Course Paper Template

A reusable LaTeX template for course project papers, built on the ACM acmart class. Clean two-column layout, automatic citations, and worked examples of figures, tables, and equations — with all ACM copyright and submission machinery stripped out.

The template ships configured for Technology Ensemble, Fall 2026, Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Music, but it is course-neutral: point it at any class by editing one file.

Reusing this for another course

Edit the COURSE INFO block near the top of L42i_paper_template.tex and change the values. The course line on the paper updates automatically.

\newcommand{\coursename}{Technology Ensemble}
\newcommand{\coursenumber}{}          % optional — leave empty to hide
\newcommand{\courseterm}{Fall}
\newcommand{\courseyear}{2026}
\newcommand{\courseinstitution}{Georgia Institute of Technology}
\newcommand{\coursedepartment}{School of Music}
\newcommand{\courseinstructor}{}       % optional — leave empty to hide
\newcommand{\pageheadertext}{Georgia Tech \textbullet\ School of Music}

The number and instructor fields are optional: fill them in and they appear; leave the braces empty and they're omitted. \pageheadertext sets the running header at the top of every page — change it, or set it empty to turn the header off. A typical workflow is to set these once per class and hand students the folder.

What's in this folder

File	What it is
L42i_paper_template.tex	The template. Your paper, plus the COURSE INFO block at the top.
L42i_paper_template.bib	The bibliography — add your sources here.
figures/	Put images here (a placeholder diagram is included).
acmart.cls	The document style. Don't edit.
ACM-Reference-Format.bst	The citation style. Don't edit.
NOTICE.txt	Attribution breakdown (see below).
LICENSE	The template's license (LPPL v1.3c).

Getting started on Overleaf (recommended)

1. Zip this whole folder (or upload the zip you were given).
2. On overleaf.com: New Project → Upload Project.
3. Open L42i_paper_template.tex and press Recompile.
4. Make sure the compiler is pdfLaTeX (Menu → Settings). It usually is by default.

Compiling on your own computer

You'll need a LaTeX installation (TeX Live, MacTeX, or MiKTeX). Then from this folder:

latexmk -pdf L42i_paper_template.tex

The three things people always ask

Add a figure — put the image in figures/, then:

\begin{figure}[h]
  \centering
  \includegraphics[width=\columnwidth]{figures/your-image}
  \caption{What the figure shows.}
  \Description{Plain-language description for accessibility.}
  \label{fig:mything}
\end{figure}

Refer to it in text with Figure~\ref{fig:mything}.

Cite a source — add an entry to L42i_paper_template.bib, then write \cite{thekey} in your text. There are worked examples of a conference paper, a book, a journal article, and software in that file.

Add an equation —

\begin{equation}
  a = g^{2}.
\end{equation}

Add code — a short snippet inside a sentence uses \lstinline|code|; a block uses the lstlisting environment (it can be captioned and referenced like a figure). The listings setup is in the preamble; its default language is SuperCollider — change the keyword list there, or set language=Python (etc.) in \lstset, to suit your course.

Placeholder text

The body ships filled with \lipsum[..] ("Lorem ipsum") placeholder text, so the template looks the same for any class. Replace each \lipsum[..] with your own writing — the short comment above each section says what belongs there. Once no \lipsum remains, you can delete the \usepackage{lipsum} line near the top.

A note on structure

The body ships as a set of "Example Section" demos — Citations, Figures, Equations, Tables, and Code — each pairing placeholder prose with one working example of that mechanic. Rename, reorder, merge, or replace the sections to fit the assignment; reuse the mechanics, swap in your own content.

License and attribution

This template is licensed under the LaTeX Project Public License (LPPL) v1.3c or later — see the LICENSE file. It is a modified version of the ACM acmart sample sigconf.tex by Boris Veytsman, renamed and marked as modified as the LPPL requires; modifications © 2026 Henrik von Coler / L42i.

The bundled acmart.cls (LPPL v1.3c) and ACM-Reference-Format.bst (public domain) are redistributed unmodified under their own terms. Full attribution is in NOTICE.txt.

(Note: acmart is not Creative Commons — it's LPPL.)