The cover letter is one of the important aspects of the journal which explains to the editor that the paper is submitted for consideration. With every manuscript, there is a well-written cover letter that accompanies it during the submission process. Some research papers have specific requirements which are provided in the cover letter and these are stated as the paper’s instruction to the authors. Another important aspect is to make sure the cover letter contains all journal-required elements. The importance and novelty of one finding should be succinct and focused in the cover letter, which should also contain the scope of the target journal related to that specific area. So cover letters should be written succinctly after perfecting the manuscript and selecting a target journal. So make sure your cover letter is strong enough to tell the journal editors that a particular journal should publish their manuscript. It also captured the attention of the editor which gives information about the importance of findings which indicates all authors have approved for the submission and the manuscript is not submitted concurrently to more than one journal.

Strong cover letters not only introduce the manuscript but also give an important opportunity to persuade journal editors to consider publishing the manuscript.

 Outline for the Cover Letter

According to the information and statements required by the target journal, every cover letter should comprise :

• An introduction that states the title of the paper and the journal to which it is going to be submitted.
• The reason why the study is relevant and important to the journal’s field.
• The overall findings major experimental results and important conclusions are derived from the research part.
• A clear expression that the manuscript has not been published and that is not considered for publication in any other journal. Any valuable content that has been derived from the research work should also be mentioned.
• An idea or statement that all authors agree to for manuscript submission to the journal.
• Any other details that will give support to the editor to forward the manuscript for review.
• One or two more sentences should be written to address each of these above points.
• While writing the body of the cover letter open the cover letter with a statement explaining the purpose for manuscript submission and the title of the journal.

The cover letter should conclude in a very clear and concise manner. The researcher should revise all the sentences after the completion of the cover letter. The body of the cover letter should be explained in a precise manner which should be limited to one or two brief paragraphs. The researcher may conclude the letter with a few more sentences that link the results interest of the readership of the journal. This might ease them to review the content.  All the important details should be interpreted concisely.

Importance of a cover letter in the research field:

A cover letter is an important part of the manuscript as it comprises another document like the survey questionnaire. Its basic purpose is to apprise the respondent about the information it comprises and to provide details of what the respondent wants to see. It is another way to show your key skills in the research paper, according to the needs of the respondent. It is another way to impress them and to show them how enthusiastic you are about your research.  The cover letter should include all the important information (e.g. research topic, survey sponsor, incentives), which is going to influence the respondent making them fully cooperate with the research task. So the cover letter should be written in such a way that it demonstrates the value you add to your research.