This script checks for common mistakes in LaTeX source files of scientific papers.

python3 paperlint.py <file.tex/path> [-i/x <include/exclude switch>] [--error]

Provide either a single .tex file to check or a path to recursively check all .tex files in that directory! By default, all rules are used for checking the document. The switches can be configured with the -x and -i parameters to exclude and include entire categories of rules or single rules. The include/exclude switches are evaluated in the order they are specified. For example, -i typography only activates the typography rules, whereas -i all -x typography -i cite-space enables all rules without the typography rules, but enables the cite-space rule from the typography category.

If --error is provided, the tool exits with error code 1 if there are warnings.

Warnings are grouped in five different categories:

• General
• Typography
• Visual
• Style
• References

This category includes general mistakes and discouraged things (switch general).

• Description: Warns if the string "TODO" appears in the paper
• Switch: todo

• Description: Warns if there are \note or \todo notes in the paper
• Switch: note

• Description: Warns if there are multiple sentences per line
• Switch: multiple-sentences

• Description: Warns if there are sentences with "will" future
• Switch: will

• Description: Warns if short forms, such as "can't", "shouldn't", etc., are used
• Switch: short-form

• Description: Warns if numbers 3 to 12 are written as words instead of numbers
• Switch: numeral

This category includes typography-related issues, such as wrong punctuation (switch typography).

• Description: Warns if there is no space before a \cite command
• Switch: cite-space

• Description: Warns if the math environment is used purely to format numbers
• Switch: math-numbers

• Description: Warns if large numbers are not formatted with the sinuit package
• Switch: si

• Description: Warns if percentages are not formatted with the siunit package
• Switch: percentage

• Description: Warns if the wrong quotation marks (") are used
• Switch: quotes

• Description: Warns if there is a space before a punctuation character
• Switch: punctuation-space

• Description: Warns if the number of opening and closing brackets per line does not match
• Switch: unbalanced-brackets

• Description: Warns if "and/or" is used
• Switch: and-or

• Description: Warns if an ellipsis with three dots ("...") is used
• Switch: ellipsis

• Description: Warns if a footnote is before the period
• Switch: footnote

• Description: Warns if a line does not end with a punctuation mark
• Switch: punctuation

• Description: Warns if there is no space before a comment
• Switch: comment-space

• Description: Warns if the spacing for brackets are wrong, i.e., if there is no space before an opening bracket, a space after an opening bracket, or a space before a closing bracket
• Switch: bracket-spacing

• Description: Warns if a (potential) acronym is not written in upper case
• Switch: acronym-capitalization

• Description: Warns if the same word is formatted with different text styles (e.g., \textit and \texttt)
• Switch: inconsistent-textstyle

• Description: Warns if the same word is sometimes used with a text style (e.g., \textit and \texttt) and sometimes without
• Switch: missing-textstyle

This category includes warning regarding code that is visually not optimal and can be improved to make the paper look better (switch visual).

• Description: Warns if \hline is used in tables instead of \toprule, \midrule, and \bottomrule
• Switch: hline

• Description: Warns if there are two section headers without text in between
• Switch: two-header

• Description: Warns if a paragraph consists of only a single sentence
• Switch: single-sentence

• Description: Warns if vertical lines are used in tables
• Switch: vline

• Description: Warns if a section has only one explicit subsection
• Switch: single-subsection

• Description: Warns if both compactitem and itemize (or compactenum and enumerate) are used
• Switch: mixed-compact

• Description: Warns if float contents are centered with the center environment instead of \centering
• Switch: float-center

• Description: Warns if the eqnarray environment is used instead of the align environment
• Switch: eqnarray

• Description: Warns if the capitalization for section titles is wrong
• Switch: capitalization

• Description: Warns if a color is used without an additional (non-color) modifier such as "dashed/dotted/..."
• Switch: colors

This category includes warning of things that are discouraged or wrong for the style of an academic paper (switch style).

• Description: Warns if the appendix environment is used instead of \appendix
• Switch: appendix

• Description: Warns if dimension macros are used that do not always work, such as \linewidth or \textwidth
• Switch: dimensions

• Description: Warns if "etc" is used
• Switch: etc

• Description: Warns if resizebox (instead of adjustbox) is used for tables
• Switch: resize-table

• Description: Warns if the caption for a table is not above the table
• Switch: table-top-caption

• Description: Warns if a figure has no explicit alignment
• Switch: figure-alignment

• Description: Warns if a table has no explicit alignment
• Switch: table-alignment

• Description: Warns if a listing has no explicit alignment
• Switch: listing-alignment

• Description: Warns if non-inclusive terms are used (based on the ACM Guidelines)
• Switch: inclusion

• Description: Warns if a citation is used as a noun
• Switch: cite-noun

• Description: Warns if multiple \cite commands are used instead of having multiple citation keys inside one \cite
• Switch: multiple-cites

• Description: Warns if a sentence starts with a conjunction ("And", "But", "Or")
• Switch: conjunction-start

This category includes warnings for everything related to (cross-)references (switch references).

• Description: Warns if a figure has no label
• Switch: figure-label

• Description: Warns if a table has no label
• Switch: table-label

• Description: Warns if a listing has no label
• Switch: listing-label

• Description: Warns if the label is defined before the caption inside a figure
• Switch: figure-caption-order

• Description: Warns if the label is defined before the caption inside a table
• Switch: table-caption-order

• Description: Warns if the label is defined before the caption inside a listing
• Switch: listing-caption-order

• Description: Warns if there is a label defined that is never referenced
• Switch: label-referenced

• Description: Warns if a tabular environment is not within the table float
• Switch: tabular-float

• Description: Warns if a tikzpicture environment is not within the figure float
• Switch: tikz-float

• Description: Warns if an lstlisting environment is not within the listing float
• Switch: listing-float

• Description: Warns if a cite command has duplicate entries
• Switch: cite-duplicate

• Description: Warns if a cite command is empty, i.e., has no key
• Switch: cite-empty