Rxiv-Maker: An Automated Template Engine for Streamlined Scientific Publications

Description

Abstract

Scientific publishing increasingly relies on preprint servers for rapid dissemination, yet researchers often struggle with manuscript preparation and quality control. Here we present Rxiv-Maker, a GitHub-native framework that converts markdown content to publication-ready PDFs through automated LaTeX processing. The system addresses reproducibility challenges in computational biology and imaging research by treating manuscripts as executable outputs rather than static documents. Rxiv-Maker integrates version control workflows with automated build environments, enabling collaborative manuscript development whilst maintaining computational provenance. The framework supports programmatic figure generation, essential for microscopy and image analysis workflows where visualisations must reflect current data and processing algorithms. This manuscript, generated entirely using Rxiv-Maker, demonstrates the system's capacity to bridge accessible authoring with professional typesetting, offering researchers a transparent pathway from data to publication that aligns with open science principles.