>> Discussion has concentrated on front matter, but let's not forget other
>> things which require an author to CHANGE HIS INPUT according to which
>> journal is to be used, even if the content is the same.  These are at
>> least spelling,

agreed.

>> whether to italicise foreign words,

patently untrue: every author in his/her right mind tags such
words/phrases \foreign {...} (or even \french {...}, \czech {...}, ...)
and then establishes a suitable definition for the tags to meet the
criteria of the publication in which it will appear.

>> use of punctuation
>> in abbreviations

again I would disagree: surely one uses \etc, \eg, \ie, etc. with appropriate
definitions?

Philip Taylor, RHBNC.