Update the AGU article format to the official 2019 template
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Description
Background
The agu_article() format currently bundles agujournal2018.cls. AGU's current submission resources still identify agujournal2019.cls as the primary class and strongly recommend the newest submission template, while allowing older legible templates.
AGU also publishes agujournal2025.cls, but describes it as a newer template that more closely resembles Wiley's typeset output. It should be evaluated separately rather than assumed to be a drop-in replacement for the submission-oriented 2019 class.
Official resources:
- AGU author resources: https://publications.agu.org/author-resource-center/text-requirements/
- AGU 2025 template repository: https://github.com/AGU-Publications/agujournal2025-latex-template
Proposed update
Update the default agu_article() template from agujournal2018.cls to the official agujournal2019.cls, including its current skeleton and submission guidance.
This needs more than renaming the class. In particular:
agu_article()currently defaults tocitation_package = "natbib".- The existing skeleton teaches
\citetand\citep. - The 2019 class uses
apaciteconventions and documents\citeAand\cite. - Track-changes defaults and appendix numbering also changed.
Citation output and existing-document compatibility should therefore receive focused tests.
Current LaTeX compatibility problem
The bundled 2018 class fails to render ordinary tabular environments with the LaTeX 2026-06-01 kernel (Missing $ inserted at \begin{tabular}). The cause is the class's copied \@array implementation, whose center branch uses the math-only \vcenter while current LaTeX uses \vcenter@text.
The official 2019 and 2025 classes retain the same bare \vcenter, so updating the class alone will not fix this failure. The rticles template will need a small backward-compatible workaround (use \vcenter@text when available, otherwise \vcenter) until this is corrected upstream.
Suggested scope
- Add the narrow LaTeX compatibility workaround and keep the AGU render test enabled.
- Migrate the submission template to
agujournal2019.clswith citation and appendix regression coverage. - Evaluate
agujournal2025.clsseparately, potentially as an additional output format.
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Locate agu_article(), its bundled AGU skeleton, and the current AGU render test. Start by comparing the 2018 and 2019 class usage, then inspect the tabular compatibility workaround and citation conventions. Done means the 2019 submission template is the default, citation and appendix regressions pass, and the AGU render test remains enabled; evaluate the 2025 class separately.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- latex, r
- Domain
- build-system, documentation, testing
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Active
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 58/100