A cover letter, called a submission letter in Chinese, is a letter written to an editor when submitting a manuscript, and its function is somewhat similar to that of an ancient interviewer. If the periodical editor is described as an aristocratic family living in a high-walled courtyard, then the contributor just wants to give it to the unknown third girl in Bole, so the post must be exquisite, eye-catching and distinctive. However, if the author is already a big cow in the industry, then the submission letter is estimated to be casual.

Although whether the article can be published depends on the scientific research value itself, the submission letter is also very important. There are more and more articles published now, and there is no shortage of manuscript sources for authoritative journals. Responsible editors should first choose the best among the best and eliminate some manuscripts with little value. If the submission letter does not contain any useful information, the article is not attractive at first glance, and some responsible editors will quickly make a decision to refuse. Of course, it's euphemistic, and the letter of credit that rejects the draft is also a unified template. For example:

Thank you for calling < log name >.

"Title of article"

We checked your paper and concluded that it is not suitable for this magazine. We all agree that professional magazines in this field will attract more interested readers' attention to your paper. This is not a judgment on the technical quality of your manuscript.

You are sincere,

But in fact, this article, which was rejected by the responsible editor the next day, is actually in line with the research direction of periodical publishing, because several related articles are published in this journal. However, if you refuse, you refuse, and there is no point in defending. But out of curiosity, I went to google to look at the background of the responsible editor, mainly doing optics, which is different from the electromagnetic direction to which the article belongs. Looking back at the submission letter, I used the previous template and just briefly introduced the main results of the article in two sentences. The template is as follows:

Dear editor:

We want to submit our manuscript entitled "< Title of Article >", and we want to consider it in < Journal Name >.

The general reader may be interested in some results in this paper. & lt Then the main result of the article >

Thank you very much for considering our possible manuscript.

Best wishes.

Although the submission letter also explains the value of the article's achievements in two sentences, if the responsible editor is only a big colleague, if these two sentences can't impress him, then he may not agree with the value of the article and will directly make a decision to reject it.

Therefore, when I re-submitted to other journals, I realized that the original submission letter was not enough and added a paragraph explaining why the article was suitable for publication in this journal. Last month, the editor of a journal with a good impact factor sent an email to everyone, clearly stating that if these words were not added to the submission letter, the article would be rejected directly.

Of course, the best way to reflect the fitness is to list the articles that have been published in this journal, and then explain that these two articles are related. If there is no past record, it is also very useful to find out several articles published in magazines in the last two or three years that have been quoted quite frequently. Don't list those five years ago or even 10 years ago, because the scope of periodicals is constantly adjusting now, and the previous hot directions may be out of date now. After this part was added to the submission letter, another journal with similar impact factors re-submitted, and the article was quickly submitted for review and hired. Although it is not necessarily the difference brought by the submission letter, I am still willing to think in my mind that the submission letter should also be written with heart.

But also remember, don't write too long, it's best to make the important things clear on one page. If you write too long, the editor will have no patience to finish reading it.

It is suggested that the submission letter should also include the recommended reviewers. It depends. If the journal itself requires several recommended reviewers when submitting a manuscript, it will not occupy the space of the submission letter. But if the submission system does not have this item, it is best to add it to the submission letter. The information provided can be the title, name, address and email of the reviewer. Remember to confirm many times that email is valid and commonly used. Finally, if you are still not at ease, you can find a professional paper polishing company, such as English Pavilion. Www.enago.cn provides assistance.