PMLR BibTeX Validator and Fixer

A Python script to validate and fix BibTeX files according to the PMLR Proceedings Specification.

Overview

This script helps conference organizers prepare their BibTeX files for submission to PMLR by:

1. Validating required fields
2. Fixing common Unicode issues
3. Escaping special characters
4. Reporting problems that need manual attention

Requirements

• Python 3.11+
• bibtexparser (pip install bibtexparser)

Usage

1. Save your BibTeX file as input.bib
2. Run: python pmlrpy.py input.bib output.bib
3. Check the console for validation messages
4. Review output.bib for the fixed version

What's Implemented

Validation

• Checks for single @Proceedings entry with required fields:

  • booktitle
  • name
  • shortname
  • year
  • editor
  • volume
  • start
  • end
  • address
  • conference_url

• Validates @InProceedings entries have:

  • title
  • author
  • pages
  • abstract

Fixes

• Replaces common Unicode characters with LaTeX equivalents:
  • ö → "o
  • ü → "u
  • é → 'e
  • è → `e
  • á → 'a
  • ñ → ~n
  • — → ---
  • " → ``
  • " → ''
• Escapes % characters in abstracts and titles

Not Yet Implemented

1. Author name format validation ("Lastname, Firstname")
2. Complex name prefix handling (von, van der, etc.)
3. Section definition validation
4. Math formula validation in abstracts
5. File presence checking for PDFs and supplementary materials
6. HTML tag validation in abstracts (, , etc.)

Known Limitations

• The script may not catch all Unicode characters
• Complex LaTeX commands in abstracts are not validated
• Author name formatting is not fully validated
• Supplementary material naming conventions are not checked

References

• PMLR Specification
• PMLR FAQ

Contributing

Feel free to submit issues and enhancement requests!