In a nutshell there is a problem with sn-mathphys.bst that has to be referred to Springer Nature.
You should be able to show them that it is not a problem with WinEdt, your installation of LateX or BibTeX.
So first you have to test your installation and get the right information to submit to the editorial. These are the steps to follow.
(0) Download the journal article template package from journal article template package.
Add the missing .zip to the file (!), open it and put everything in a directory.
Also check that WinEdt is configured to run BibTeX.
Options > Execution Modes > Console Application panel
(1) Create a new directory with the following files from the distribution:
sn-jnl.cls
sn-bibliography.bib
sn-aps.bst (located in the bst sub-directory of the distribution)
sn-mathphys.bst (idem)
and
sn-article-aps.tex (see the code below)
sn-article-aps.tex is a short version of sn-article.tex: just the section Introduction with a single sentence The Introduction section with \cite{bib1} and \cite{bib2}.
For this exercise we will use \documentclass[pdflatex, sn-aps]{sn-jnl} (The American Physical Society (APS) Reference Style)
(2) Test the LaTeX installation.
Open the file with WinEdt and do (a) to (d):
(a) TeX > PDF > PDFLaTeX
Note that the expected References section is missing and it also says The Introduction section with [?] and [?].
(b) TeX > BibTeX
In the console will appear
Command Line: bibtex.exe "sn-article-aps"
Startup Folder: K:\sn-math-test
bibtex: security risk: running with elevated privileges
This is BibTeX, Version 0.99d (MiKTeX 21.3)
The top-level auxiliary file: sn-article-aps.aux
The style file: sn-APS.bst
Database file #1: sn-bibliography.bib
(c) TeX > PDF > PDFLaTeX
The section References appears with the two papers but still The Introduction section with [?] and [?].
(d) TeX > PDF > PDFLaTeX
Now the final output appears.
If everything went according to plan, you can show that your LaTeX system is working properly.
(3) Testing sn-mathphys.
Now replace the line
\documentclass[pdflatex, sn-aps]{sn-jnl}% American Physical Society (APS) Reference Style in sn-article-aps.tex
with
\documentclass[pdflatex,sn-mathphys]{sn-jnl}% Math and Physical Sciences Reference Style
and save the file as sn-article-math.tex
Open the file with WinEdt and do
(e) TeX > PDF > PDFLaTeX
(f) TeX > BibTeX
This happens
Something is wrong with sn-mathphys.bst.
(TeXstudio will inform in the console, after several seconds,)
Process started: bibtex.exe "sn-article-math"
bibtex: security risk: running with elevated privileges
Error: Command crashed: bibtex.exe "sn-article-math"
Process exited with error(s)
Additional information
By commenting out lines #652 to #654, the error goes away. The output is the same when using the APS style.
But of course the correction of sn-mathphys.bst is something that should be required to Springer Nature.
% if$
%
% v empty$
% 'skip$
% {v * " " *}
This is the file sn-article-aps.tex to do the testing.
% !TeX TS-program = pdflatex
%% FILE: sn-article-aps.tex <<<<<<<<<
%%======================================================%%
%% to compile with pdflatex/xelatex use pdflatex option %%
%%======================================================%%
%\documentclass[pdflatex,sn-mathphys]{sn-jnl}% Math and Physical Sciences Reference Style
\documentclass[pdflatex, sn-aps]{sn-jnl}% American Physical Society (APS) Reference Style
\jyear{2021}%
%% as per the requirement new theorem styles can be included as shown below
\theoremstyle{thmstyleone}%
\newtheorem{theorem}{Theorem}% meant for continuous numbers
\newtheorem{proposition}[theorem]{Proposition}%
\theoremstyle{thmstyletwo}%
\newtheorem{example}{Example}%
\newtheorem{remark}{Remark}%
\theoremstyle{thmstylethree}%
\newtheorem{definition}{Definition}%
\raggedbottom
\begin{document}
\title[Article Title]{Article Title}
\author*[1,2]{\fnm{First} \sur{Author}}\email{iauthor@gmail.com}
\author[2,3]{\fnm{Second} \sur{Author}}\email{iiauthor@gmail.com}
\equalcont{These authors contributed equally to this work.}
\author[1,2]{\fnm{Third} \sur{Author}}\email{iiiauthor@gmail.com}
\equalcont{These authors contributed equally to this work.}
\affil*[1]{\orgdiv{Department}, \orgname{Organization}, \orgaddress{\street{Street}, \city{City}, \postcode{100190}, \state{State}, \country{Country}}}
\affil[2]{\orgdiv{Department}, \orgname{Organization}, \orgaddress{\street{Street}, \city{City}, \postcode{10587}, \state{State}, \country{Country}}}
\affil[3]{\orgdiv{Department}, \orgname{Organization}, \orgaddress{\street{Street}, \city{City}, \postcode{610101}, \state{State}, \country{Country}}}
\abstract{The abstract serves both as a general introduction to the topic and as a brief, non-technical summary of the main results and their implications. Authors are advised to check the author instructions for the journal they are submitting to for word limits and if structural elements like subheadings, citations, or equations are permitted.}
\keywords{keyword1, Keyword2, Keyword3, Keyword4}
\maketitle
\section{Introduction}\label{sec1}
The Introduction section with \cite{bib1} and \cite{bib2}. % <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
%%%===========================================================================================%%
\bibliography{sn-bibliography}% common bib file
\end{document}
