LaTeX Compile

Run the full chain

pdflatex -interaction=nonstopmode main.tex
bibtex   main
pdflatex -interaction=nonstopmode main.tex
pdflatex -interaction=nonstopmode main.tex

Skipping bibtex is the single most common cause of ? citations and an empty References section. Skipping the final pdflatex leaves cross references and page numbers stale.

A bare pdflatex re-run does not refresh the bibliography. If any later step recompiles (page fitting often does), run the whole chain again before delivering, or you can ship a PDF whose citations regressed after they were fixed.

Read the log, not the exit code

pdflatex exits 0 with errors. Check for the real signals:

grep -E "^(!|LaTeX Error|Emergency stop)" main.log
grep -c "Warning.*undefined" main.log     # undefined citations/refs
grep "Overfull \\\\hbox" main.log | wc -l # text spilling into the margin

And verify the artifact: does main.pdf exist, is it larger than a skeleton, does a PDF parser open it?

Overfull boxes

Overfull \hbox means text extends past the margin. Reviewers see it as sloppiness, and some venues reject on it. Usual causes and fixes:

• a long URL: \usepackage{url} and wrap it in \url{}
• a wide table: \resizebox{\columnwidth}{!}{...}, or restructure it
• an unbreakable identifier: insert \- hyphenation points, or use \texttt{} with \sloppy nearby
• an oversized figure: reduce the width, or move to figure*

Fix the cause. Do not silence the warning.

Venue templates

Templates carry traps that cost hours:

• Commented examples that look like real commands. An elsarticle template contains %% \title{Title\tnoteref{label1}} above the real title. Anything parsing \title naively picks up the comment. If you extract the title programmatically, strip % comments first and match braces properly.
• Separate bibliography files. Some templates ship custom.bib or anthology.bib alongside your references.bib. Cite keys living only in the template's file will vanish if you clean up "unused" entries in yours. Merge them before pruning anything.
• Class options change the page geometry. \documentclass[preprint] and the camera-ready option produce very different page counts. Fit to the option the venue actually wants.

Missing PDF

If no PDF is produced at all:

1. Read the first ! in main.log. That is the real error. Everything after it is fallout.
2. Check for a missing .sty or .cls file. Venue templates often ship them in a zip you have not extracted.
3. Check for an unescaped special character in text you inserted: _ % & # $ outside math mode.
4. Delete main.aux and rebuild. Stale aux files cause errors that describe problems no longer in the source.