REVTeX is a collection of LaTeX macros which is maintained and distributed by the American Physical Society with auxiliary files and a user support guide, as part of a "REVTeX toolbox."
REVTeX is used to submit papers to journals published by the American Physical Society (APS), the American Institute of Physics (AIP), and the Optical Society of America (OSA).
Subsequent to REVTeX's original release and APS’ success with this electronic publishing program, a collaborative effort of the APS, AIP, OSA, and the American Astronomical Society (AAS) was initiated to coordinate a revision to REVTeX and to AASTeX (used by AAS authors).
The REVTeX project was begun in 1986, when the American Physical Society was exploring how to support standardized electronic submission of scientific papers.
They launched the initial version of REVTeX in 1988, naming it after an abbreviation of the Physical Review journals and the TeX typesetting system.