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I started writing an article with the multicol package, and I like the results. However, I'd like to know how to reproduce some of the effects using \documentclass[twocolumn]{article}.

For instance, I'd like to know how to make the title and abstract span the entire width of the paper (i.e. multiple columns). I'd also like to make footnotes span multiple columns, instead of being relegated to one side.

In short, I'd like to see an example that demonstrates these effects.

Matt Groff
  • 829

2 Answers2

4
\documentclass[english]{article}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage{lmodern}
\usepackage{microtype}
\usepackage{babel,blindtext}

\begin{document}
\title{Me, I and myself}
\author{me}
\newcommand\makeAbstract{%
\begin{center}\textbf{Abstract}\end{center}
\begin{list}{}{\leftmargin=3em\rightmargin=\leftmargin}\item\relax
\small
 \blindtext -- is the abstract
\end{list}\par\vspace{6mm}%
}    

\twocolumn[\maketitle\makeAbstract]
\bigskip
\blindtext[3]

\end{document}
  • I hate to nitpick, but the abstract appears differently than it did in the original paper. Is there any way to get it back to the original appearance? I guess I just need a way to center the word "Abstract", and shrink this and the abstract text. – Matt Groff Jan 14 '11 at 15:57
  • @Matt: Ah, didn't realized it. I edited my answer –  Jan 14 '11 at 16:06
  • Thanks! I'm a little confused about the author...just a joke! – Matt Groff Jan 14 '11 at 18:55
2

Another solution:

\usepackage{abstract}

\twocolumn[
\maketitle
\begin{onecolabstract}
Your abstract text here
\end{onecolabstract}
]

I don't think there's any way to get 1 column footnotes in a 2 column document without using multicol.

Alan Munn
  • 218,180