Paper Format Guidelines
Complete FIRA formatting specifications for your conference paper submission
FIRA Conference Format Required
All papers must strictly adhere to the FIRA conference format. Papers that do not comply with these formatting requirements will be returned without review.
Use the official FIRA conference templates available in the Author's Kit.
Basic Format Specifications
Essential formatting requirements at a glance
Paper Size
- Size:
- US Letter (8.5" × 11")
- Orientation:
- Portrait
- Columns:
- Two-column format
Margins
- Top:
- 0.75 inches (19 mm)
- Bottom:
- 1 inch (25 mm)
- Left/Right:
- 0.625 inches (16 mm)
- Column Gap:
- 0.25 inches (6 mm)
Typography
- Font Family:
- Times New Roman
- Body Text:
- 10 pt
- Title:
- 24 pt, bold
- Line Spacing:
- Single
Page Length
- Full Papers:
- 6-8 pages
- Short Papers:
- 4 pages
- Max (with fees):
- 10 pages
- Includes:
- All content + refs
File Format
- Format:
- Fonts:
- All embedded
- Max Size:
- 10 MB
- PDF Version:
- 1.4 or higher
Page Numbering
- Initial Submission:
- No page numbers
- Final Submission:
- No page numbers
- Headers/Footers:
- Not allowed
- Exception:
- Copyright notice
Required Paper Structure
Standard organization for FIRA conference papers
Title
Requirements:
- Centered at top of first page
- 24 pt Times New Roman, bold
- Initial capitals for major words
- Do not use all caps
- Concise but descriptive (typically 8-12 words)
Example:
Deep Learning Approach for Automated Network Intrusion Detection
Author Names and Affiliations
Requirements:
- Author names in 11 pt
- Affiliations in 10 pt, italic
- Email addresses in 9 pt
- For initial submission: REMOVE all author information (double-blind review)
- For camera-ready: Include all authors with complete affiliations
Example:
John Smith¹, Jane Doe², Bob Johnson¹ ¹University of Technology, ²Research Institute john.smith@university.edu
Abstract
Requirements:
- Starts with the word 'Abstract' in bold and italic
- 150-250 words maximum
- Single paragraph
- Summarize problem, approach, results, and conclusions
- No citations or abbreviations (if possible)
Example:
Abstract—This paper presents a novel approach to network intrusion detection using deep learning...
Keywords
Requirements:
- 3-5 keywords or short phrases
- Placed after abstract, before main text
- Format: 'Keywords—keyword1, keyword2, keyword3'
- Use standard terminology from your field
Example:
Keywords—deep learning, intrusion detection, network security, neural networks
Main Body
Requirements:
- Typically includes: Introduction, Related Work, Methodology, Results, Discussion
- Section headings: uppercase Roman numerals (I, II, III...)
- Subsection headings: uppercase letters (A, B, C...)
- 10 pt Times New Roman for body text
- First line of each paragraph indented 0.17 inches
Example:
I. INTRODUCTION Network security has become increasingly important...
Conclusions
Requirements:
- Summarize main findings and contributions
- Discuss limitations and future work
- Do not introduce new information
- Typically 0.5-1 column in length
Example:
This work demonstrated that deep learning can effectively...
Acknowledgments (Optional)
Requirements:
- Place before references
- Acknowledge funding sources and contributors
- Use heading 'ACKNOWLEDGMENT' (singular, no 'S')
- Remove for initial submission (double-blind)
Example:
ACKNOWLEDGMENT This work was supported by...
References
Requirements:
- Use FIRA citation style
- Numbered in order of appearance [1], [2], etc.
- 9 pt font size
- Hanging indent format
- Include DOI when available
Example:
[1] J. Smith and B. Jones, "Network security," FIRA Trans. Networking, vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 45-67, 2023.
Typography Specifications
Font sizes and styles for all text elements
| Element | Font Size | Style | Spacing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Title | 24 pt | Bold | — |
| Author names | 11 pt | Regular | — |
| Affiliations | 10 pt | Italic | — |
| Email addresses | 9 pt | Regular | — |
| Abstract heading | 10 pt | Bold Italic | — |
| Abstract text | 10 pt | Italic | Single |
| Keywords | 10 pt | Italic | — |
| Section headings (I, II) | 10 pt | Bold, Small Caps | 12pt before |
| Subsection headings (A, B) | 10 pt | Bold, Italic | 6pt before |
| Body text | 10 pt | Regular | Single |
| Figure captions | 9 pt | Regular | — |
| Table text | 9 pt | Regular | — |
| References | 9 pt | Regular | Single |
| Footnotes | 8 pt | Regular | — |
Figures and Tables
Guidelines for visual elements in your paper
Figure Formatting
Requirements for images, diagrams, and plots
Placement
- Top or bottom of column (preferred) or page
- Can span both columns if necessary (use \figure*)
- Place as close as possible to first reference in text
- Never in the middle of a column
Caption
- Below the figure
- Format: 'Fig. 1. Description of figure content.'
- 9 pt font, centered
- Define all symbols and abbreviations in caption
Quality
- Minimum 300 DPI for raster images
- Vector graphics (PDF, EPS) preferred for diagrams
- Readable when printed in black and white
- Text in figures should be 8-10 pt after scaling
Numbering
- Number consecutively: Fig. 1, Fig. 2, etc.
- Reference in text as 'Fig. 1' not 'Figure 1'
- Refer to figures before they appear
- Example: 'as shown in Fig. 1' or 'see Fig. 1'
Color vs. Grayscale: While color figures are permitted, ensure your figures are still clear when printed in grayscale. Use patterns, line styles, and markers to distinguish elements.
Equations and Mathematical Content
Equation Formatting
Display Equations:
- • Center on separate line
- • Number on right in parentheses: (1)
- • 10 pt Symbol or Times font
- • Leave blank line before and after
Inline Equations:
- • Keep simple
- • Use solidus (/) for fractions: a/b not ᵃ⁄ᵦ
- • Match surrounding text size
Variables and Symbols
Typography:
- • Variables in italic: x, y, n
- • Functions in roman: sin, cos, log
- • Vectors in bold italic: v
- • Matrices in bold: A
Best Practices:
- • Define all symbols when first used
- • Be consistent with notation
- • Punctuate equations as part of text
References and Citations
FIRA Citation Style
Numbered citations in order of appearance
In-Text Citations
Use square brackets with numbers:
• Single reference: "as shown in [5]"
• Multiple references: "several studies [3], [7], [12]"
• Range: "recent work [8]–[12]"
• Multiple: "various approaches [1]–[3], [7]"
Reference List Format
Journal Article:
[1] A. Author and B. Author, "Title of paper," Journal Name, vol. X, no. Y, pp. ZZ-ZZ, Mon. Year.
Conference Paper:
[2] A. Author, "Title," in Proc. Conference Name, City, Country, Year, pp. XX-XX.
Book:
[3] A. Author, Book Title, Edition. City: Publisher, Year.
Website:
[4] "Title," Website Name. URL (accessed Mon. DD, YYYY).
Include DOI when available. Use reference management tools (BibTeX, Zotero, Mendeley) to ensure consistency and accuracy.
Common Formatting Mistakes to Avoid
- ✗Using incorrect paper size (A4 instead of US Letter)
- ✗Modifying margins or column widths from template
- ✗Including page numbers, headers, or footers (except copyright)
- ✗Using fonts other than Times New Roman
- ✗Incorrect font sizes for headings or body text
- ✗Not embedding all fonts in PDF
- ✗Poor quality or low-resolution figures
- ✗Inconsistent citation style or missing references
- ✗Author information in initial submission (double-blind)
- ✗Exceeding page limits without overlength fees
Final PDF Compliance Checklist
Verify these items before submission
Paper size is US Letter (8.5" × 11")
All fonts are embedded in PDF
File size is under 10 MB
PDF version is 1.4 or higher
No author info (initial) / Complete author info (final)
Abstract is 150-250 words
3-5 keywords provided
All figures are high quality (300+ DPI)
Figure and table captions follow FIRA style
References use FIRA citation format
Page limit not exceeded
No page numbers or headers/footers (except copyright)
Download Templates
Get the official FIRA conference templates to ensure your paper meets all formatting requirements.