiv.
What This Means for Authors and Institutions
The lack of a mandatory bioRxiv template shifts formatting risk onto the author rather than the platform. Choosing a maintained LaTeX template, such as one built to switch between preprint and journal-submission layouts, or a Word template with pre-styled headings, reduces reformatting work twice: once for the preprint and again when the manuscript is later reshaped for a target journal.
For research offices and library preprint-support teams, standardising on one or two vetted templates — and requiring CRediT-tagged Author Contributions statements — creates consistency across a department’s preprint output without waiting for bioRxiv itself to impose a house style. As preprints increasingly carry citable, versioned DOIs from the moment of posting, formatting discipline at submission time has become part of an institution’s research-integrity record, not just a cosmetic step.