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Cover letter for your manuscript

A cover letter can be used to help convey a work’s importance to the editors. It should also be used to highlight any potential issues such as related manuscripts currently under consideration in any other Springer Nature publication, as well as indicating whether you have had any prior discussions with a Springer Nature editor about the work described in the manuscript. Please use the cover letter to declare that the manuscript is not currently being considered for publication in any other journal and, if necessary, please include any reviewers you wish to recommend or exclude (including the reasons why). Finally, the cover letter is a good place to include any other issues or anything you were unsure of, that you have encountered whilst submitting your manuscript.

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What Editors Want

How to submit a journal article manuscript, what do journal editors want.

Journal editors evaluate all manuscripts that are submitted to their journal, select those which they consider to be suitable for the journal to send for peer review, and consider peer reviewers’ advice to make a final decision about what gets published. Therefore, it is important to know how they make their decisions.

Journal editors are busy and usually have to make an initial decision on the suitability of a paper quickly. When first faced with a manuscript they usually look at the cover letter, abstract, conclusion and references. They use this to judge whether the submission is in scope for the journal and of sufficient impact. Editors always aim to evaluate the novelty and significance of a paper against the expectations of the readership and the impact of the journal.

Journal editors want to publish good quality research that is of interest to their readers

Your submission is more likely to be accepted if it:

• Is within the scope of the journal
• Is novel and describes research that advances the field (see the tip in the right column about “mega” or “sound research” journals)
• Adds to an active research field
• Is carefully prepared and formatted with all required sections present
• Uses clear and concise language
• Follows ethical standards
• Your manuscript should relay a scholarly message that clearly explains the importance of the study.

TIP : Some journals describe themselves as “mega” or “sound research” journals, which means they accept and publish all articles that their reviewers and Editors deem to be methodologically sound, without regard to novelty or the amount of activity in their fields. These journals can often offer fast review due to skipping the evaluating for novelty phase. 

TIP : once you have written your manuscript get a colleague to read it and provide feedback on how the manuscript flows. If necessary rewrite your manuscript so it reads well and grabs the attention of the editor.

Cover letters

A good cover letter can help to “sell” your manuscript to the journal editor. As well as introducing your work to the Editor you can also take this opportunity to explain why the manuscript will be of interest to a journal's readers, something which is always at the forefront of an Editor’s mind. As such it is worth spending time writing a coherent and persuasive cover letter.

The following is an example of a poor cover letter:

Dear Editor-in-Chief, I am sending you our manuscript entitled “Article Title,” by Researcher et al. We would like to have the manuscript considered for publication in the Journal. Please let me know of your decision at your earliest convenience. With my best regards, Sincerely yours, A Researcher, Ph.D.

Instead, check to see whether the journal’s Instructions for Authors have any cover letter requirements (e.g. disclosures, statements, potential reviewers). Then, write a letter that explains why the editor would want to publish your manuscript. The following structure covers all the necessary points that need to be included.

• If known, address the Editor who will be assessing your manuscript by name. Include the date of submission and the journal’s name. 
• First paragraph: include the title of your manuscript and the type of manuscript it is (e.g. review, research, case study). Then briefly explain the background to your study, the question you sought to answer and why.
• Second paragraph: you should concisely explain what was done, the main findings and why they are significant.
• Third paragraph: here you should indicate why the readers of the journal would be interested in the work. Take your cues from the journal’s aims and scope. For example, if the journal requires that all work published has broad implications explain how your study fulfils this. It is also a good idea to include a sentence on the importance of the results to the field.
• To conclude state the corresponding author and any journal specific requirements that need to be complied with (e.g. ethical standards).

TIP : Most journals list their Editorial Boards on their website. You can check the Editorial Board for the chief Editor, and sometimes find the name of the Editor responsible for the specific section into which your work falls. 

TIP : All cover letters should contain these sentences:

We confirm that this manuscript has not been published elsewhere and is not under consideration by another journal.

All authors have approved the manuscript and agree with its submission to [insert the name of the target journal].

Submission checklist

Before submitting your manuscript, thoroughly check its quality one more time. Evaluate it critically—could anything be done better?

Be sure that:

• The manuscript follows the Instructions for Authors
• All files are in the correct file format and of the appropriate resolution or size
• The spelling and grammar are correct
• You have contact information for all authors
• You have written a persuasive cover letter

Peer review process

Peer review exists to ensure that journals publish good research which is of benefit to the entire scholarly community.

Sometimes authors find the peer review process intimidating because it can lead to the rejection of their manuscript. Keep in mind that revisions and improvement are part of the publication process and actually help raise the quality of your manuscript.

Peer review is a positive process

Peer review is an integral part of scholarly publishing that confirms the validity of the research reported. Peer reviewers are experts who volunteer their time to help improve the journal manuscripts they review—they offer authors free advice.

Through the peer-review process, manuscripts should become:

• More robust: Peer reviewers may point out gaps in your paper that require more explanation or additional experiments.
• Easier to read: If parts of your paper are difficult to understand, reviewers can tell you so that you can fix them. After all, if an expert cannot understand what you have done, it is unlikely that a reader in a different field will understand.
• More useful: Peer reviewers also consider the importance of your paper to others in your field and can make suggestions to improve or better highlight this to readers.
• Of course, in addition to offering authors advice, another important purpose of peer review is to make sure that the manuscripts published in the journal are of the correct quality for the journal’s aims.

Different types of peer review

There are different forms of peer review used by journals, although the basis is always the same, field experts providing comments on a paper to help improve it. The most common types are

• Closed—where the reviewers are aware of the authors’ identities but the authors do not know who reviewed their manuscript.
• Double blind—in this case neither authors nor reviewers know each other’s identities.
• Open—where the reviewers are aware of the authors’ identity and the reviewers’ identity is revealed to the authors. In some cases journals also publish the reviewers’ reports alongside the final published manuscript.

You can learn more about the peer review process, including how to serve as a peer reviewer, in our forthcoming peer review tutorial. 

Next: Common rejection reasons

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• Published: 27 April 2023

What’s in your cover letter?

Nature Cancer volume  4 ,  pages 437–438 ( 2023 ) Cite this article

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What are the dos and don’ts of cover letters and how can authors maximize their value?

Accompanying a submitted manuscript with a cover letter is not mandatory at this journal, meaning that a Nature Cancer editor would not reject a study because of a missing cover letter, but including one is customary and in some cases it is essential. Considered more generally, a cover letter is an additional tool at the author’s disposal to enhance communication with the editor and provide important information about the submission. From an editorial perspective, a well-written, informative cover letter can be a useful add-on when assessing a manuscript.

A cover letter is essential when important information must be conveyed directly to the editor in a confidential manner. For instance, if the authors have related manuscripts under consideration or in press elsewhere, they are required by our policy to disclose this in the cover letter and provide these studies for the editor’s perusal (and, if deemed essential, also for the perusal of the referees). This does not apply to preprints of the submitted manuscript, but authors are welcome to state in the cover letter whether they have deposited a preprint ( a practice we encourage ).

Also essential to raise in the cover letter are cases of manuscripts co-submitted to our journal, explaining the arguments for their co-publication. Although at Nature Cancer each submission is evaluated on its own merits for its potential to be published as a standalone study, we always strive for editorial consistency in our decisions and consider ways in which to enhance a paper’s message and visibility. Co-publication of two individually strong, independently confirmatory or conceptually complementary studies can be a powerful argument for further editorial consideration.

If an author opts into double-anonymous peer review , the mechanism that allows reciprocal anonymity between authors and referees, the cover letter is where authors should include the full author names, order and affiliations, and the mandatory acknowledgements section, author contributions statement and competing interests declaration, for the submission record. This information can be moved to the manuscript after successful completion of the peer review, while the study is being prepared for publication.

Filed under essential, but sometimes overlooked by authors: cover letters are the place to raise editor-confidential issues of a more sensitive nature. Chief among these are situations of direct and active competition in the form of similar manuscripts by other groups that are in preparation or under consideration elsewhere. The cover letter is where authors should mention any such cases and relevant specifics, to enable the editor to successfully navigate the competitor landscape facing the manuscript and direct the peer-review process speedily.

The cover letter is also a place to summarize information that could be collected in other parts of the manuscript submission form, to simplify editorial handling of the study. For example, authors can state any prior interactions with Nature Cancer editors in the cover letter. In addition, at this journal we permit up to three referee exclusions, and the cover letter is a good place to note which researchers the authors would prefer were not contacted as referees. It is also a good place to list referee suggestions. Even though the editor is not bound by them (after all, referee selection is a critical part of an editor’s job and involves careful vetting for expertise and potential conflicts of interest, among other things), we always welcome suggestions for potential experts in different fields, as we continuously aim to expand our pool of reviewers.

Beyond these practical uses, a cover letter becomes particularly valuable when authors use it as a written substitute for an in-person interaction with the editor through which to give a high-level pitch of the study and share their enthusiasm about it. Editors are scientists, even if we have left the lab. Beyond identifying the papers we consider suitable for our journal on the basis of their scientific merits, their level of advance in light of the published literature, their depth of experimental and analytical development and broad interest and relevance to the cancer field, our job involves sharing in the excitement of scientific discovery and championing the papers we peer review and publish. Through the cover letter, authors can communicate directly to us why their study is exciting, why it is important for the field and why it should be published in our journal and no other. This should not be done by reiterating the information included in the abstract — the editor will read not only the abstract but also the full manuscript, in detail — or through platitudes and vague statements about research that is paradigm-shifting. All work published in Nature Cancer aims to further knowledge and cures for this family of diseases, be it through fundamental scientific discovery, preclinical investigations, or translational or clinical work. Stating in the cover letter that a manuscript contributes to the field in this broad manner amounts to a truism as far as this journal is concerned. Editorially, we are more interested in the ‘how’. How is this study furthering the understanding and treatment of cancer in an important, impactful way that will advance or alter the way the field thinks?

Thus, the cover letter is the author’s opportunity to share not only the salient points of their work — its main message and key findings — but also their candid perspective on the major points of advance and importance. It goes without saying that this information should be presented in detail in the manuscript itself and that ultimately the editor will determine which aspects might weigh for further consideration of the paper at this journal. However, a cover letter with the authors’ clear point of view — a snapshot that zooms into the essentials — can aid the maturation of the editorial perspective on the study. In the cancer field, papers can be interdisciplinary, with multiple threads that come together into one complex story. Do the authors consider the key advance to be foundational, translational or clinical, or is there a technical point of major interest? Is the study answering an important open question or going against long-held ideas? Is the take-home message a much-needed cancer drug, model or method, or a new layer of fundamental knowledge? Focusing on specifics, mentioning key literature and highlighting implications for the field, while flagging limitations and steering clear of hype, are important for getting across the authors’ view on the implications of their work. Although not mandatory, if not already present in the manuscript figures, a graphical abstract can be included in the cover letter to summarize the key findings in a visual manner.

In outlining this information, it is important to be succinct. The editor will assess the full manuscript in depth, so lengthy repetition in the cover letter is not helpful. Ideally the cover letter should be about a page long.

To summarize: do include a cover letter with your submission. Do not rehash the abstract. Focus on the key findings. Do not forget to include limitations and challenges. Convey the importance of your work — do not underplay it, but also avoid overhyping. Include information for the editor’s eyes only. Flag prior interactions with editors. Keep it short and to the point.

We hope these pointers are helpful and look forward to reading your submitted manuscripts and their accompanying cover letters!

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What’s in your cover letter?. Nat Cancer 4 , 437–438 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43018-023-00559-2

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Published : 27 April 2023

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s43018-023-00559-2

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Cover letters

A good cover letter can help to “sell” your manuscript to the journal editor. As well as introducing your work to the editor you can also take this opportunity to explain why the manuscript will be of interest to a journal's readers, something which is always as the forefront editors’ mind. As such it is worth spending time writing a coherent and persuasive cover letter.

The following is an example of a poor cover letter:

Dear Editor-in-Chief, I am sending you our manuscript entitled “Large Scale Analysis of Cell Cycle Regulators in bladder cancer” by Researcher et al. We would like to have the manuscript considered for publication in Pathobiology. Please let me know of your decision at your earliest convenience. With my best regards, Sincerely yours, A Researcher, PhD

Instead, check to see whether the journal’s Instructions for Authors have any cover letter requirements (e.g. disclosures, statements, potential reviewers). Then, write a letter that explains why the editor would want to publish your manuscript. The following structure covers all the necessary points that need to be included.

• If known, address the editor who will be assessing your manuscript by their name. Include the date of submission and the journal you are submitting to.
• First paragraph: include the title of your manuscript and the type of manuscript it is (e.g. review, research, case study). Then briefly explain the background to your study, the question you sought out to answer and why.
• Second paragraph: you should concisely explain what was done, the main findings and why they are significant.
• Third paragraph: here you should indicate why the readers of the journal would be interested in the work. Take your cues from the journal’s aims and scope. For example if the journal requires that all work published has broad implications explain how your study fulfils this. It is also a good idea to include a sentence on the importance of the results to the field.
• To conclude state the corresponding author and any journal specific requirements that need to be complied with (e.g. ethical standards).

TIP: All cover letters should contain these sentences:

• We confirm that this manuscript has not been published elsewhere and is not under consideration by another journal.
• All authors have approved the manuscript and agree with its submission to [insert the name of the target journal].

Submission checklist

Before submitting your manuscript, thoroughly check its quality one more time. Evaluate it critically—could anything be done better?

Be sure that:

• The manuscript follows the Instructions for Authors
• All files are in the correct file format and of the appropriate resolution or size
• The spelling and grammar are correct
• You have contact information for all authors
• You have written a persuasive cover letter

Back │ Next

English Editing Research Services

Writing a Successful Journal Cover Letter (Free Templates)

Even great manuscripts often stand out based on the title or its contents alone. They need great cover letters.

Cover letters for journal submission are an underrated part of the submission process. Don’t overlook them. They’re a valuable step to getting your research noticed, published, and all the good things that come after that.

The truth is, most journal editors just don’t have the time to thoroughly read every submitted article in full to decide if it’s suitable for their journal. They use cover letters to help them filter out the most interesting and appropriate submissions first.

Cover letters also help identify articles completely out of the journal’s scope and that would be better off getting a quick letter of rejection.

If your manuscript doesn’t have a cover letter and the 12 other articles on the editor’s desk do, it’s likely that your paper will be looked at last. Putting in that extra effort, just like on a job application, lets you sell your research, avoid quick rejections, and more likely make it to peer review.

We also have some journal cover letter templates and examples for you, so you don’t have to start from zero. Read on.

What do you put in a journal cover letter?

Your cover letter needs certain basic elements. Generally they are:

• Editor and target journal
• Salutation (Dear Dr. …)
• Indication you’re submitting your manuscript, along with its title, and the category of manuscript you’re submitting (Original Report, Review , Case Study, etc.) based on what the journal accepts
• Background information regarding your work – what is already known about the subject matter?
• What your study was
• Why you performed the study (rationale)
• Briefly, what methods you used and what your key findings were
• Why your manuscript is a great fit for this journal
• (optional, depending on the journal and on if you want to do this) Recommended reviewers
• (optional, depending on the journal) Funding information
• Closing line (Sincerely, etc.) and the name and contact details for the manuscript’s corresponding author

Those are the key elements. It’s how you express them and the quality of your message that mean the different between a dry overview and an attractive promotion of your work.

Many journals don’t have a prescribed format for the cover letter. On the other end of the spectrum are PLOS ONE’s guidelines , which give specifics on what to include, including selecting Academic Editors from its directory.

Always check the guidelines first to be sure you give the journal what it wants. Those are basics. With a grasp of those, there are many ways to polish your cover letter into a valuable sales tool for your work.

What to do and what to avoid in your journal cover letter

Most “problems with journal cover letters relate to simply not spending enough time and care on it. Or even not doing it at all. These are easily fixed if you’re a skilled English writer. If not, they’re still easily fixed with a little help.

All of the following are critical. Make sure you DO:

• Check the name of your target journal.
• Address the cover letter to the relevant person. It is not enough to simply say “Dear Editor” or “To whom it may concern.” Include the name, title and position of the editor you are addressing.
• Avoid superlatives – about the journal, yourself and your own work. It’s pretty unlikely your work is “groundbreaking” or “trailblazing,” though it may by the “first time ever” that a certain approach was taken with a certain population.
• Check the formatting. This varies by journal. It includes US vs. UK vs. Oxford English spelling, correct page numbering, use of templates, and much more.
• Get a colleague to read your cover letter before you send it.

“ A typical cover letter just repeats the abstract. That’s a huge missed opportunity. You need to think of what the journal wants. Try to tailor your manuscript’s novel and interesting points specifically to the your target journal’s aims and scope. It may mean an extra half-hour of work for you, but if it helps get you published, isn’t it worth that small investment of time? “ — Geraldine Echue , PhD, CMPP Edanz Managing Editor

But don’t do this…

The following may not be critical, but they’re common areas that authors mess up. Sometimes they don’t know they’re doing it or they’re just trying their best. So be aware

Make sure you DON’T :

• Take shortcuts. Your cover letter is very important for getting your manuscript to peer review; give it time and attention.
• Cut and paste your abstract, or sections of it, into the cover letter. That’s low-effort and low-readability. Reword it to make it pop.
• Over-praise the editor or target journal – it’s not necessary to use such phrases as “your esteemed journal.” A manuscript will be sent for peer review based on the quality of the cover letter and study, not because you say nice things about the journal.
• Forget to use the Word (or other software’s) spellcheck and, ideally, use a tool like Grammarly and/or Hemingway to help grammar and readability. These are no substitute for a professional edit, though.
• Be overly proud about your English skills. Just like you go to the dentist to get your teeth fixed, you can hire a professional editor and subject matter expert to get your English fixed.

Not that a lot of these also reply to resubmission letters and responses to peer review . The underlying themes are care, courtesy, and excellent English suitable for your audience.

And two more big DOs

• DO get a professional edit or proofread if you’re not a native speaker of English or just not that great at writing.

DO have a professional write your cover letter for you if you want to save some time and make sure you got everything just as the journal wants it. The Edanz Cover Letter Development service can handle this for you.

Set phrases and common expressions

The journal letter maintains a formal tone, so there are certain stock phrases you can use and in some cases must use. As a result, there are a number of phrases which are common to cover letters.

These include:

• To our knowledge, this is the first report showing…
• We believe our findings will appeal to the readership of [target journal name].
• Please address all correspondence to:
• We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

“I’ve found about 60% of authors don’t submit a cover letter at all. It seems they just expect something magical to happen with their manuscript. Journal editors struggle with this: they’re not necessarily subject-area specialists. They wonder, ‘Why is the paper important?'” — Gareth Dyke , PhD Edanz Author Education Manager

Commonly required statements

Many journals and publishers require that all cover letters should contain the following sentences:

• We confirm that this manuscript has not been published elsewhere and is not under consideration by another journal.
• All authors have read and approved the final manuscript and agree with its submission to [target journal name].

Competing interests

If all authors have no competing interests, you should include a statement indicating as such:

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

If an author does have competing interests, it’s a good idea to include details of these in your cover letter. You might also include funding information:

This study was supported by a grant from the [funding body].

Other required statements

Some other potentially required information:

• Clinical trial registration database and number
• Has this manuscript been published in another language? If so, has that journal editor given permission for this submission?
• What other publications related to the same study have been published? (especially for clinical trial related manuscripts)
• Has the data in your study been presented or been published in any other format? For studies involving human subjects, was informed consent obtained? Was permission obtained from an ethics committee? Was the study carried in accordance with Declaration of Helsinki guidelines?
• Was permission obtained for the reproduction or modification of previously published figures and tables (especially for review articles).

The journal’s guidelines will typically give specific directions on which of these to include, if any. And if you have any questions, get in touch with them directly.

Journal submission tips and hacks from the experts

Most of these are plain common sense, but if you’re in a hurry, you might overlook them. Some are less commonly known.

Be personal, use the editor’s name

Do your homework. Look up the name of the Editor-in-Chief or the specific Section Editor for the journal you’re submitting to and address the letter to them directly.

Use Dear Dr. (or Professor) + their Last name . If you’re not sure of their title, Google them to see if they have a LinkedIn page, ResearchGate page, or works published in the last couple of years. If you still can’t confirm their title, use Dear Full name as shown on the journal’s webpage .

It’s like a cover letter for a job; you need to personalize your cover letter to demonstrate your interest in that particular journal, and not make it look like you’d just be happy to get your paper accepted anywhere.

You should also explain why your study will be of specific interest to the readers of the journal.

Check the Aims & Scope on the journal website to see who their target audience is and tailor your reasoning to them.

Tell them what you want to publish

This may seem obvious, but sometimes authors submit cover letters without including the title of their manuscript and what type of article it is.

This should appear in the very first paragraph of your letter and will help the editor see immediately if the topic is of interest and judge whether they have space for the article type you’re submitting for the current issue.

Even more, it will show that you thoroughly read the guidelines. If you say you’re submitting “Original Research” when the journal calls it “Research Articles”, you’re not making a very good first impression.

Summarize the highlights of your work

It’s not enough to simply include the title of your manuscript in the cover letter and hope that alone will attract the editor.

Try to keep the cover letter to one page, but always include a brief summary of your study outlining the reasons why you conducted the work, your aims, and the major results you observed. If that makes you go a bit longer, it’s not a big deal.

Don’t include statistics or a lot of data; a compelling summary of the study is sufficient. If the editor is interested, they’ll look into your manuscript more deeply for further details.

Sell yourself

Cover letters are your chance to talk directly with the journal editor and convince them that your paper is more interesting than the next one sitting on their desk. Talk about any real-world implications of your findings or the significance of your results for the field. Don’t be too speculative or over-exaggerate your findings, but do take this important opportunity to feature the importance of your work.

Don’t forget your “must have” statements

Editors want to know that your manuscript has not been submitted elsewhere or is under consideration at another journal.

They want to know any relevant conflict of interest information and any roles the funding body played in the study.

The author instructions may or may not have explicit information on what they want you to write, but it’s good practice to state this information upfront. This way, the editor doesn’t have to dig through the manuscript to know if you’ve met the basic ethical requirements for publication.

See it in action: Edanz video on writing cover letters

We laid out the basics of a cover letter in this video.

And if you don’t want to start with a blank document…

Get a cover letter template

It’s all easier said than done, right?

Download a template to plug-and-play your text.

Download the above short-form or long-form cover letter from the Edanz Learning Lab template collection .

“When I became a journal editor, I really learned how important cover letters are. We need them to learn more about submissions and to make more informed decisions on whether to send manuscripts out for peer review. As a journal editor, I greatly appreciate a carefully written cover letter; it saves me time and it shows me the authors really care. It also helps with reviewer selections … something I rarely have time to do.” — Gareth Dyke , PhD Editor-in-Chief of Taylor & Francis journal ‘Historical Biology’

By the way, not all cover letters are the same, though most are. PLOS ONE cover letters are a notable exception and have certain requirements for what you need to tell them, such as which of their Academic Editors you want to review your submission. See their guidelines here .

So, all set to do your cover letter? Now go find a forever home for your manuscript and tell them why they’re the perfect fit for you.

Want to dig deeper into the publication process, soup to nuts, ideas to publication? Take simple, expert-designed courses to walk you through it all, at the Edanz My Learning Lab .

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Cover letter for your manuscript

A cover letter can be used to help convey a work’s importance to the editors. It should also be used to highlight any potential issues such as related manuscripts currently under consideration in any other Springer Nature publication, as well as indicating whether you have had any prior discussions with a Springer Nature editor about the work described in the manuscript. Please use the cover letter to declare that the manuscript is not currently being considered for publication in any other journal and, if necessary, please include any reviewers you wish to recommend or exclude (including the reasons why). Finally, the cover letter is a good place to include any other issues or anything you were unsure of, that you have encountered whilst submitting your manuscript.

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• English language editing services
• Writing a journal manuscript
• LaTex template package for article/book submissions
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Cover letter for your manuscript

A cover letter can be used to help convey a work’s importance to the editors. It should also be used to highlight any potential issues such as related manuscripts currently under consideration in any other Springer Nature publication, as well as indicating whether you have had any prior discussions with a Springer Nature editor about the work described in the manuscript. Please use the cover letter to declare that the manuscript is not currently being considered for publication in any other journal and, if necessary, please include any reviewers you wish to recommend or exclude (including the reasons why). Finally, the cover letter is a good place to include any other issues or anything you were unsure of, that you have encountered whilst submitting your manuscript.

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