How to write a Cover Letter for submission
[with a template you can use]

Importance of a cover letter

Despite the prevalence of online submission systems for articles, the cover letter provides an additional means to tell the journal and its editors why they should consider your article. This is particularly important because the initial editor screening your paper, who is deciding if it warrants peer review, may not necessarily be an expert in your particular specialism. It is therefore essential that you provide a concise summary of what your research adds, and how it will contribute to the journal, in your cover letter. This is especially relevant to highly technical or niche papers.

Contents of a good cover letter

• Contact: Provide your full contact details.
• Editor: Address the letter to the specific journal editor or, alternatively, write ‘Dear Editor’. Showing that you know the name of the editor is a good sign that you have evaluated the journal before submission. (Do not use the salutation ‘Dear Sir’, especially because many editors are women!)
• Scope: Make reference at the start to the title, journal scope and why your article is relevant. This is crucial as it will ‘flag up’ to the journal whether or not your article is likely to be within the aims and scope of the journal.
• Novelty: Describe what your methods and research results add to current understanding – why they are novel or how they have approached an existing problem in a new way.
• Results: Briefly describe significant results and conclusions.
• Reviewers: If journal policy allows or invites this, you can also include details of potential reviewers for your paper. Be sure to check that their details are correct and valid.
• Submission ethics: Ensure that your paper has not been submitted to another journal, which will be a case of duplicate submission. A general ‘rule’ is that journals do not consider papers which are under review by other journals.

Tips for writing a cover letter

• Review the journal guidelines. Always review the journal’s Information for Authors section. Many journals have templates or specific advice on what they expect you to include.
• Keep it short. Be brief and try to keep your letter to one page. Unless there are particular reasons why you need to add more detail, the one-page rule is widely agreed upon as a good guideline for length. It is important to be succinct.
• Keep it simple. Avoid over-use of jargon and acronyms.
• Stay focused. Don’t over-embellish any of your findings and stay sharply focused on why your article fits the journal’s criteria.
• Be professional. Keep it professional by avoiding humour and do not exaggerate the importance of your work.

Cover letter template

A useful template from SPIE is provided below. This offers a good starting point for your cover letter and may help to guide you on the main criteria to follow:

[Your Name]
[Your Affiliation]
[Your Address]

[Date]

Dear Dr. [Editor name],

I/We wish to submit a new manuscript entitled “[title of article]” for consideration by the [journal name].

I/We confirm that this work is original and has not been published elsewhere nor is it currently under consideration for publication elsewhere.

In this paper, I/we report on _______. This is significant because __________. The paper should be of interest to readers in the areas of __________.

[Please explain in your own words the significance and novelty of the work, the problem that is being addressed, and why the manuscript belongs in this journal. Do not simply insert your abstract into your cover letter! Briefly describe the research you are reporting in your paper, why it is important, and why you think the readership of the journal would be interested in it.]

Please address all correspondence concerning this manuscript to me at [email address].

Thank you for your consideration of this manuscript.

Sincerely,

[Your name]

Maximise your publication success with Charlesworth Author Services.

Charlesworth Author Services, a trusted brand supporting the world’s leading academic publishers, institutions and authors since 1928. 

To know more about our services, visit: Our Services