Switching Elsevier LaTeX Templates

Master the Differences Between num, harv, and num-names Elsevier Templates

Author

Dr. Md Abdus Samad

Published

May 30, 2025

Learn how to switch citation and bibliography styles without rewriting your entire manuscript.

Template Comparison

Template	Citation Style	Bibliography Style	Typical Use
`elsarticle-template-num.tex`	Numbered citations: `[1]`, `[2]`	Ordered by appearance	Standard numeric style
`elsarticle-template-harv.tex`	Author-year citations: `(Smith, 2020)`	Alphabetical by author	Common in social sciences
`elsarticle-template-num-names.tex`	Numbered citations with author names in references	Ordered by appearance	Combines numeric in-text citations with detailed references

Key Insight

The .tex files are largely identical in structure; the primary differences lie in the citation and bibliography formatting.

How Elsevier Handles Citation Styles

The template uses the \documentclass options to define the citation style:

\documentclass[preprint,12pt,authoryear]{elsarticle}       % for Harvard style
\documentclass[preprint,12pt,number]{elsarticle}           % for numeric style
\documentclass[preprint,12pt,number,sort&compress]{elsarticle} % for num-names

Options Explained

number: Produces numeric citations in the format [1], [2], etc.
authoryear: Produces author-year citations like (Smith, 2020)
sort&compress: Compresses consecutive numbers (e.g., [1-3]) and sorts them

Bibliography Styles

The bibliography style is controlled with:

\bibliographystyle{elsarticle-num}        % numeric
\bibliographystyle{elsarticle-harv}       % author-year
\bibliographystyle{elsarticle-num-names}  % numbered with names

This line is placed before the \bibliography{yourbibfile} command.

Switching Styles Without Copying Your Manuscript

If you have a manuscript prepared in elsarticle-template-num.tex and want to switch styles, follow these steps:

Step 1: Edit the documentclass line

Replace number with authoryear or add sort&compress if required.

% Change this:
\documentclass[preprint,12pt,number]{elsarticle}

% To this for Harvard style:
\documentclass[preprint,12pt,authoryear]{elsarticle}

Step 2: Change the bibliography style

Update \bibliographystyle{...} to match the new template.

% Change this:
\bibliographystyle{elsarticle-num}

% To this for Harvard style:
\bibliographystyle{elsarticle-harv}

Step 3: Recompile your LaTeX document

Use the complete compilation sequence for changes to take effect:

pdflatex document.tex
bibtex document
pdflatex document.tex
pdflatex document.tex

Quick Reference

Summary

The main differences between num, harv, and num-names are the citation and bibliography styles
Switching templates is simply a matter of adjusting \documentclass options and \bibliographystyle
No need to copy your entire manuscript content to a new template file
Always recompile with the full sequence: pdflatex → bibtex → pdflatex → pdflatex
Test the output to ensure citations and references appear correctly

Common Style Combinations

Style	documentclass Option	bibliographystyle
Numeric	`number`	`elsarticle-num`
Harvard (Author-Year)	`authoryear`	`elsarticle-harv`
Numeric with Names	`number,sort&compress`	`elsarticle-num-names`

Example: Complete Preamble for Each Style

Numeric Style

\documentclass[preprint,12pt,number]{elsarticle}

% ... your preamble ...

\bibliographystyle{elsarticle-num}
\bibliography{references}

Harvard Style

\documentclass[preprint,12pt,authoryear]{elsarticle}

% ... your preamble ...

\bibliographystyle{elsarticle-harv}
\bibliography{references}

Numeric with Names Style

\documentclass[preprint,12pt,number,sort&compress]{elsarticle}

% ... your preamble ...

\bibliographystyle{elsarticle-num-names}
\bibliography{references}

Pro Tip

If you are unsure which style your target journal requires, check the journal’s author guidelines on the Elsevier website or look at recently published articles in that journal.