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In a Springer journal, one of the items in Authors Guidelines is :

Manuscripts should be submitted in LaTeX. We recommend using Springer Nature’s LaTeX template.

However, I have already typed the manuscript using the standard LaTeX template and I'm about to submit it.

Does the word recommend give me the freedom to choose not to use the journal's template?

Will this give a bad impression to the editor?

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I can speak for math - usually the editors don't care. I can imagine that if you do something silly, like setting ultra-narrow margins with small text (to decrease the page count for example) then they might object. But otherwise, just send your paper in a readable format.

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Yes, you can choose not to follow their recommendation and if your template isn't too different from the recommended one, then the editor will likely pass the paper to reviewers as usual (depending on the quality, of course).

But they are unlikely to publish your paper with that template, seeking a uniform look for what they publish. At some point in the process, assuming you aren't rejected, you will be asked to reformat the paper to the recommended (now required) one. So, think about whether it is worth the effort to do it now, knowing it will probably be required later.

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    Usually, the publisher will reformat the manuscript themselves. (In fact many publishers don't actually use LaTeX to typeset their published articles. So there will be a conversion step for them somewhere along the way anyway.
    – TimRias
    Commented Aug 22, 2022 at 13:58
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    @TimRias Not true, at least in math. Publishers will expect you to provide the article using the provided template, and then print directly from the latex sources.
    – Wolfgang Bangerth
    Commented Aug 22, 2022 at 16:42
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    @WolfgangBangerth It certainly is true for the two biggest publishers in physics the APS and IOP. In fact the IOP's latex template is so bad, I usually submit to their journals using a modified version of the APS's RevTex template.
    – TimRias
    Commented Aug 22, 2022 at 20:08
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    @WolfgangBangerth: In all() my math experience, I have always provided a LaTeX file to the publisher using a standard LaTeX template, and the publisher has reformatted it themselves. ( Only exception: Electronic Journal of Combinatorics, which doesn't do any copy editing or formatting and just puts up your LaTeX file, which has to be in their template.)
    – Alexander Woo
    Commented Aug 22, 2022 at 20:16
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  1. Ask the journal editor(s) about this, not us.

  2. You asked two questions: Can you submit, and will this give a bad impression. Most likely your submission will not be rejected outright because of the template, but you might be told you need to fix this ASAP, or fix this for the galley proofs, or whatever. Or you might not - depends on the journal's policy; maybe the typeset things themselves? Again, see (1.) . About the impression - you will at most give the impression of being absent-minded, which is typical in academia...

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