Competition for publication space and for editors’ attention is great. It is no longer sufficient to send a manuscript to a journal editor with a letter saying “please find my manuscript attached”. The cover letter is your opportunity to directly address the editor of your target journal. It sets your study apart from others and explains why your findings are important and why they should be published in this journal.
A cover letter has a number of important components. These are described in detail in the attached Edanz Cover Letter Template, which can be used to develop your own cover letters by following the suggestions in the comments and replacing the bracketed sentences with the types of sentences explained. The format of this letter is applicable for most submissions. Additional sections may be required for some types of paper; for example, information about deposition of clinical trial data would need to accompany a report of a clinical trial. Information about the deposition of sequence data into public databases would also be needed.
The target journal’s instructions to authors should be consulted. These will outline the information that must be included in the cover letter. Another source of this information is the journal’s submission webpages. All of the components listed below and described in the cover letter template should be included in your letter, because to do so will increase your chances of grabbing the editor’s attention.
The following principals apply to cover letter development:

• Some journals have different editors for the different areas of research the journal covers and you should choose the most ppropriate one. Address your letter personally to the appropriate editor or to the editor-in-chief, e.g., “Dear Dr. Smith”.
• Begin by providing the title of your manuscript, the section/publication type in which you would like to publish, and the name of the journal you are submitting it to.
• Then provide a brief background and rationale for your study, explaining why you did what you did. This can be followed by a brief description of the results.
• Next you need to explain the significance of your findings to the research community, and specifically to the readers of your target journal. Editors will only send papers to review that they think will be of interest to their readers. Study the ‘aims and scope’ of your chosen journal.
• The last paragraph of the letter should contain any statements or declarations required by the target journal. These usually include declarations of any conflicts of interest, grant support or other sources of funding, a statement that all authors have read and approved the manuscript and a statement that the same manuscript has not been submitted elsewhere. Confirmation of each author’s qualification for authorship may also be required.
• Finally, include author details for correspondence and a polite farewell.

Download our free cover letter template